Every Day Counts

On July 26th, my wife drove herself to the hospital. On August 2nd, our second son was born at 29 weeks, weighing 2 pounds 12 ounces.

For 43 days in the NICU, I learned that planning fails, money matters, and only eight people show up when it counts.

Every Day Counts is what I wrote in the parking lot after the drive home.

This is not a medical book. It's a story for any parent who has waited for a monitor to beep, for anyone who has checked their phone to see who would actually come.

An economist by training, I thought I understood risk. Then I spent six weeks watching my son fight to breathe, watching my wife recover from surgery, and watching a small community of nurses, volunteers, and friends do unpaid work that no model can explain.

You will learn:

• What 43 days in a Canadian NICU really costs and what I wish I knew about coverage before we needed it

• Why most financial plans break in week one - and what actually helps

• How to tell who is really in your corner when you have nothing to offer back

• Why the most valuable work in a hospital is done by people who aren't paid for it

A story for parents, for friends who want to show up better, and for anyone who has had a plan break.

From Abbotsford, BC - written for the man in the chair at four in the afternoon who was just told his wife is being transferred and has a small boy holding his hand and nobody to call. I've been that man.