Preparing Financially for a Baby: Before (Part I)
Nine months sounds like plenty of time to prepare for a baby’s arrival. That is, until you’re the one counting down for your own baby. After the initial shock of finding out I was pregnant subsided, the excitement set in. And then the blessed hormones of pregnancy turned me into a crazy woman. From stressing about nursery decorations to worrying that my figure was starting to resemble the Incredible Hulk to going on a cleaning rampages until every inch of our townhouse was organized, I was a basketcase. AND, on top of all my irrational behavior, there were some very real financial preparations Johnny and I had to make before Baby Girl arrived. Suddenly nine months wasn’t nearly enough time for these parents-to-be.
The first question I intended to resolve was this: What expenses did we have before Baby Girl’s arrival? Once I answered that question, I was surprised by all of our financial responsibilities we were on the line for BEFORE we even met our little girl. (Want to guess the grand total? It’s listed at the bottom of this post, but no cheating!)
Primary Insurance Copay
Pregnancy means lots of appointments. They start out once a month in the beginning and become weekly by the end. Even if you have a small copay, such as $15, you end up paying hundreds by the end. We had a $15 copay for the first appointment, since that’s when pregnancy is “diagnosed.” P.S. I hate that that’s the term they use. Under our insurance plan, all subsequent copays were waived. But every insurance plan differs.
Ultrasounds
Once again, depending on your insurance, these can be a beast, so look into how much your insurance covers. With our old insurance, we had to pay about $150 each time. And that time we had to go twice in one day because Baby Girl refused to change positions for the ultrasound tech? Yeah, they charged us for both visits. OUCH.
Baby Books (for ME)
I read everything I could get my hands on about pregnancy. When all was said and done, I had 6 books I was reading about pregnancy/preparing for a baby. And Johnny and I purchased four of those. At at least $10 a pop, we spent $50 right there! But I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm, so maybe other parents-to-be won’t have to worry about this expense. Also, there’s always the library. Want to know my favorites?
Maternity Clothing
I was determined through most of my pregnancy to just keep wearing my same clothes. Even with my stubbornness, I ended up purchasing two pairs of maternity jeans and several shirts. I would say we spent a solid $150 on maternity clothes. And Johnny’s shirts? Yup, I took over those as well.
Baby Gear
This expense is the motherload expense. We budgeted $1000 for everything: nursery furniture, stroller, car seat, baby clothes, etc. And without gifts from family and friends, we definitely would have gone over that number. Confession: One day alone I spent $600 on Amazon. That was doozie, but it sure put my crazy nesting mind at ease.
Baby Classes
Johnny and I took a baby care class, which was $20. We considered a labor class as well, which would have cost us $80. If for no other reason, these classes are great for preparing mentally for having a baby. And that baby care class was well worth the money just to see Johnny carefully diapering and swaddling a baby doll.
Other Preparations
Before Baby Girl was born, Johnny and I met with an HR representative from our respective employers to figure out our companies’ policies on maternity and paternity leave. Johnny’s leave was with 100% pay, but mine was not, so we had to budget for a few weeks of a little less cash flow. Our companies required that we fill out forms in advance in order to ensure the maternity/paternity leave was a seamless transition. Stressing about such details while still adjusting to the wailings of a newborn would be a terrible combination, so we were glad to know the financial details of our leaves in advance.
If you’ve been doing the numbers as I’ve gone down the list, then you already know that Baby Girl cost us over $1500 before she even made her debut! I never would have guessed that when I first got pregnant. Thankfully Johnny and I were able to handle the expenses just fine, but it sure would have been nice to have a heads up.
Want to take a guess what Baby Girl has cost us since her arrival? That’s in tomorrow’s post. If you’ve had a baby, how do our expenses line up with your own? If not, have these numbers scared you off from ever reproducing?
February 20, 2013 at 7:51 am
Yeah, I love that a pregnancy gets “diagnosed”. But at least you were lucky and didn’t get a big “AMA” stamped on your chart like my friend. When she asked what it stood for she was slightly horrified when the nurse said, “Advanced Maternal Age” like it was a disease. She was 36. =)
February 20, 2013 at 1:58 pm
Oh my! Your poor friend… as if being pregnant isn’t emotional enough!
There were several occasions during my pregnancy/delivery when I wanted to shout, “Attention! I’m not a specimen… I’m a human!” 
February 20, 2013 at 4:01 pm
When I had my first at nearly 31, I wasn’t labelled in any way, but for my second at 38 I was tagged as a “geriatric mother”. That’s got to be a term a man came up with!
Our prebirth expenses amounted to maybe $250 for a stroller and car seat. We were given a crib, and received all the other basic linens and clothing as shower gifts and kept it pretty simple. There were no medical costs associated with pregnancy or delivery (Canada).
