- J
Hi, my name is John. Anyone who knows me knows this is uncomfortable to discuss; however, I am out of options. To make a long story short, the day we were allowed to bring our beautiful new daughter home, the company I was currently working for called to say, "Congratulations on the new baby, we hope everyone is doing well. By the way, we decided to end your contract." And just like that, we instantly found ourselves up the proverbial, foul-smelling creek without a paddle. I have no way to cover expenses that are approaching quickly. I have a little side work available to me, and I will Uber until I drop, but I am worried it won't be enough.
On January 1st, 2022, I contracted COVID (Happy New Year!). Symptoms developed rapidly. I was informed I must stay away from work for at least 5 days after the symptoms finished or produce a negative test result. Both requirements were reasonable, except for the fact that I was a contract employee; hence, no benefits, no sick time, no insurance.
After the first half of the month was spent recovering and waiting, our due date of January 18 was rapidly approaching. Over the last 9 months, a lot of effort was put into keeping the expectant mother happy, healthy, relaxed and free of COVID. As luck would have it, 2 days before the due date, her son came home from school sick. He recovered, as most kids seem to, very quickly. Unfortunately, on Monday evening, I heard: "Baby, I feel strange."
That was like living in a nightmare. I spent several hours trying to convince myself that it couldn't be COVID. It was, and it progressed very rapidly. From her initial self-assessment to the next morning, she went from "feeling strange" to running a solid fever, body aches, nausea and almost constant vomiting (which was basically bile). I was terrified. I called/texted many people asking for advice but ended up calling 911 because I wasn't even able to help her make it to the bathroom (her legs would give out halfway there). By the time the medics arrived, she was barely able to respond to their questions.
After being rushed to the hospital, the rest of the day was a blur. We were both put on COVID quarantine (meaning I wasn't allowed to leave her side [which never crossed my mind]) and informed that we would be having a baby later that night. Thankfully, from that point forward, everything was relatively easy (from my pain free point of view). We ended up with our beautiful and healthy daughter Hazel being born (naturally) at roughly 6 am on the 19th.
The day after returning home is when I received the "congratulatory" call from work. Which in turn is what prompted me to setup an account here. This is not something I ever imagined having to do, nor am I very comfortable doing so; but, I have several other people relying on me being able to cover the expected and unexpected bills.
I know many people out there are having a tough time and many people out there are in worse situations than we are; I understand and by all means, help them if you can. If you (or someone you know) is able to spare anything and are willing to pass it our direction, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all in advance for all the well wishes, prayers and spare change you may have laying around.
Moving forward, I will do my best to update this story and keep everybody posted.
On January 1st, 2022, I contracted COVID (Happy New Year!). Symptoms developed rapidly. I was informed I must stay away from work for at least 5 days after the symptoms finished or produce a negative test result. Both requirements were reasonable, except for the fact that I was a contract employee; hence, no benefits, no sick time, no insurance.
After the first half of the month was spent recovering and waiting, our due date of January 18 was rapidly approaching. Over the last 9 months, a lot of effort was put into keeping the expectant mother happy, healthy, relaxed and free of COVID. As luck would have it, 2 days before the due date, her son came home from school sick. He recovered, as most kids seem to, very quickly. Unfortunately, on Monday evening, I heard: "Baby, I feel strange."
That was like living in a nightmare. I spent several hours trying to convince myself that it couldn't be COVID. It was, and it progressed very rapidly. From her initial self-assessment to the next morning, she went from "feeling strange" to running a solid fever, body aches, nausea and almost constant vomiting (which was basically bile). I was terrified. I called/texted many people asking for advice but ended up calling 911 because I wasn't even able to help her make it to the bathroom (her legs would give out halfway there). By the time the medics arrived, she was barely able to respond to their questions.
After being rushed to the hospital, the rest of the day was a blur. We were both put on COVID quarantine (meaning I wasn't allowed to leave her side [which never crossed my mind]) and informed that we would be having a baby later that night. Thankfully, from that point forward, everything was relatively easy (from my pain free point of view). We ended up with our beautiful and healthy daughter Hazel being born (naturally) at roughly 6 am on the 19th.
The day after returning home is when I received the "congratulatory" call from work. Which in turn is what prompted me to setup an account here. This is not something I ever imagined having to do, nor am I very comfortable doing so; but, I have several other people relying on me being able to cover the expected and unexpected bills.
I know many people out there are having a tough time and many people out there are in worse situations than we are; I understand and by all means, help them if you can. If you (or someone you know) is able to spare anything and are willing to pass it our direction, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all in advance for all the well wishes, prayers and spare change you may have laying around.
Moving forward, I will do my best to update this story and keep everybody posted.