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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Jane and I just got back from her pregnancy week 19, second trimester doctor appointment.  Everything went great and we got to listen to baby Tarzan’s heartbeat again!  He’s doing great and growing up to be a big strong boy.

As we left the doctor’s office, I went to the counter and paid my $528.00 (see updated cost of having a baby page) and asked how much extra would we have to pay if by small chance Jane had to have a C-section.  Her answer was an additional $200 or so.  

OK, not as much as I was expecting – considering we’re shelling out $528 every visit, [click to continue…]

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Pregnancy week 19 for pregnant Jane has been a busy one, that’s for sure.  In a previous post about my gallbladder pain, I talked about going to the doctor and having to get some test run.  Well, I got the results back and there is nothing wrong with my gallbladder or anything else in my stomach.

This is one of the many reasons why I’m not a fan of going to the doctors office.  After shelling out hundreds and hundreds of dollars (at least now I’m under $100 away from meeting my deductible) and after some tests, I’m told my gallbladder is A-OK along with the rest of my insides.

It was strange actually.  The nurse who called me to tell me the results sounded excited [click to continue…]

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In our continuing saga of the cost to have a baby, we broke the $2,000 mark today.  A couple of weeks ago Jane and I received a bill in the mail from the company that did her original blood work back in December.  We had already paid them $320 and I knew the bill they sent me asking for another $250 had to be a mistake.

I called them and they asked me to fax a copy of the paperwork and the receipt.  Today the woman called me back and explained something oh so wonderful to me.

The $250 in charges where for “extra tests” they needed to do based on the results of the other tests they took.  Oh… if the woman only knew how much I’ve been on a rampage for things like this.

I told her that I approved what Jane’s doctor said she needed for tests and nothing else.  She then said at the bottom of the form in small print it says [click to continue…]

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I just created a new page that you can see on the top of our blog called, Cost of Having a Baby.  We decided to create this page to help give other soon-to-be parents, who are in our situation, an idea of how much it costs to have a baby – and what you can roughly expect to spend monthly.

As explained on the cost of having a baby page, we live in a large city, so the monthly costs for having a baby may be higher for us compared to someone who lives in a small town.  So this will at least give you an idea of what’ll be coming as far as doctor bills, hospital bills, blood work, ultrasounds, [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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I remember someone telling me once that there is never a ‘prefect time’ to plan to have a baby.  Things always come up; life happens.  Sure, there are those couples who actually plan on having a baby and do well sticking to their plan, but there is another group of couples who sometimes let life get in the way.

Jane and I of course talked about having a child.  When we got married last year, the ‘plan’ was to start trying around November.  November was so far away and we knew we’d have things in order, money saved up, and we’d be ready.

As the months went on [click to continue…]

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.  Thinking about pregnancy, babies, and life in general.  Being able to actually sit and reflect on everything this weekend shows me that the initial shock of Jane getting pregnant must be subsiding – at least for now.

Since this pregnancy blog is “our secret place” that we’ll never ever tell friends or family about, Jane and I feel very comfortable sharing our thoughts, photos, and happenings with the world.  So with that said, let’s take a journey into the mind of Tarzan, a soon-to-be father.

Warning: To this point most of my pregnancy blog posts have been [click to continue…]

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Shortly after Jane got pregnant, our new sleep schedule came roaring into our lives like an out of control circus elephant charging at a clown.

Jane had a rough night last night, as mentioned in my previous post.  Shortly after I went to bed, she was tossing and turning, sitting up, accidently hitting my shoulders, head, stomach, and pillow.  She got up, said sorry, went to kiss me, then head-butted me because it was so dark.

Then Pregnant Jane asked if the TV would keep me up.  I said no.  I could feel my body buzzing with exhaustion.  Nothing would keep me awake.

I guess she watched TV for awhile, as I work up another 10+ times while she moved around and gagged from time to time.

Next thing I knew it was a few hours later and she was getting back into bed.  I looked over and asked if everything was OK and she said she went into the living room and watched TV for a few hours so she wouldn’t keep me away.

So… we both got about 5 hours of sleep last night.  I mean… [click to continue…]

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