Pregnant!

[aimeemarie]

Suprise, Suprise. My boyfriend and I are pregnant. Not expected, not ready, but not unwanted. I am 21, he is 22. I am a junior in college. He is employed full time by my aunt and uncle and makes $33K a year. Our problem? He has no insurance, once we are married (probably in June) I will have no insurance. Besides, my parent's insurance I am on does not cover pregnancy. We do not qualify for medicare. The income line is $28 or 29K for medicare. I have had cramping and bleeding this past week or two when I was supposed to have a period and I decided we should go get some tests. Because we are not ready for this, we were really shook up and still kind of care, just don't know how we are going to afford this baby. I'm not sure how far along I am yet. Maybe a couple of months. Anyways, Hi! (Any ideas for insurance would be appreciated!)

 

[Belle0985]

I thought you didn't bleed when you were pregnant??

 

[jazzbird]

aimeemarie, even though it's not under the best of circumstances, "congratulations!!" Get to your doctor asap - like today - to confirm the pregnancy and to make sure everything is okay with your little bean. Are you still bleeding? I will be praying for you, your baby, and your boyfriend. I hope that something works out with insurance for you. God will provide.

I thought you didn't bleed when you were pregnant??

A lot of women have spotting during pregnancy - sometimes it is totally healthy, and sometimes it is a result of miscarrying.

 

[EmSchmem]

jazzbird was right. I have had bleeding with both of my pregnancies. I miscarried the first and this one is a quite healthy pregnancy. aimeemarie, if you go to www.optionline.org, search for your zip or postal code (america or us) and call he closest center to you on the list, they will tell you if anything else is available other than medicare. they may also be able to suggest something that is low cost pre-natal care, even if you have to pay for it out of pocket.

 

[aimeemarie]

the bleeding is called implantation bleeding (along w/ the implantation cramps) some women get them, some don't. the bleeding was only enough to notice in my underwear and then i put a tampon in and there was nothing else.

thanks for the congratulations. we are putting this all in God's hands, we are not ready, but if this is what he intends, i will carry this baby to full term. we believe he will provide for us. i'm skared, but putting it all on him. that makes me feel better. as for the insurance, thinking maybe boyfriend can get his pay bumped down at work so we can qualify for medicaid, I will still be full time next semester in college, then take off the spring 06 semester to stay home with the baby, and go back part time in the fall to complete my degree. i want to stay home with my baby and even though we are in a hard hard spot, i want to try. my parents did it on way way less, and if we would still be covered by medicaid, will have no car payments and can still live with my parents (which we do now) i don't think it will be a problem.

 

[jazzbird]

Aimee, I'm glad to hear that it was just implanting spotting. When you said "bleeding this past week or two," I imagined a heavier flow lasting more than a day. I would still get some care as soon as you can.

Blue is right as far as your income goes. 33k is a very solid income, especially for a 22 year old! If you really need more money, couldn't you pick up a part-time job while you are in school? I always worked 2-3 nights a week with an 18-20 hour class load. It's definetely do-able. With no car payment or living expenses, it sounds like you guys are actually in a pretty good spot, even though it is discouraging not to have the insurance.

I know it will hurt to have to pay out of pocket, but it can be done. I suggest you look into midwifery care. It is waaaaay cheaper than seeing an OB and having a hospital birth. My midwife charges $3,000 for everything.

 

[Neenie1]

Hi, I don't know how far 33K, goes where you are, but a lot of people here do OK on 33K. I don't understand the situation with health insurance, because here, nearly everyone can get medicare (my husband is on 55K, over here that is around 5K over the average salary) and we still get medicare. Mind you when I say he is on 55K now, he hasn't always been on 55K. In fact when our first baby was born we were living on Centrelink (social security/welfare) payments. We still pulled through. God is good and he does provide.

Also, sometimes no matter how much money you have, you still seem to spend it, LOL. I am wondering sometimes how we are going to manage with another baby myself. But I am trusting in God.

And as far as the bleeding goes, I had it at around 12 weeks (Christmas eve no less) and baby is fine. I am nearly 25 weeks now.

 

[Ruhama]

I'm sure you'll do absolutely fine financially. I'm currently making about 600/month out of which 500 is rent, and my husband has been unemployed most of the year. Add to that a ton of other expenses and yet we're still okay for now. Just look for ways to make the most of the money you're spending, and don't go overboard with all the extravagant "must haves" - just buy what you need and plan ahead.

By the way, congrats

 

[Ruhama]

About insurance... do you have it currently? Most places will cover you for pregnancy if you were already being covered by someone else before you switched, so if you lose your coverage you can still qualify for a new policy and it won't be counted against you as a "preexisting condition." Can you get a job or something in the meantime that will give you insurance to pick up where the previous leaves off?

