I'm so sorry you're dealing with this stress on top of preparing for your new baby! I went through a similar situation 2 years ago and it's incredibly frustrating how little support there is for new parents in Texas. Everyone here is absolutely right about unemployment - you won't qualify while on FMLA because you're not "available for work" even though the leave is unpaid. It's such a cruel catch-22. Here are a few things that helped me get through 10 weeks of unpaid leave: 1. **Food banks** - Many don't require income verification and can help stretch your grocery budget significantly 2. **Plasma donation** - If you're healthy, you can donate plasma while pregnant (up until about 6 weeks before due date) for extra cash 3. **Gig work before baby comes** - I did some freelance work evenings/weekends to build up savings 4. **Local pregnancy resource centers** - Many provide free diapers, formula, baby clothes and sometimes emergency financial assistance Also, start having conversations with your mortgage lender NOW rather than waiting until you miss payments. Many have hardship programs but they work better if you're proactive. The whole system is absolutely broken, but you WILL get through this. Don't be afraid to accept help from family and friends - most people understand how expensive having a baby is. Hang in there mama! 💕

I feel for you so much! I'm currently 8 months pregnant and just went through this same panic when I realized my company's maternity leave is completely unpaid too. It's honestly criminal how little support new parents get in this country. Since everyone has already confirmed that unemployment won't work (which sucks but is unfortunately true), here are a few things that have helped me prepare financially: 1. **Baby registries with completion discounts** - Target and Amazon both give you 15% off remaining registry items. I'm using this for all the essentials like diapers, wipes, etc. to stock up cheaply 2. **Local Buy Nothing groups on Facebook** - I've gotten SO much free baby stuff this way, including a barely-used crib and changing table 3. **Nextdoor app** - neighbors often sell baby items cheap or give them away 4. **Second-hand baby stores** - much cheaper than regular retail and babies outgrow everything so fast anyway Also, if you have any skills like writing, graphic design, or tutoring, consider setting up some remote freelance work you could potentially do during maternity leave (when baby is sleeping). Obviously your health and bonding time come first, but even a few hours a week could help with bills. The financial stress is so real, but you're going to be an amazing mom and you'll figure this out! We're all just trying to make the best of a broken system. ❤️

I'm dealing with a similar DUA denial right now - TWC seems to have really tightened up their review process lately. One thing that helped me was getting a notarized affidavit from my employer instead of just a regular letter. The notarization seemed to give it more legitimacy in their eyes. Also, if you haven't already, try to get documentation from the city/county about the official disaster declaration for your area. I found mine on the county emergency management website and it helped establish that there was indeed a qualifying disaster event. The appeals examiner specifically asked about this during my hearing. For the payment request issue while your claim is denied - you might need to look for a "weekly certification" or "payment request" link that's separate from your main claim status. It's not always obvious where to find it when the claim shows denied. The system is honestly terrible at explaining this stuff. Good luck with your appeal! The fact that you have all those emails and photos should really help your case.

I'm going through a DUA appeal right now too and wanted to share something that really helped my case. When I got my employer to write the updated letter, I had them include specific financial details about how the storm impacted their business - like "due to water damage totaling $X, we had to close for Y weeks and postpone all new hires until repairs are completed." The appeals examiner told me that showing the concrete business impact made it much clearer that this wasn't just an excuse to rescind job offers. Also, if your dental office filed any insurance claims for the storm damage, see if they can reference the claim number in their letter - that adds another layer of verification. One more tip: when you do your phone hearing, be prepared to walk through the exact timeline step by step. They'll want to hear "I was offered the job on [date], storm hit on [date], employer contacted me on [date] to postpone start date, etc." Having those specific dates ready made a huge difference in my case. The whole process is frustrating but don't give up! TWC seems to deny a lot of DUA claims initially just to see if people will appeal with better documentation.

I went through this exact same nightmare about 6 months ago! The SSN login loop is incredibly frustrating and their error messages are completely unhelpful. What worked for me was calling at exactly 7:00 AM (set multiple alarms!) and being very specific about the problem. I told them "I'm getting stuck in a loop where the system tells me to call TWC every time I enter my SSN, and I need someone to check for identity verification flags on my account." The first rep tried to help but couldn't access that part of the system. When I asked to be transferred to identity verification, they found that my account was flagged because I had entered my apartment number differently than what was in their records (I wrote "Apt 5B" instead of "#5B"). Such a tiny difference but their system treated it as a red flag! Once they updated it, I could log in immediately. The good news is that your claim will still process correctly even while you can't access the online portal - I was worried about that too but my payments came through on schedule. Definitely try the early morning call strategy and don't let them brush you off if the first person can't help. Ask specifically for identity verification department transfer.

I work as a customer service supervisor for a state agency (not TWC, but similar systems) and wanted to chime in with some insight about why this happens so frequently. These legacy government systems often have multiple databases that don't communicate well with each other, so something as simple as a space in your name, a hyphen in your address, or even capitalization differences can trigger security flags. The "call TWC" message is basically their system's way of saying "something doesn't match but we can't tell you what for security reasons." The identity verification department has access to see all the different data sources and can spot these mismatches that regular customer service can't see. Pro tip: when you do get through, ask them to read back exactly how your information appears in their system. Sometimes there are extra spaces, missing punctuation, or abbreviations that you wouldn't expect. Having that exact formatting for future reference can save you headaches later. Also, if you've ever had a name change (marriage, divorce, etc.), make sure all your documents reflect the same name consistently - that's another common trigger for these flags.

Honestly, the inconsistent timing with TWC is one of the most stressful parts of being unemployed. I'm glad you finally got your payment! For what it's worth, I've noticed that sometimes the second and third payments take longer because they do random quality checks - not necessarily because there's a problem with your claim, but just part of their process. It's super annoying when you're trying to manage bills and rent. I started keeping a small emergency fund specifically for these TWC delays after going through this myself. Also, if you ever need to call them again, try calling right when they open at 8am - much better chance of getting through than later in the day.

I've been through similar delays with TWC and it's definitely nerve-wracking when you have bills due! One thing I learned is that TWC often processes payments in batches, so sometimes there can be random delays even when everything is correct on your end. Since your status changed to 'processed', that's actually a really good sign - it means they've approved your payment and sent it to your bank. In my experience, once it hits 'processed' status, the money usually shows up within 24-48 hours. TWC's system is just really inconsistent with timing unfortunately. I started requesting my payments earlier in the week (like Monday or Tuesday) to give myself more buffer time before bills are due. Also, if you're using direct deposit, make sure your bank info is still current in your TWC profile - sometimes small changes can cause delays. Hang in there, you should see that deposit very soon!

Glad to hear it worked out @Drake! For anyone else reading this thread, here's a quick summary of what we learned: TWC typically takes 24-48 hours to process and show "posted" status, then the ReliaCard takes an additional 1-2 business days for funds to actually appear. So total time from payment request to available funds is usually 2-4 business days. The ReliaCard customer service can often see pending deposits before they show in your balance, so that's worth calling if you're worried. And definitely consider switching to direct deposit for faster access - just triple-check your banking info first!

Just wanted to add that if you're still having anxiety about future payments, you can also set up text alerts through the ReliaCard website. They'll send you a notification as soon as funds are deposited, which helped me stop obsessively checking my balance every hour! Also, keep in mind that if your payment request falls on a Friday, the whole timeline shifts because of weekends - so a Friday filing might not show up until the following Tuesday or Wednesday.