Babies...

It all depends on your expectations in life. I raised an extremely difficult child successfully (hey, he's not in jail!) alone on $1000 a month, and my son was born in 1981. I always paid half my paycheck or more for rent. And no, I wasn't on welfare.

SoooOOOOooo, you can do it and have fun no matter what!

Just remember these few things:

1. You will never again have clothes that don't have stains. Babies burp up on you, grab you with sticky hands (and in Jules' case, with poopy hands) and basically get every bodily fluid you have ever dreamed of in places you wouldn't believe stuff could go. (Bend back when you open a boy baby's diaper!) I'm so glad babies don't have anal glands. [8|]

2. You won't CARE that you don't have any clothes without stains. []

3. Your child will bring out the absolute BEST in you, and the absolute worst, too! And strangely enough, you'll work it all out! In the end you will grow more than you could ever have believed possible.

4. Don't be one of those totally overprotective, micromanaging, obsessive mothers. Let someone else babysit and go out with hubby for a night. You can express breastmilk and your baby can drink from a bottle. Be sure to teach your baby to drink from a bottle, btw, because if you got sick he or she will need that skill. But take time to keep your relationship with your husband special, time that is for just you two.

That's just a little of what you have to look forward to. It's very hard, very fun, very, very rewarding.

Here's a picture of my son, Ole.

For all new parents it's tough and scary in the begining. I read all the books, took a class, asked all the questions, but for some reason when my son came home I forgot everything. (almost) I just needed to relax.
 
I loved being pregnant, even though I was really sick for my daughter I loved it. I kept a journal for each pregnancy and it's still going today. That way I was able to look back the next time and i could compare. It was nice because I would forget things and then I would find the same thing on my previous child.
 
If you need any help, maybe we can start a baby thread. LOL Don't worry I'm sure you'll be fine.
 

How much does it cost from the time your pregnant until you go home with the baby? 

 
Not as much as it will to raise him/her!  I think I read somewhere it costs approx. $250,000 to raise a child to age 18! 
 
Amy, I was terrified when I was pregnant.  I wasn't good with kids, didn't like babysitting partly because I didn't know what to do with a crying infant who wouldn't stop.  Heck, I didn't even play with dolls!  When my son was two days old, I was at home trying to dress him and couldn't figure out how to get a t-shirt on him because his head kept flopping over!  I called his dad at work and said HELP!  I was practically crying.  His dad had other kids, so he knew.  My mom wasn't speaking to me, we were at a new duty station and I didn't know a soul - it was a scary time.  Now he's 17 and still has all his limbs! 
 
 

No advice on parenting here, I'm not ready yet and probably won't be for a while [] but...
I know when my aunt here in IL got pregnant with their last baby (he's 5 now so that was a few years ago) they didn't have insurance any more, he was an "oops-baby" it cost them a little over $10,000 to get through the pregnancy and delivery (and there were no complications).
To me that's a LOT of money, personally, I would rather get insurance and be on the safe side, you never know what kind of complications come up or how long you or the baby might have to stay in the hospital.
We plan on having kids within a few years and are going to add this to our insurance at the beginning of next year, this will be an additional $100 monthly.
(to me this is insane but I am still spoiled from Germany!)

Well...we have good insurance thru my DH's work. Basically we paid a $15 co pay at the FIRST well check once you are "pregnant". We went to the doc's oh what it is once a month...then once every two weeks, then once a week...it gets to be more the closer you get to birth. We paid a nominal...I want to say $50 copay? for our U/S...and once the babies came...to 'spring' us out of the hospital was $200. So really...we're talking under $300 total. When I looked at the hospital bill afterward it was in the thousands..maybe even close to 7-10K had we NOT had anything covered...so...yeah...we have GOOD insurance! That should be a priority...I don't think even when I was working at retail work...I ever had insurance that DIDN'T cover pregnancy to a great extent. The stuff we have now even covers "trying' to get pregggers up to $10,000.

Oh and one of the best money saving things you can do is BREAST FEED your baby. I simply about passed out when it came to buying formula after I gave up feeding my first...$20-30 PER CAN and those are the big ones and Sam's Club and boy they go FAST!
 
Sam's is a godsend for buying diapers as well! I BF my son (second baby) a lot longer lol but he was simply so HUGE I couldn't keep up with him and right around 5-6 months old I gave in again and we went to formula. It wasn't as bad then because he was also on some solid food and after 12 months he went to whole milk and has been on that since...he loves it [] ersonally I'd rather eat a toe nail clipping than drink a glass of milk...[:'(]
 
I am SO not a maternal person, and have never been. My close cousin who's more like a sister is my age as she was always carrying baby dolls around and got that label as a kid. I was always the sullen and aloof one haha! But...things change. I am happily married with 2 kids by 30 and she has discovered schooling and just finished up her Masters! No plans to marry or have kids anytime soon...so things can change vastly depending on your circumstances. As I've said before I had a plan for IF I ever was to have kids..I'd have them all before age 30 and I've stuck to that...so planning isn't totally out of the question...planning is IMO a big part of being a good parent. So you've got  ahead start if you like things planned! []

I'm sooooo with you on the "giving up control" aspect of trying!!!!  I just can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that I don't know what is going to happen.  Will it happen quickly or will it take time?  I make lists and schedules all the time...our kitchen calendar is color coded and its only me, DH and Cooper right now!!! 
 
