So we haven't been able to make our 2 month appointment yet because we have been waiting on Enoch's insurance to come through and approve us. This is really partly my fault since I filled out the application a few weeks after he was born (rather than immediately upon his arrival). So our doctor's office has been billing us in the meantime. The problem with making our appointment though is that they have some sort of policy where they require proof of coverage before the 2 month appointment... and we don't have that yet.
Anyway, at around Enoch's 2 month mark, I was talking with a girl friend who was on that insurance, and she was telling me that it didn't take too long for them to get approved, but that getting a hold of the insurance company was near impossible. Nonetheless, she thought it was a good idea for me to try and get in touch with them to see what our status was.
Well, I put that off for probably a week or so, mainly because it seemed like the only times I remembered to call were during the "non-business" hours that I'm running in this establishment I call a home or when I was without a phone near my reach, i.e. breastfeeding on the couch. :)
So all of these setbacks were not working in our favor, but God is so much bigger than my laziness or forgetfulness or anything else that was working against us, and His grace reaches even into the small things in life, like insurance. Let me tell you how this story continued showing God's sovereign grace in every detail:
On Thursday the 8th of December I finally called the insurance company. The timing of this was definitely orchestrated by God because I was on hold less than 2 minutes (my girl friend had told me that she had to try at least 5 times to get through) when a lady picked up and told me they had just sent my case to a different office to be reviewed because they were backed up. THEN she told me that if I had more questions, that I could call the lady who had my application AND preceded to give me her name and number. Quite helpful, right?
So then I call BB, the lady reviewing my application. Again, totally God's timing for this phone call. Upon answering, BB told me that she had just postmarked a letter to me because my application was incomplete. {How interesting, huh? She had just done this that day... maybe even just minutes before, because she remembered my name.} She continued on to explain that we hadn't included Hugh's social (which was an easy fix) and that she needed proof of Enoch's existence {fair enough}. So she told me that I needed to get her a copy of his birth certificate and proof that we had applied for his social within 10 days or else our application would be rejected. Believe it or not though, she explained all of this really nicely! :) And, thankfully, since I had called her I gained an extra day because she gave us 10 days from when we should've received the letter. Really though, it was like gaining 4 days because of the weekend (I didn't actually receive the letter until Monday the 12th.).
Unfortunately, the requirement of a birth certificate was a new problem. You see, having a home birth makes getting a birth certificate difficult. Because we were not assisted by a state licensed midwife, the state has a few requirements to prove that we really had a baby and that it happened in the state. I had received a letter some time ago explaining to me the somewhat-complicated documents the state would need to see in order to give Enoch a birth certificate, but I shelved it in the procrastination stack since I knew it would take a lot of digging to gather everything they needed... {bad call!}
So I immediately called the lady who was in charge of granting birth certificates for our state, MB. Unfortunately, by this point it was after 4:00, and she was gone for the day. So I left a voicemail and started reading in detail about the state's required documents to see if I could scrounge them up.
To prove that Enoch really had been born, they only needed to see an ultrasound image and/or doctor's records. {Check, check, got that.}
To prove my residency in the state, they wanted to see a photo id of me with an in-state address {no problem!} AND either bills (with my name and address) or credit card receipts (from our state) within BOTH two weeks before and after Enoch's birth. This was the hard part! First of all, we don't use credit cards.. We also do most of our utility billing through the internet, not the snail mail. Thankfully, we receive one bill in the mail, but I couldn't find the bill that we received after he was born (probably because those first few weeks are SO busy). So I called that company and asked if they could print me another one off, and after some verification, they did. And I picked it up from their office that day before they closed at 5:00... Another example of God's goodness in timing!!
Sure enough, on Friday morning (the 9th), MB called me back to answer my questions about the birth certificate. She said that my documents seemed to be in order and encouraged me to ship them out that day via priority mail (w/ a pre-addressed, pre-paid envelope for the certificate to be mailed back in) so that she could look at them first thing the following week and then get them right back in the mail. So I did! This is why having that weekend worked to my advantage (shipping still happens on Saturdays).
