Financial questions answered

We (Brent and I) have received some questions about, well, finances. As it's always an uncomfortable issue for me to discuss, I've avoided it until I had all of the information I needed. So, I'll attempt to answer them here...

1. Is there a way we could just donate money to help the babies? We have started a donation account for the babies at Capital One Bank. Any money we have received or will receive for them will be put into the account and used to pay for supplies and medical expenses or anything else the babies may need. The account is under Mary Louise and David's names and checks can be either brought to any Capital One Branch, mailed to a Capital One branch, or mailed to us for us to deposit. Checks may be written to Mary Louise LeBlanc and David LeBlanc Benefit, or to the LeBlanc Triplets Benefit. All donations are tax deductible. If mailing a check, your canceled check will serve as the receipt. The address and phone number of the Capital One branch closest to us is as follows:

372 Sam Houston Jones Parkway
Lake Charles, LA 70611
(337)494-3376

Please email me at heatherbowe@gmail.com for our home address. Also, please let me know if there is any trouble in donating to the account. I've already accessed it once and didn't have trouble so I'm hoping this goes smoothly.

2. Are you registered anywhere? Yes, we've updated our registries at Target and Babies-R-Us. They will be active until the end of the year from what I understand. They can be accessed using Heather LeBlanc or Brent LeBlanc in Lake Charles Louisiana

3. This wasn't asked of us, but a golf tournament benefiting the babies is scheduled to be held at Kosati Pines golf course in Kinder, LA. Brent is the superintendent there and his fellow co-workers, the GM of the course and many many friends in the business have been incredibly compassionate and generous to us to arrange such an event. It will be hosted by Kosati Pines at Coushatta and sponsored by The Golf States and Louisiana-Mississippi chapters of the Golf Course Superintendents Association Of America.

All monies made will be put into the donation (benefit) account mentioned above. Coushatta Casino has also provided rooms at their Inn at a discounted rate for participants. The tournament is on Tuesday June 30th with a 1:30pm shotgun start and the deadline to sign up is on Friday June 26th at 5pm. The field is limited to the first 144 players and anyone is invited to participate.

Please email me at heatherbowe@gmail.com with any questions or for a copy of the flier with complete information.

4. What ever happened with the Medicaid supplement program? HA! what a racket! We've explored all suggested avenues and made some progress. David and Mary Louise now have social security benefits and should have Medicaid supplement while in the hospital since they've been approved for SSI. The catch is that we couldn't get (Medicaid) coverage for Kuylen's care as he passed away at the end of April and we applied for coverage in May. They would not back cover him because we had not applied during April (woops - how silly of me to have them at the end of the month right?). We pay attention to all comments posted and are so thankful that other preemie parents have been so willing to help. If there are any suggestions on our situation with Kuylen, please let me know.

I think that just about covers it. The babies did well today. I think I have arranged for us to help with Mary Louise's bath tomorrow which I am very excited about. I noticed that her hair looked a bit fluffy today and asked if she was now getting "real baths". Her nurse said that as she doesn't have all the wires connected to her anymore that yes, they can give her real baths now. I will call tomorrow to see if I can arrange a time for us to go and assist. YAY! She gained 13 grams today. A step in the right direction. She is now 2 pounds 7 ounces. Her next big milestone is weaning from her oxygen - specifically the vapotherm used to humidify it.

David is also doing well. They are concentrating on weight gain and waiting for him to put on a bit prior to taking him off the vent. They are weaning him from the vent as much as possible (very slowly). His cultures have come back negative and his antibiotics we discontinued today. His weight was the same today as yesterday so he is steady at 2 pounds 3 ounces. He slept so soundly today while we were there - not agitated at all which was WONDERFUL to see. He is up to 17 mls with feedings now and progressing and tolerating very well with it all.

What precious little troopers they both are!!

Oh!! The most exciting news of the day....drumroll please...they had eye exams today and they both did well!!! They are still very immature and will need another exam in 2 weeks and maybe one or 2 more after that, but, so far, so good!! The nurse said that Mary Louise's eyes were marginally worse than David's but they both seemed pretty good and he didn't see any obvious problems! YAY!

Sleep well my little ones, you are so loved.

goodnight (it's very late as I'm writing this)
Heather