Sense to Save

Start your taxes now, because…

I’m glad I started the process of filing our taxes this week. Turns out, there’s an error on Shane’s W2. One box has some numbers transposed. Lovely.

We need to get a corrected W2 and such. I hope it doesn’t take long! I want my refund already.

I’m glad I didn’t wait until the last minute before seeing this mistake. That would have been even more hassle.

Have you started your taxes yet?

Edited: I found out why the W2 was funny. Turns out, Pennsylvania doesn’t recognize bus passes as deductible (or something) and I guess the federal does? Shane gets his bus pass through work and the cost is deducted from his paycheck. Who knows. I guess I can forge ahead with our taxes!

A few easy ways to potentially save a stranger’s life

When we went to the hospital to give birth to our son, we made sure to have our cord blood donation kit ready to go. After Shane cut Jonathan’s umbilical cord, our midwife collected the leftover blood in the cord.

This blood contains stem cells which can be used to treat serious illnesses such as leukemia.

Our original plan was to leave the cord attached until it stopped pulsating, meaning that Jonathan would have more of his own blood back in his body. According to the cord blood donor representative I spoke with, we could still donate after waiting.

Since I had developed some complications, they wanted to cut the cord so Jonathan could be evaluated right away.

Donating his cord blood was a free, easy and painless thing to do, and it just might have saved someone’s life.

I figured if I could donate my son’s stem cells, why not see about donating my own?

One of my best friends had leukemia and received a life-saving bone marrow transplant from her father. But what if no one in her family was a suitable match? She’d have to hope someone on the bone marrow registry was a match.

Many families pray that their loved ones will be able to find a donor before it’s too late. So it’s up to us healthy folk to get on that registry to help someone out.

You can get on the bone marrow registry online! Simply fill out a health questionnaire, and they’ll send you a kit to take some cell samples.

I took four q-tip like swabs, and brushed the insides of my cheeks. I put the swabs back in the collection mailer and sent it on its way. It was quick and painless. I absolutely love that I could get on the registry without having to submit a blood sample or go somewhere.

It did cost $52, however. The fee is to cover their lab expenses.

Shane and I don’t have a ton of money to donate to the many worthy causes out there, but we can certainly donate our bone marrow if need be. If you think you’d be willing to give someone a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant, learn more about the process and get on the registry!

Not sure if you can commit to that? Then consider donating your blood. I haven’t yet done this, but as soon as I get a chance, I’d like to. When I was 17, I tried to donate blood but was turned away because they couldn’t find a good vein. After that, I chickened out and hadn’t gone to any other blood drives. While pregnant, though, I had given countless blood samples and it really is a piece of cake. I figure if I can birth a human, I can certainly give a little blood to someone who might need it.

Highlights from my hospital bill

The hospital billing department sent me an itemized bill. Here are some of the highlights:

- $1,275/ night for a “semi-private” room. I don’t know where they’re getting “semi,” since it wasn’t a shared room. x3 nights is $3,825.

- Because my water broke at 11 a.m. and I wasn’t in active labor by 6 p.m. (though I had started having contractions, thankfully), I was induced with a drug called Cervidil. That thing cost a whopping $2,108.

- A line item called “LDR Delivery” was $3,333.

- Since I developed pre-eclampsia, I was given magnesium sulfate, which cost $180

- A .25 oz. tube of Lasinoh was $19. What? You can get several ounces for like $10 at Target.

The remaining charges were miscellaneous blood wor and meds for my recovery.

I’m so fortunate for our HMO and I’m fortunate that we had a relatively uncomplicated delivery. Ok, there were some complications, but I’m thankful that it didn’t end in a c-section.