So on Tuesday the 13th, MB called to tell me that everything went well and Enoch's birth certificate was in the mail. I expected it to arrive on Thursday, but when it didn't, I knew that I'd be cutting it close to get everything into BB's hands by Monday the 19th.
When Friday morning (the 16th) rolled around, I called the social security office to see what documents they would need in order for us to apply for a social. The lady I spoke with was so helpful and sweet! She explained that they needed a birth certificate and my identification as well as a stamped letter from a doctor's office with his name and date of birth. {one more thing added to the to-do list!} She also told me that they closed at 3:30, which really put a time-crunch on my day since I do still live by Enoch's eating schedule.
Since our mail usually comes in the afternoon, I asked God for help with receiving the birth certificate earlier than normal, and when I checked right after lunch, He had answered. So by 1:00 Enoch and I were off to the races. First we needed to go and get our doctor's report stamped to look official for the SS office. We rolled in the parking lot at 1:35 to find a note on the door saying "Closed for meeting from 12-2 on Friday, 12/16." But when I tested the door, it was open, so I decided to head in where it was warm and try to get be the first in line at the counter when they re-opened. As I was waiting, little man started waking up, so I began rocking the carseat and singing to him. After 5 minutes of waiting, a lady came through a back door and was shocked to see me standing by the front counter. {I guess the door actually should've been locked.} She happened to be one of the higher-ups and had come over to grab something during their Christmas Party {not really a meeting, but meeting sounds more official}. She was very nice and helpful {yet another blessing!}. So she stamped and signed my document and wished me a Merry Christmas. {how amazing was it that I didn't have to wait until 2?!?!}
Next, I rushed {meaning drove quite safely since I had little man with me} over to the Social Security Card Office. On the way I grabbed lunch thinking that I would have a long wait because they do the pull-a-number system. Let me say that I was quite wrong- I had no more than sat down with my number when I heard my number called.. I had to triple check my number just to be sure that I was hearing correctly. The lady who ended up helping me was the same sweet lady who spoke with me on the phone. She ended up being a Christian, and we had a delightful talk (about God's faithfulness) while she completed the necessary documents. By the time I was walking out of the SS office (with my proof of application in hand... actually in the "Enoch" folder), it was only 2:30! {See, more of God's goodness in so many small details!}
Then, I needed to drive to the next town over and find BB (the lady with my insurance application) to give her all of these documents (birth certificate & proof of SS app). Finding her building was pretty simple, but there was no directory with names and office numbers, so I had to go into the first one I saw and ask for help. They gave me directions down the hallway, but the directions were a little vague. When I came to the door that I thought should've been the correct one, there was a lady walking out and locking it. Upon asking, she said that she was BB but that she was headed to a meeting across town. She asked who I was and what I needed from her. When I explained to her the whole story, she was kind enough to unlock her door and make copies of my documents. {Wow! Can I just say that if I would've gotten lost or side-tracked or even been just 30 seconds later in finding her office, that I would've missed her completely!} THEN she said that she would even take my application with her and work on it that weekend since she knew that we needed to get a doctor's appointment scheduled. THEN she told me quite a few insider's-tricks about the insurance's policies regarding doctor selection. {I cannot explain how amazed I was at this point... I was blown away by all of the tiny details that God had orchestrated for our good.}
On Monday, BB called me and confirmed that we had been granted insurance. She gave me all of the numbers and explained a few more things about the system. And on Wednesday, I called and scheduled Enoch's doctor appointment (It ended up being more like a 3 month appointment, but that's okay by us!). And that's the end of the saga about how God worked in the small things to help us get good, affordable insurance for Enoch. {If you made it to the end of the story, congratulations!! I hope you can glory in God's goodness with me.}
