On January 9, during what was supposed to be a routine obstetrician’s visit, my wife Rosalyn Spencer was admitted to the hospital. She was 34 weeks pregnant. After a long attempt at inducing labor, our son was born via emergency C-section on January 14. Rosalyn spent a total of nine days in the hospital at that time, and our child spent twelve days in NICU.

Unfortunately, while I was caring for our son and our eight-year-old daughter, Rosalyn continued to have a series of pregnancy-related health problems, culminating in a return to inpatient hospital services on February 13. This time, she was in the hospital twelve days, only getting out on February 25. Her health has improved since then, but she continues to require frequent doctor’s visits.

Her obstetrician has advised that she not return to work before April 1. Her job, on the other hand, classifies maternity leave as short-term disability, meaning that she is not getting her full income. Her family has been helping with child care, and she is able to parent when not actively dealing with medical issues, but I’m getting very little work done as I take care of the kids, and am losing contracts.

I’d like to make it clear that we budgeted for a newborn, and even budgeted for the unexpected. But we couldn’t possibly budget for this. Rosalyn does have health insurance, but it only covers so much. Medical bills are piling up, as are other bills, since 21-day hospital stays involve many secondary expenses. Any assistance you could give would be most appreciated.