On Twitter the other day I asked people’s opinions about whether or not I should bring my own unopened bottle of Ibuprofen and stool softeners.  (Ibuprofen for any after birth pain and stool softeners to make things come out more easily in case there is tearing involved after labor and delivery.)

Many people told me not to worry about it.  ”That’s what insurance is for”, they said.  Oh, I only wish [click to continue…]

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Today I spent over $4,700 without even leaving the house.  Ugh.

I called the hospital to pay for little Tarzan’s birth and all the extras that come along with it.  On one hand, I feel extremely lucky that we were able to pay for everything upfront because that ultimately saves so much money in the end.  

But on the other hand, dammit, it was a lot [click to continue…]

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This is news that can help many of you…  maybe.  I’ll know more tomorrow, but this is something that you may want to look into as well if you are a homeowner.  May seem strange to be talking about the housing market, the Government, and our situation so much on our “pregnancy blog” but as the above states, “Chronicles of life after the plus sign”.

Although, at the time I came up with that, I didn’t realize that these chronicles would take us to the point of teeter-tottering whether or not we’re going to keep our house, and things would be getting this crazy.  Anyway… [click to continue…]

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The Real Cost of Having a Baby
Without Maternity Insurance

As you may have read on our About Jane and Tarzan page, we’re self-employed and do not have Maternity Insurance.  We’re not going to get into how messed up the U.S. healthcare system is here, or how hard-working people like us suffer, especially in this economy.  Basically, if you’re self-employed, you didn’t get maternity insurance before getting pregnant, then you are required to pay all bills out of pocket related to your pregnancy.  Oh the joys.

If you want to read about Tarzan’s thoughts and more about our situation, see this blog post and read the comments.  Just a warning,he’s not a happy camper about the way the system works at all!

WARNING: The cost to have a baby without maternity insurance is shocking! In an effort to help other soon-to-be parents who find themselves in our situation (it doesn’t take much, just a few jello shots and a passionate night does the trick, believe us), we’ve decided to document how much we’re spending, and where it’s going so there are no surprises for you - like there have been for us.

Here are the real costs of having a baby… and YES, we have had to pay ALL of this out of our own pockets!  (And yes, the below are the lowest discounted prices we were able to receive.)

1. 1st Doctor Appointment (Dec, 08): $528.00

2. Pregnancy Blood Tests (Dec, 08): $320.50

3. 2nd Doctor Appointment (Jan, 09): $528.00

4. 3rd Doctor Appointment (Feb, 09): $528.00

5. A surprise bill from Quest Diag. (Feb, 09): PENDING (Still!)

6. Ultrasound – It’s A Boy! (Feb, 09): $804.64

7. 4th Doctor Appointment (March, 09): $528.00

8. More blood work (March, 09): $37.00

9. 5th Doctor Appointment (April, 09): $528.00

10. Ultrasound again (April, 09): $763.00

11. 6th Doctor Appointment (end of April, 09): $528.00

12. Bloodwork for Glucose test (April, 09): $48.00

13. Lab for possible UTI (May, 09) : $22.00

14. $%#@! Hospital stay for vaginal delivery (May, 09): $3,300.00

15. Epidural for vaginal delivery (May, 09): $1,200.00

16. Tylenol for Tarzan to deal with the above: $2.25

17. Circumcision paid upfront (May, 09): $250.00

18. Cost for another Dr. to read April Ultrasound (June, 09): $171.50

19. Blood tests (again! July, 09): $59.00

20. Blood tests @ hospital (July, 09): $34.40

21. Doctor bill @ hospital (July, 09): $242.00

22. Blood tests @ hospital (July, 09): 98.80

*** Update August 18th, I BELIEVE this is the final total of
money spent to have a baby without maternity insurance. ***

The Total Cost To Have A Baby Without
Maternity Insurance Is: $10,521.09

Note 1: We live in a city and what we’re spending may be on the higher end compared to a couple who live in a small town or out in the country.  However, at least this will provide you with an idea of what the cost of a baby is now-a-days for a couple with no maternity insurance and no Medicaid coverage.  And speaking of Medicaid…

Note 2: We earn more than the $2100 or so cap that’s in place for Medicaid in Texas.  Jane called EVERY place you can think of, talked to tons of people, and there is nothing in place in Texas or the US Government to help small business owners like us – or the millions who may be in our situation as well.

As crazy as this may sound, Tarzan wrote a letter to President Obama and his staff detailing his full plan on how a system could be created that would create a win-win for the Government, small business owners, hospitals, and yes, even the economy.  (see this blog post as mentioned above for details – look down in the comments for an overview of Tarzan’s small business owner bailout plan.)  It seems that the small business owner (who makes up a very large percentage of the economy, tax dollars, etc.) has been forgotten during this down economic climate.  Sucks, you know?

The REAL cost to have a baby for a hard-working, LEGAL US citizens with no maternity insurance is crazy.  There needs to be a plan for people like us who will pay the money back.  A government loan with a small amount of interest would have been nice and create a win-win for everyone.  Less stress on us, more money to spend which would fuel the economy, and a way for the government to make money from the interest so they can get bailed out of their mess.  Sadly, I have a feeling my letter detailing my full idea was never seen.

Oh well.  We’re doing what we can with what we have because we have no other choice.  The bottom line… we’d pay any amount to ensure little Tarzan Jr. enters this world safely and is a healthy bouncing baby boy.

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