I am still in the middle of going through all my wife's expenses from when our second baby was born on October 4th. One important consideration will be what your insurance defines as "Delivery Costs". For us the delivery cost was a single fee from the OB physician that covered all prenatal office visits (not counting in office lab work) and the actual vaginal delivery. The billed amount for this was $3500 and our insurance reduced amount was $2200 (covered 100%). We did have a higher expense however due to weekly fetal non-stress tests that were billed out at $250/ea that we had a $25 co-pay for. I will post up once we get everything added up.

As for the stroller, I really thing that it is hard to beat a Graco Travel System (Car seat + stroller). Our total cost was $199 at Babysrus and it has worked very well for us. We found the stroller to be light, compact, and sturdy. We did also go out and buy a $150 jogging stroller because we have a nice gravel hiking trail (about 50 miles long) that runs about 100 yards from out house.

One word of advise is to register early with Babysrus. They will start to send you tons of 10, 15, and 20% off coupons in the mail. We got most of our stuff from them using these coupons, saving a ton of money. The other thing is to talk to people that you know that have children. We received a ton of free (and in very good condition) stuff this way as people were starting to toss stuff out. One last word of advise, take it easy on buying newborn and 0-3 month clothing. Our daughter started wearing 3-6 month clothes when she was three weeks old and is now out of 99% of her 0-3 months clothes.

It may also be worthwhile to go to the maternity stores and start looking. I know that motherhood carries a line of pants that a specifically designed to fit throughout your pregnancy. They have different buttons/buckles.

On their website they are listed as "Adjustable waist" and "Miracle Pant"

sadly I'm so jealous that you are having your child at Prentice. I really like that building a lot. 42" plasma TV's in every room that you can use to browse the internet, play games, order movies or even food from the cafeteria. Actual bed like things for guests to sleep in as opposed to the recliner I spent many nights in when my child was born. I think I'm a bit obsessed with that place but to date it was probably my favorite building to work on and the one I was most involved in.

Have you thought of wearing trousers under a knee length dress? It's a very fashionable look over here and would probably be warmer than tights. I think that even if you were wearing maternity trousers, your co-workers wouldn't be able to tell.

I think that's why we're looking at something to just take us through the first summer while we figure out what our (and the kid's) style is: sling/backback/stroller/walking (once there). But I'm overwhelmed by the options and advice. I swear more people have advice on strollers than anything else.

They make strollers now that are essentially just frames for a carrier type car seat. As you will be needing the car seat anyway (I assume), this might be an option.

Here is an example: http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/produc ... r=6001BCL1

There are others out there though.


Another option that I always thought would be the convertible car seats. They have wheels and a handle the fold into the carseat itself. They are more compact than a normal stroller and would be way easier to manuver through the CTA as you could fold it up and set it on the seat beside you. Not sure how often you use cabs, but this would also ensure that you had a carseat in the cab as well.

I mentioned the frame stroller back when my journal got off on the stroller tangent--a whole page ago! But then I kept researching it and saw that those weigh pretty much the same or more as other "bigger" strollers, so that doesn't help the "carry it up three flights of stairs" issue. On the other hand, it should collapse better to fit in the trunk on a long-term basis (no garage). So that's still my first option, but since researching a bit more, I think maybe I should keep looking. Since we don't drive much, so maybe the frame one doesn't make sense, since the kid wouldn't go from car to stroller very often. Anyway, I think this will necessitate window shopping at least.

As for pregnancy clothes, I'm been working a lot and clothes were getting tighter, so I gave in and ordered some things from Target. We had a gift card, so it didn't really end up costing me anything (except of course, that we could have used the card on something else!) I also purchased a bella band, which helps a little but not all clothes work well with it.

And I did decide on benefits. I put the amount of our out-of-pocket max in the flex spending account. It seems a little dangerous as in what if something happens before then and we don't need all the money (but I figured we buy outrageous priced glasses or something)? The birth of a child is a qualifying event for changing the contribution amount, but switching it at birth wouldn't get it to the amount need to cover the uncovered insurance cost. So I just contributed close to my contribution amount. My pre-tax deductions are going to be huge next year!!

Not to beat a dead horse, but as for the stroller issue, my experience with the Graco Travel system wasn't great-- we lost a wheel while we were at the zoo. My husband had to haul it all the way back to the car (we were at the far side of the zoo) and then we had to rent a stroller to get us through the rest of the day. I've had no problems with the cheap, $10 umbrella stroller we've had for all three of our kids. The only issue I have is the lack of storage -- but a backpack usually serves us just as well.

Also, just a thought about breast pumps. If you are planning on working, I would highly suggest an electric double breast pump. I only went back to work for three months, but I can't imagine not having it. I was lucky in that my insurance paid a portion of the $250 cost -- only about $80 or so, but still.... Anyway, that is definitely something to look into. Best of luck to you -- I've done it three times and can honestly say it is the most amazing thing you'll ever do, not necessarily easy or fun, but definitely amazing!!

Jen

We got a used Combi stroller for DD and then discovered (totally by accident) that her infant carseat fit (I think it was a Graco) very nicely into it. The Combi held up very well, even though it was lightweight and pretty collapsible. Not sure how much use it had before we got it. We used it for over a year, then left it with my brother and SIL who I think are still using it for their youngest. I think not many people know about the Combi/Graco potential matchup, since it isn't an obvious "set."

WE liked the Maclaren we had for DS (still using it for DD on occasion, 6 years down the road), but it doesn't hold a carseat and I have heard they have quality issues since they started manufacturing in China (ours was one of the last UK made models).

lhamo

I had a mismatched carseat + stroller combo also. A bungy cord took care of that.

So, an update. I've spent more on clothing than I wanted, but I think it's okay. We have his, her and joint accounts and I've managed to pay for the clothes out of my account. I had thought maternity could qualify as a joint expense, so I'm glad that I've been able to keep from using it. And I do have a job where I need to wear suits regularly, so that does drive up the spending.

I did set aside around $3k in flex spending money from my paycheck, so hopefully that was a reasonable estimate.

We're still debating the purchases of large items, trying to manage space issues with financial smarts. I'm planning to re-arrange our bedroom soon to make sure a crib will fit in there. If not, we may have to purchase a bassinet or something similar (or perhaps try a playard/pack 'n play with a bassinet).

Other than a crib, we don't plan to buy much, if any, other equipment for the room.

That's the update for now. We are going to start investigating the college planning options soon and I'll report back then.