If you don't currently have any, well.... probably out of luck, but I tend to agree with Blue Impulse, I don't see that you should have trouble managing to live on that kind of salary, even with hospital bills.

 

[Neenie1]

Also, wanted to add, that you can buy many things the baby will need second hand. (a cot, pram, toys) but just check they are in good condition, and safe.


Don't go overboard with clothes before the baby is born, most family and friends are pretty generous with the clothes, and you could find yourself with more clothes than you actually need.

 

[aimeemarie]

To answer the questions about the insurance I currently have, it's with my parents and it does not cover pregnancies. Dumb, huh?

Thanks for everyone's input. We have decided that we can definately do with that, he's just going to have to give up his new motorcycle and trade his really nice 2000 jeep for something else. He'll have to do without his big toys and I'll have to watch it with the clothes. Which, if I'm going to be staying home for the first 8 months, I won't need much!

 

[Jengi]

Check with your doctor. I know we had the option of using a payment plan to pay for all of the the difference that the insurance doesn't cover. We decided not to go that route but we could have paid like $25/ month. All we will have left to pay for is the hospital after the baby comes. Maybe taking it a little bit at a time it will not seem so expensive.

 

[Neenie1]

I must admit I am the same with maternity clothes. I need a bit more than last time because I go out a bit more, but change into oversized track pants when I come home. So as far as "proper" maternity clothes go, I only have say 2 or 3 pairs of pants and 1 skirt. I am only 25 weeks and hopefully can get some second hand tops from an opshop or something like that.

 

[HoshiG]

I am the very same way with clothes as well. I have a few pairs of pants and a few maternity shirts, everything is interchangeable so I can look like I have more outfits than I really do. But, mostly at home I wear grey sweat pants that even have paint splatters on them. I was always keeping my maternity clothes nice for the times I went out so nothing was dirty and I was never fretting.

But, in these last few weeks I've started feeling ugly and have started wearing my maternity clothes around the house. Makes me feel a bit better now... besides, I could have my baby any day now, might as well wear the maternity clothes while I still can.

HoshiG
39+2 and very impatient.

 

[Ruhama]

Whatever insurance plans you can look into, you still should - ask them if they'll cover you for pregnancy even though your last one was only medical. Don't give up on it before you ask. There is a good chance they will.

 

[Leanna]

Welcome. Its fun and work to have a baby.

Yes 33k isn't bad, but if you consider that a normal vaginal delivery with no insurance costs 10-12k it puts things into a different perspective. A c-section costs 15-20k. Remember that people who are acting like she's rolling in it.

Assuming you are USA, you can get Cobra insurance which is extension insurance. You can even add the baby after it is born and can use Cobra for up to 18 months after the termination of your employment or whatever reason you are losing health insurance. You get 90 days at the end of coverage to sign up for it. It costs a freaking FORTUNE so you will have to consider whether it is worth it. It was for me. When I was 6 months pregnant I moved out of state and so I paid for Cobra insurance for 4 months (didnt know the baby would come in August not September). It cost me 331 dollars a month, but my insurance was 80% coverage and I had already covered the deductible amount. So it was worth it since otherwise I would have had to come up with a lot more money than that.

 

[Ruhama]

Sorry, just in response to Leanna, I probably shouldn't beleaguer the point but even with that kind of huge expense (20k) that's still plenty to live on, almost twice what me and Blue Impulse are doing. I'm just saying I'm really sure you'll survive just fine even if it IS quite an outlay of cash. I'm sympathetic, but I'm not worried.

 

[Neenie1]

Welcome. Its fun and work to have a baby.

Yes 33k isn't bad, but if you consider that a normal vaginal delivery with no insurance costs 10-12k it puts things into a different perspective. A c-section costs 15-20k. Remember that people who are acting like she's rolling in it.

.

Is that for real?

In Australia, there are 2 main ways you can have a baby through the hospital system.

You can have a baby privately or public. In the public system you can see midwives for free, also when you have your baby, the hospital stay is free and as far as I know vaginal delivery and c-sections are FREE.

It is only if you have private insurance (like we do) and have an obstetrician of your choice (which we do) that you have to pay anything.

 

[aimeemarie]

Thanks for all of your replies! Yes, $33K isn't that bad. However, we can't make do with that and paying hospital bills. We will qualify for medicaid, so are applying. I also found out my due date : November 26th.

 

[JuneMom]

Congrats Aimee!! Try not to stress and know that God will provide. You are blessed!