February 20, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Forgot to mention. I bought two XL men’s tshirts for sleeping ($10?). Other than than I wore my loosest clothing as long as possible and then switched to a bag of maternity clothes a friend loaned me while she was between pregnancies. My aunt is a great sewer and also made me a blouse and shirt for days when I needed to be a little dressed up at the office. The rest of the time my loaned clothing got me through. I also borrowed a couple of my husband’s sweatshirts for weekends. Very few professions still require very formal office wear, so with very few basics you can do fine. You’ll do laundry more often and really be sick of those clothes by the end, but it’s only really about 4 months that you need actual maternity clothes. I had 3 prs of pants, 1 skirt, and about 6-7 tops and that was plenty. On weekends if you have leggings and big tshirts you’re fine.
February 21, 2013 at 12:42 am
No kidding… I’m offended, and it isn’t even me who was being called that! So ridiculous.
Your pre-birth expenses weren’t bad at all! And I’m right there with ya with wearing men’s t-shirts during pregnancy (and at night even still!). It makes nursing so much easier!
February 20, 2013 at 8:14 am
All the number DO scare me so I’ve started saving $50/month towards a baby fund for when the day comes, lol.
February 20, 2013 at 2:01 pm
Super smart, Tina! You won’t regret it one bit! In fact, when the day comes, you might even pat yourself on the back and say, “Tina, this was one of your smartest ideas yet.”
February 20, 2013 at 8:56 am
Your expenses look pretty good to me and measure up pretty well to what ours was. Nine months SEEMS like a long time, but when you’re trying to prepare for all that comes with it, it goes by in a flash. One thing I would also add would be saving for any lost wages, in case the Mom works. You’ll want to have money set aside to cover any shortages from ST disability or whatever else the employer provides.
February 20, 2013 at 2:06 pm
Great point, John! We didn’t set aside extra money for my ST disability, but that would have been a great idea… we had four weeks of only 60% pay (from ST disability), which was no fun!
February 20, 2013 at 9:12 am
I think pregnancy also gets classified as a short-term disability, right? Funny designations!
February 20, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Yes! One plus side to that is getting to board early on flights! I took advantage of that at 25 weeks, and I’m pretty sure everyone was giving Johnny and me the evil eye. But I plan to do it again the next time I’m pregnant!
February 20, 2013 at 9:27 am
I don’t really remember the costs before our little guy was born, but we never paid a co-pay for any office visits/ultrasounds/etc since my wife’s insurance has no co-pay. I know we hit out max out of pocket for the year which was $8000, but that is because my wife ended up with severe pre-eclampsia/toxicity (don’t ever ask her how much she hates magnesium) and ended up with an emergency c-sections. So during that time we had visits from her OB, and a cardiologist along with an in-room x-ray thingy. Then our little guy spent 10 days in the NICU where he was visited twice a day by the on-call pediatrician.
I do know the total bill (or at least what was billed to insurance) was around 95K when it was all said and done. So I am going to guess your baby cost another $3K….
February 20, 2013 at 2:22 pm
I’m sure that was a crazy time, and I’m glad it all turned out okay in the end! At the time the cost of it all was probably the last thing on your minds, so it’s great you guys didn’t have to pay anywhere close to the $95k. Nuts! Time and again Johnny and I have discussed how difficult pregnancy/birth/becoming parents is WITHOUT extra complications. You guys are tough cookies.
February 20, 2013 at 9:35 am
“If you’ve had a baby, how do our expenses line up with your own?”
Well, speaking for myself personally, I’ve never had a baby, although my wife has stepped up and given birth to two for the team !
Your “pre-baby arrival” costs seem to be reasonable. Having had two of our own, however, I might warn you that you ain’t seen nothing yet – wait till they become teenagers (with the fridge door open – 24/7) !!!
Btw, as to paying for baby books (or any types of books, for that matter), in the last few years I’ve gone the e-book reader route. I now download all the free e-books to my kindle (and/or to my desktop) that I want, saving me the need to go to the library or bookstore. Let me know if you’d care for some ebook links and I’ll fire off an email to you.
February 21, 2013 at 12:44 am
Oh gosh, I know our girl will just start costing even more each year. Let’s just hope I have the willpower to say no to shopping sprees when she’s a teenager!
And I’m all about e-books! I read on my phone while I feed Baby Girl. I’d love any and all links you’d like to share, Rob!
February 21, 2013 at 8:56 am
oki dokie Joanna – you have mail
February 20, 2013 at 10:04 am
I hadn’t even thought about all the co-pays…yikes! I guess I’ve been viewing those 9 months as the homestretch effort of saving all you can — and had forgot to consider all the extra expenses. Good to know!
