Please help us support teachers and their new baby

Let me tell you a story about my one and only Grandchild, Roan Fox. This little bundle of joy was due on August 1st.

On July 17th, around 3pm, my Daughter-in-law noticed that the usually constant motion of somersaults and high kick routines weren’t being performed. Our granddaughter was not her regular busy self. After a few phone calls and the normal ‘try this, or this or maybe this' suggestions, the decision was made to head to the hospital to check on the baby and Momma.

Now, I want to interject something here. The absolute worst day for Roan to come into the world was July 17th. You see, my son, Dillon, had recently been named the percussion band/ jazz band director at an award winning high school in San Antonio and his first day as that band director was July 18th.

He would be holding his first band camp for percussion as the new band director.

Time to impress those who hired him, and set the tone with his new student musicians.

Apparently little Roan didn’t give a flip about Dad's first day of work at his new job because the hospital trip revealed a low heart rate and low oxygen intake.

Grandma Fiore and Grandpa Watson left Denton at lightning speed and headed to San Antonio. The time it took these two to get to San Antonio is getting a little fuzzy. As the story goes, they were in SA in under 4 hours, and then the details changed to 3 and a half, now the story is under 2 hours and Grandma and Grandpa have magic powers. When this story is one day retold to Roan, it will not only be fascinating but

exaggerated for effect.

Roan was born just before midnight on July 17th (while her grandparents were pulling into the parking lot of the hospital). Roan was immediately whisked away after an extremely fast glance from Mom and Dad.

Roan wasn’t taking in enough oxygen, which was making her heart work harder.

Her little lungs weren’t filling with enough air, and she had a low temperature and low glucose.

She was in the NICU for what we were told would be 24 to 48hours. By the morning we were told it would be at least 5 days. She wasn’t improving as well as the doctors had hoped.

She had a feeding tube in her mouth, nasal cannula for her nose, IV, heart monitors, oxygen monitors, watching glucose and her little fair skin was turning bright red from all the tape.

We realize many many babies are born with similar stories, and many more devastatingly heartbreaking. We as a family have had first hand experience in losing a small child to medical misfortune. Seeing sweet baby Roan in the NICU brought back those images of the loss and the heartache.

By day 3 she was making phenomenal progress. She loved being held by Grandpa and Grandma wasn’t the least bit jealous.

(part about Grandma not being jealous has been grossly exaggerated for effect)

When Roan opens her eyes, this what she would see staring back at her:

As Roan improved (taking her sweet time I might add) her Daddy, Dillon, was running the band camp all day then back to the hospital to be with Bailey, my Daughter-in-law and do his best to support her as she healed from her C-section.

It was a long, sleepless and emotionally charged week. After a ‘test run’ where Dillon, Bailey and Roan roomed together for 24 hours, they were so happy to find that Roan could head home. I plan one day to tell about when Grandma came in the morning after the ‘24 hour trial run’, the truth about how her parents looked like they had just taken care of 10 babies instead of just one little baby Roan.

As we arrived home with this little 6 pound perfect person the reality that the emergency C section and NICU stay was going to be a huge financial challenge.

It all was sinking in.

Bailey is an English teacher in San Antonio.

She will be taking family leave to stay with Roan for the next few weeks. In the state of Texas public school teachers are not provided paid maternity leave. Let that sink in.

PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE NOT PROVIDED PAID MATERNITY LEAVE!!! You will get family leave, which will save your teaching position, but while you are off campus with your newborn, you are not getting paid. You are still required to do lesson plans and support your substitute.

Moreover, remember when I told you about Dillon’s new teaching job? As a new hire he will not get his first paycheck until Sept 30th. Although he is working for a month before school has started, the band has started. He talked to HR to see if there was any way at all he could get paid earlier or even get a portion, and was told ‘we can’t help you’.

Both Dillon and Bailey are public school teachers. I don’t have to tell you how hard the job is and frankly I don’t need too. You know what it’s like in the classroom or band hall. And to have to beg your district or your government for teacher rights is insulting.

Adding Roan to teacher health insurance will be a monthly payment of $600. As a teacher there wasn’t much on those paychecks in the first place.

Bailey’s out of pocket expense for the Operating Room was $4000. That doesn’t include the Anesthesiologist, pediatrician and all the other charges that come from needing an unexpected surgery.

And now we anticipate a substantial bill from the NICU. Public school teachers don’t receive decent benefits. The pay is shameful at best, and the lack of encouragement to bond with your newborn in those vital few months is depressing.

Jeffrey and I are asking for financial support for our kids. It is very difficult to have to ask for help. We struggled emotionally with the embarrassment that we can’t help like we want to. After a lot of discussion and processing, I thought about our friends and how they would react if we didn’t ask for help.

The money raised here will help cover the loss of pay from Bailey’s family leave and help carry the family until Dillon’s first paycheck.