I think its just one of those things where you have to let go and let god.  I'm still having issues with it, but I've got to loosen up, our whole world will turn upside down once it happens, just like when we first got Cooper. 

None of my children were planned. And that probably helped out a bit. If you just get pregnant, then you HAVE to do these things that you're thinking about. But if you plan too much, then you worry too much.
 
There are many programs out there that help with the cost. Here in California there's Insurance called Healthy Families. I believe there's a Co-pay, but it's not that much. And it covers your baby up until it's a year old. I've never had to worry about the cost.
 
Or, you can go other routes. I believe most doctor visits are around $70 - $150. Then the birth at the hospital is from $1,500 - $2,500. With no complications. If we didn't qualify for Healthy Families, we would just use our tax return to cover the hospital fees.
 
Just get online and look up insurance companies, and other places that provided insurance for pregnant mothers.
 
I can't tell you how excited I am to have my last child. And can't wait to find out the sex! Only 7 weeks to go until I can find out!

Imagine having a new puppy in the house but it stays a pup for several years and you cannot leave it in a crate! LOL. 
 
I think the main thing when having kids is understanding your life is not your own anymore!  The child becomes the center of your universe with the sun rising and setting on them (at least till they learn to talk!).  You can still have time to yourself and hubby but you will have to plan for that time - no more spur of the moment trips and activities. 
 
I suggest getting insurance if at all possible.  What began as an uneventful pregnancy turned in a major complication the last 3 months.  Between the cardiac specialists, emergency room bills, unexpected c-section, post-delivery heart tests, DD's specialized phototherapy care I think our final tally was between 60-70 thousand dollars!  Of that even with insurance we paid 4-5 thousand out of pocket.
(which would have been less but my company got sold while I was out on leave and the new company started our deductible and out-of-pocket expenses all over again after having been met! [:@]). 
 
I had an arrangement with a friend of mine - she would clip my dd's nails and I would clip her rabbit's since neither one of us could stand it with our own!.
 
Just remember we are here to help when you need us or at least cry/laugh if nothing else.     

Amy, I'm a planner too and I'd say don't even consider it until you have good health insurance.  There are soooo many things that can happen.  My coworker just delivered twins in May and although things went very smoothly, I'm sure it would've been very costly if they'd not had insurance and even more so if there'd been complications.  I'm a worrier by nature though, so in many ways, I envy the folks who just say "things will work out fine".  It's just not me though and it's probably why I never had any kids.  My first husband and I talked about it so many times, but always wanted things to be "right" (enough money, a house, etc.).  We were also pretty selfish and wanted to keep enjoying the child-free life and we were doing so much traveling, we were afraid to give it up.  My dad kept telling me that we were overthinking it too much, and I'm sure he was right.  I think you'll be a great mom and you'll learn as you go, but I still think the health insurance would be a wise idea.

We must have lucked out as far as insurance goes. DH is retired Navy so we were able to use Champus. #1 was born in a private hospital in San Diego and Champus took care of everything.  #2 was born in the military hospital on Travis AFB - no charge there, either.  Which was good, because both of them were C-sections. Now  we use Kaiser (even though we could use Champus) but we won't be using it for more babies, for sure.[][]

Joyce

Joyce, you too?  We were Navy people.  I had my son at Andrews AFB Hospital and think I paid $16.00 when I checked out - that was for my meals.
 
He also had surgery on his head at age 3 1/2 months at Walter Reed Army Med Center in Washington D.C., performed by 2 neurosurgeons.  I paid $48.00 when he was checked out.  And in 1989, you know how much it would have cost at a civilian hospital w/ regular insurance?
 
Military medical services and CHAMPUS has gotten a lot of bad rap, but in those two instances, I can never say enough good things.

Not to steal the thread, but my ex-DH was the NCO in charge of the orthopedic ward at Travis and then for 4 years at Weisbaden, Germany.  We came back and he managed the Urgent Care Clinic here at Mclellan until he retired (at 45 []).  I heard lots of bad comments about military health care, but never had any negative experiences.

Thanks guys...
 
I am selfish about the whole thing, I can admit that.  I am scared of babies for one thing... and I have never been that kind of girly girl who plays with dolls either.  While I was young I did sports... my friends have always been guys and still are.  Im just a spontanious beer drinker... I cant picture my life with a baby in it, its just so not me.  But I do want one just clueless and scared.
 
I have Blue Cross health insurance now and pay $260 for DH and I with $40 co-pay and no deductible.  I called about adding pregnancy in there and it would be $420 a month for the two of us with a $2,500 deductible and you have to have had it for a year before getting preganant!  Sheeesh!
 
Sooo adding this up for the year of added premium plus the deductible thats $4,420.  So I guess its still a little better to have it in case of problems but I still have to wait a year?  Thats not fair.
 
I will take your suggestions and go looking for what other options I have as far as that goes.  I will breast feed but thats another thing that scares me... I'd rather not begin to droop but oh well.  Im scared of stretch marks.. the weight, the droops... omg.