February 21, 2013 at 12:46 am
Yup, it’s pretty crazy. But I will say that it’s super fun to buy all the gear/furniture/clothes leading up to having a baby! It was expensive, but I secretly loved it. Shh!
February 20, 2013 at 11:24 am
I’m currently 5 months pregnant. Here is how every thing is going to cost me.
Primary Insurance Copay:
My doctor’s office takes all the expected lab work, ultrasounds, and the cost of the delivery (just the hospital fees) and divides it into 6 payments so that they don’t have to worry about being after baby is here. I like it because it means that I don’t have to worry about a huge bill from them in a few months. This will cost me $1050.
Ultrasounds:
This is included in the above for me.
Baby Books:
I have only bought one book ($10) and am borrowing others as well.
Maternity Clothing:
I have only spent $34 on maternity clothes and I have gotten enough to last me second hand from my sister and friends.
Baby Gear:
Thankfully I am getting most of this second hand from my sister. I am also having a baby shower in 2 months, so hopefully the one big expense (car seat) I don’t currently have I’ll get or at least get gift cards to help with the cost. If not I’ll probably spent between $100-$200, (I haven’t really looked at car seats yet).
Baby Classes:
I plan on taking a newborn care class and a breastfeeding class, the birthing class doesn’t really seem worth it. So for classes I am probably going to spend about $50.
Other Preparations:
I am taking unpaid maternity leave, luckily I will be living at my parents’ house so I will have very few bills I will need to save up for during that time.
So for me that is about $1250. Thank goodness for loving sisters who share.
February 21, 2013 at 1:02 am
First of all, Jennifer, congrats!! You’ve got some exciting times ahead. I loved preparing for Baby Girl’s arrival.
And oh my awesome on your expenses! That’s a really cool payment plan that your hospital does… it seems so much smarter than how most places do it. And that’s so great that your sister will be able to lend you most of the big ticket items!! It sounds like you are set up. Enjoy this time… before you know it, Baby will be here!
February 20, 2013 at 11:34 am
My costs lined up pretty well with yours. It is funny, but since the little man has been with us, we have spent much less than we used to. That is probably preparing us for the very expensive day care that is coming up next month. That is going to be fun!
February 21, 2013 at 12:48 am
We have spent less in some categories, too! Food for instance… now that I don’t have time to fix nice meals and we never go out, we are under our food budget each month! But you’re right… we better enjoy it while it lasts because those little boogers will start costing us really soon!
February 20, 2013 at 1:23 pm
I’m hoping that we’ll be in a better place financially (ie, my husband will have his full time firefighter job) before we have a baby, but even at this point, if it happened by surprise, I think we would be okay. I’d like to have a little bit more debt paid off though. $1500 for the joy of a baby?! Seems like a bargain to me ; )
February 21, 2013 at 12:51 am
Agreed! Seriously, every penny is worth it. It’s the hardest, best thing that’s ever happened to Johnny and me, but we’re trying to savor every moment!
February 20, 2013 at 10:46 pm
Apparently I need to also start a baby fund in addition to a wedding fund. Neither are a twinkle in my eye. But, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared!
February 21, 2013 at 12:52 am
Totally, Michelle! Your future husband will be one lucky man marrying someone so financially prepared.
February 21, 2013 at 6:57 am
We don’t have kids, but I think most people pay a LOT more than you do for health care. In fact, you are the only ones I have ever met who have a plan that essentially covers everything; most people it costs at least a few grand before their out of pocket cost is maxed out.
I would definitely say the costs of having a child is a reason we are holding off for 6+ years (or planning to, at least).
February 21, 2013 at 8:05 pm
That was our reason for waiting. We didn’t want finances to be an additional stress in our lives. I have a ton of respect for people who figure out ways to make that work, but it wasn’t for us, so we waited.
February 22, 2013 at 11:24 am
How much paternity leave did Johnny end up taking? When does Joanna plan to go back to work?
February 23, 2013 at 12:25 am
I only took a week, since that’s what my work covered. In hindsight, I probably should have taken at least another week. I remember walking into my first day back with maybe ten total hours of sleep from the entire week prior and thinking, “This is a really bad idea.”
Joanna’s planning on returning at the beginning of next month. So in the end, she’ll have taken two months off. And she doesn’t think that will be enough time either. But it’ll all work out.
February 25, 2013 at 5:21 pm
I remember the days of hormones out of sync and baby brain drain. Thanks goodness they are so darn cute and lovable. Isn’t it interesting all the things people forgot to tell us when we’re having kids – like it does hurt (yes, it is worth it but it still HURTS) and the money starts going out the door the minute you’re … diagnosed.