Help with Braxcin’s medical bills

Hi my name is Mariah, I am Braxcin’s mom. Starting from the very beginning me and my husband got married in 2020. We tried to have a baby for 3 years with no luck. We finally went to a fertility doctor and I was diagnosed with PCOS. We started treatment and after 6 months of help from the fertility clinic we were able to get pregnant through IUI. I do have insurance threw my moms work but it only covered certain things. After getting pregnant we were so excited finally a baby of our own. At our 20 week check up the doctor saw some concerns so he suggested a second opinion. We went to a high risk pregnancy center about 2 hours away. It was there we had our whole world turned upside down. We found out our sweet baby boy could possibly have one of 3 life altering genetic conditions. They were not sure at first but they said he had a fatty neck, clubbed foot, a whole in his heart, small nasal passages, and small aortic arch. They told us to prepare for the worst that he would be lucky to not be living on machines for his whole life. We were crushed. We tried so hard to get pregnant and then once we did this happened. They asked if we wanted to do a amniocentesis test. We agreed in fear if we didn’t know what caused this we wouldn’t know what to prepare for. My husband said that was the scariest test to watch. We went home and waited after a week the doctor called and let us know our boy had Down syndrome/trisomy 21. We had a long road ahead. We went to countless specialist. Things were looking ok. Definitely had some issues but we were staying positive. Week 39 hit and my water broke. We couldn’t go to our local hospital because they didn’t have a level 2 or 3 nicu, so we drove 2 hours away to the hospital. Once we arrived everything was going smooth but really slow. Until about 3 hours in when his heart rate started to drop and would not come back up. This was my scariest part, five nurses walk in and the doctor and they threw a bag at my husband and said get suited up we need to do a emergency C section. After being strapped in and a tarp put across at my neck, my husband was aloud in he sat next to my head and says I was crying and shaking. At 10:22am our baby boy was born. We had insurance but it didn’t not cover c section. They said the cord was wrapped around his neck very tight and he was already in the birth canal. He immediately started having trouble breathing so while I’m still strapped to the bed and only got to see him for like 10 seconds, my husband and him had to go to the nicu. Once at the nicu they got him washed up and his oxygen started. A couple hours went by and with no luck on the bottle and me still in recovery they had to put in a ng tube to keep him fed. Later that day once Braxcin got comfortable my husband could break away and come see me in recovery. He let me know that Braxcin was doing ok and that he got to hold him. Later that evening I was cleared and able to be wheel chaired to his room and finally got to hold him. He was the most precious baby boy I had ever seen. Us being 2 hours from home we couldnt just run home so my husband slept very little but when he did on the couch in Braxcin’s room waking up every couple hours for feeds and cares. He would check on me as well. This went on for 2 days then I got released from the hospital. This made it really difficult because we had to travel from the hotel to the hospital every 3 hours for feeds and cares only getting minimal sleep. They did a lot of testing and discovered he still had the hole in his heart, a small aortic arch, small nasal passage but not the clubbed foot. He under went a echocardiogram within the first 12 hours of being born per the cardiologist we had seen while I was still pregnant with him. After about 5 days of being in the nicu and off oxygen we were transferred to continued care which was absolutely terrible we were shoved into a very tiny place with four other nicu babies. It made it even harder to be there for our son with little place to sit or go. While he was in there he had two more echocardiograms due him having high blood pressure in his lungs as well as the hole in his heart but they came to the conclusion that surgery was not needed. We had to stay in continued care until he was able to eat 2 oz by himself every three hours that way he didn’t have to go home with an NG tube ( which he ended up pulling out his self). We finally got the okay to get released on September 25th so on September 24th they under went hearing test and elevation test. Braxcin didn’t pass his hearing test he has failed multiple times on his left side but has passed on his right side, he also failed his elevation test which in order for us to get released we had to come up with oxygen this is where our next battle came into play. Since we didn’t have insurance for him trying to find someone who would send us home with oxygen equipment was very hard. We spent all day on the phone and finally found a third party insurance company that would help us until the insurance kicked in, in October. After being home for a few weeks Braxcin had another follow up with his pediatrician and cardiologist who said to come back in 6 months. Per his pediatrician we could start weening him off the oxygen as much as he was able to tolerate. We were able to get him weened off by the beginning of November. We kept the equipment until December until we saw his pulmonologist. After seeing his pulmonologist we got the okay to keep him off O2 but wanted to do a 12 hour sleep study at night to make sure he doesn’t have any sleep apnea (very common in T21 babies). When we called the home equipment people to get the oxygen machine and equipment and to get the sleep study set up we found out the insurance we had got to help with his oxygen equipment wasn’t paying for it and didn’t cover an home medical equipment and that expense would also have to be out of pocket. We then ended up getting blue cross blue shield and since then things have been good. Braxcin still has things we are working threw but overall we are a happy and health family finally. But between the fertility, the high risk pregnancy, the 8 days of nicu, emergency c section and his continued care we are having a rough time paying the over $100,000 in medical bills and we are facing some of them going to collection. We both work full time jobs and are trying to make things work. We have applied for access, Medicare, Medicaid, altcs, and many more including the hospital and we just barely are out of there limit for help. So we are reaching out to see if we can make a last ditch effort before we let our bills go to collections. Braxcin is doing well and will continue to be seen by many therapists and his heart will possibly need to be addressed but not until he is older. We are not the type to ask for help ever. But are backs are against the edge and we do not want to fall. Thank you for listening to our sweet baby boys story. We appreciate you.