My son was born 12 weeks premature. Because I had union-negotiated health benefits, everything worked out okay.
I was seven months pregnant in February of 2009 and wasn’t feeling well at school, so a co-worker drove me to the hospital. I was experiencing preeclampsia: My blood pressure was so high that the doctors said if I had waited one minute more I would have had a heart attack or a stroke. The baby was in distress, so they had to induce labor. They sat me down and said, “He may or may not make it.”
When my son was born, his lungs were compromised and he was not breathing on his own. It was very scary. To see my child with every tube possible in him and to not be able to hold him — that was the most heartbreaking part of the whole ordeal.
Brian was in the NICU for 63 days. For every day in the NICU, there’s a fee. That’s when my health benefits through the union took over. I remember one bill that said $35,000 — that’s one bill out of hundreds! I could not believe how much money was on all the invoices. It was hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I don’t remember paying a thing. My husband was working through a contractor and didn’t have insurance. Thank goodness I had union-negotiated benefits. It was a long journey, but Brian has just finished third grade now. He swims, he plays instruments, he’s in a dual-language class.
There’s so much stress when you are the parent of a child born so early, but the hospital bills were a major expense I didn’t have to worry about. I just had to worry about taking care of myself and my child. I prayed and thanked God that I had a union.
It’s like walking a tightrope and having that safety net: You never know when you might slip, but when you need it, it’s there for you.
Julie Moya is a teacher at Central Park East II in Manhattan.
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