Y’all. I never thought I’d be sharing a gofundme for myself. 😞
I’ve been brought to a place of utter humiliation, but I’m trying to learn that it’s ok to accept help. I prefer being on the other end of things, donating to other people’s needs, but our journey has led us in a different direction.
So let me share with you a bit of our story, and why I ended up in this position of sharing a fundraiser for my own needs. ❤️
Let me start off by saying that I’ve been insured my whole life, I’ve paid so much into insurance. That’s what makes this painfully ironic. 🤦🏻♀️
Almost 6 years ago, my husband and I married, and we were getting a later start, and desired a family with every fiber of our being. We both wanted to have bio kids as well as adopt down the road… we envisioned a large family. The future looked bright.
A few months into marriage, we were surprised with a pregnancy! We had planned on waiting a few months while we adjusted to our new norm, and cross country move, but we would never turn down a kiddo, so we were overjoyed.
It was short-lived, as the baby passed away within days. We were devastated.
Fast forward to December 2017. We had been through 12 losses total, and by the way, insurance doesn’t cover miscarriage related costs, even though they would’ve covered a live birth. 😞
We had suffered a bankruptcy as a result, and were moving to Arizona in an RV to start over.
Because of the cross country move, we had to change insurances, so we changed over (it’s a cost-sharing program)… and promptly found out we were pregnant, totally unexpectedly. Which is fine, we thought, since we had maternity coverage.
But when I called them about it, we found out that there is a “30-day waiting period to conceive” when you sign up with them. I was devastated, and called my husband, sobbing. He tried to lighten the mood by saying “hey that just means this baby will survive!” And he was right, lol. We now have a beautiful rainbow baby, which you’ve seen all over. 😜😍
We went with a birth center for prenatal care and birth, and between that and the other expenses of treatment for health problems that arose during pregnancy, we spent close to $10,000 out of pocket, money that we owe for other business expenses but put off in order to pay for things due now.
We breathed a sigh of relief when we paid the last bit, knowing now we could start to save to pay the other things.
Except I had an unpredictable complication resulting in hemorrhage and a retained placenta, which led to ambulance transport to the hospital for emergency surgery, blood transfusions, and an overnight stay to monitor for problems.
Now… I had a tiny shred of hope that insurance would cover this, since it was kind of a postpartum complication, not just normal maternity coverage. So I prayed, and called, despite postpartum hormones raging and bringing anxiety.
They even double checked with a department head… and told me that none of it would be covered, because it was “related to birth.”
I sat there, sobbing into a towel to try and keep from more humiliation… the hospital stay alone is $24,000, but they will reduce it to $12,641 if we pay by March 16. This isn’t even including the anesthesiologist, OB, or ambulance, which we haven’t received bills for yet.
This is where we are at. It’s utterly embarrassing, but we are facing so much debt, which makes it so hard to enjoy the beauty of our precious miracle. We know God will provide, but it’s hard to see those numbers and know more are coming.
So we share this gofundme (link in bio), organized by our amazing SIL, in case anyone would like to share in our story, and we are so grateful for the outpouring of love we have already experienced from our friends and family, from baby showers, a love offering, meals, gifts, and so much prayer. ❤️
Thank you!
~Ben, Jessica, and Gideon Bruner
https://www.gofundme.com/help-with-ben-and-jessica039s-medical-bills