Great. I thought that was too good to be true. Why in the world did I ever believe that filing paperwork for a new human being would be a simple, pain free process? Henry will be 4 months on Sunday. I figured that something had to be wrong because this is obviously well past the 12 week period. I began to worry because it is quickly approaching January...that means TAX TIME. Without a social security card and number, we can't claim Henry on our taxes. I hate to think that I am one of those parents that associates TAX DEDUCTION and BABY, but dammit, I want what I am entitled to.
Here's the scoop. After HOURS of calling the Social Security offices in Louisville, all 2 of them, I was finally able to determine that the hospital NEVER FILED for the Social Security Card. This scared me. If they had not filed for the card, what else did they say they were going to do...then didn't? I was able to get the application process for the Social Security Card started, I had to have his birth certificate, verification of birth statement and a pediatrician issued immunization record certificate. My aunt came in to take me to Frankfort since I only have Mondays off. We wanted to get this taken care of as soon as possible since we were already getting such a late start.
So we stopped past Henry's pediatrician and picked up the immunization certificate. I had the verification of birth statement. I figured that getting his birth certificate would be easy. HA! Boy was I wrong. Not only did Frankfort NOT have his birth certificate, they had no record of Baptist East even submitting ANY information about his birth. According to the sate, the baby is NON-EXISTENT!
I can tell you right now, spending close to $9000 on health care and medical bills for a NON-EXISTENT baby seems kind of foolish, so I kindly (not so kindly) called Baptist East from Frankfort and informed them of this. They were extremely clueless as to what happened, and offered me their sincerest apologies. That's fine and dandy, but that isn't going to get my aunt her gasoline and time back. They said " well, it says here that it was entered into the computer. I don't know what happened after that." They referred me to a woman who works for the Kentucky Department of Health, who apparently forwards (and is apparently crappy at her job) all the information on the birth certificate to Frankfort. Seems to me, this is a middle-man position and the freaking HOSPITAL should be responsible for this to prevent confusion.
Of course I called this woman, and there was no answer. I left 2 messages on her machine, I am sure that by the second message she probably doesn't wan to call me back. I am generally nice, but when it comes to personal information about someone (more specifically MY BABY) that cannot be accounted for, I do tend to get pissed. I get even MORE PISSED when I am ignored. A simple explanation was all I was asking for.
What does all of this mean? The obvious answer to this question is that I have no record of my son ever being born. I have no birth certificate, no social security card. Nothing. All of the paperwork I have from the hospital is apparently a formality, because NONE of the documents I was given can be used to apply for any government issued documents. I have a non-existent 4 month old.
This also means that it is almost December and that it will take up to 3 weeks for them to prove he was born, another 2 weeks for that to be sent to the Kentucky Department of Health, another week for that to register with Vital Statistics and another week for that information to arrive in my mailbox in from of a birth certificate. My child will be almost 5 months old before the state recognizes that he is a real baby! Too damn bad the insurance companies already recognize him!
What I have learned. I have learned that you should never, ever trust that bureaucracy will serve you well. I should have trusted my gut instinct when I left the hospital and filed for everything I needed on my own. Afterall, the birth registrar misspelled my name twice, and could not explain any of the paperwork to me in English. She was Indian. Nothing against that, but the hospital should have someone on staff that can explain things clearly to you when you ask. She kept saying "How do you say" and "I don't know." Only one piece of paper that I received from the hospital was self- explanatory, and that was the above mentioned piece about when I would receive his social security card. Even that was a bust!
All in all, I am very tired and frustrated that I had to haul Henry so far for nothing. I could have spent that day enjoying my time with him and not worrying about if the state even acknowledges his birth. I did have a great time with my aunt though. We always have fun on our increasingly pointless adventures. Enough about that. I will just sit back and wait for either Baptist East or the Kentucky Department of Health to screw something up again....on to happier thoughts.
Since I can't get away with not posting a new picture of Henry, here is the newest one that I have of him. This was taken on Thanksgiving at "Uncle Aarons" Henry was amused by the rather large ornaments that they put on their 15 foot tree!
That's all for now,
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