i won.

When I took Caleb to his first doctor’s appointment his first week of life, I was terrified. Terrified that he’d hate the car ride there, that he’d cry in the otherwise quiet lobby, that I’d lose a stitch while I carried him in his car seat, that one of his vaccinations would poison him for life … just lots of sane, rational worries.

But then I met her. Dr. Rave (ra-vay). She was calm and soothing. She answered every one of my 398 questions patiently and never once told me I was crazy. She told us we were doing great.

She introduced us to the yoga ball. For those who don’t know. Bouncing with Caleb on a yoga ball was the only thing besides food that would soothe Caleb consistently for his first three months of life. I love that yoga ball. It changed my life.

And I owed it to Dr. Rave.

Every appointment confirmed that she was the perfect doctor for us. She was so sweet with Caleb, so gracious when we talked her ear off, and so generous with advice. And her nurses were wonderful. And the clinic was so clean and pristine and so close to home.

But then. I got a note from our HR department saying that we had to switch insurance providers. I was given two options. Thinking Dr. Rave was covered under the option I chose, I happily checked the box and went on with my day. Sadly, when the time came to schedule Caleb’s next appointment, we learned that I had a certain type of coverage that didn’t include Dr. Rave as a provider. Nor did it include any other doctor at her clinic.

I tried to look on the bright side. Just get a new doctor, right? There are tons of good ones out there. We are blessed to have good insurance. Just deal with it.

In the midst of trying to research doctors at this other clinic, Caleb got sick. It’s a long story, but the short version was we had a very bad experience with this other clinic. I couldn’t let it go. I told Luke that same day that we were going to get Dr. Rave back.

While we researched other options, which entailed paying hundreds more a month, I wrote a little letter to our health care provider, asking them to please, please let us switch back to our other insurance provider. I didn't know what to expect, but my hopes weren't that high. I contacted our HR rep probably once a week to see if she had heard anything ... and then ...

I got a letter in the mail and it began with the word, "congratulations." I can't tell you how excited I was. I wanted to scream and shout as if I'd won the lottery.

They let us switch back.

I hardly ever win anything. But this. This meant the world to me.

It came at the most perfect time, too. Just last week Caleb B. had pneumonia and it was no small thing that he got to see the doctor he knew and trusted again. Okay, so maybe he didn't care so much, but I did. Knowing that the doctors and nurses knew him and his history and that they knew and cared about us. It was huge.

So if this is the last thing I win in life ... okay ... no problem. I'll take it. Because ... this. was. huge.