Go off-brand & black-ops: How to have a baby on the cheap
Three days before I found out I was pregnant with my first baby, in an example of worst-timing-ever, I quit my job. Now nine months of being pregnant, broke, and bored loomed ahead. After the first (but not last) major panic attack was over, we realized we would have to become money-saving ninjas, embracing the second hand, the cheap and the wonky, and we would cope.
So now I’m in my second pregnancy, I’d like to share how we managed to keep down the costs of preparing for a newborn…
How and when do you tell your employer you’re pregnant?
I just found out I’m pregnant! Incidentally, I was between rounds of interviews for my next job, which I start next week. The thought of telling them I need to go on maternity leave seven months after starting my job terrifies me. I’ve been let go due to lack of work twice in the past year, so I’m scared. And now there’s an additional life counting on me. When and how do you tell your employer you’re pregnant?
What to say to a formerly child-free person who is now pregnant
I am a self-professed child-free lady. A fellow child-free friend recently announced she was unexpectedly pregnant. I can tell she’s feeling pretty rattled and struggling with the sudden change in life plans. As a fellow child-freer in a similarly stable life situation, I want to empathize and be there for her and give her a break from all the squee-ing, but I don’t want to be a downer. What can I say to her?
Miracle baby proves there’s no such thing as a 100% diagnosis
From the age twelve years I have been told I would never carry a child to term. There were days of depression, fears of never having my own children, feeling like an oddity that I didn’t menstruate like my friends and all around not feeling like a “real” woman. Eventually I came to the conclusion […]
Yes, it IS possible to not know you were pregnant
The woman started the ultrasound and said, “Yeah, there is a heart beat.” My doctor in the ER asked how far along I was, and that’s when it all started to sink in. The ultrasound tech said 38 to 39 weeks. I kind of understood what they were saying, and I soon realized I was going to need to tell my parents they were going to be grandparents that very day.
My pregnancy was unplanned, so why am I so heartbroken over this miscarriage?
For most women week 13 is the time they get to relax as the “danger time” for miscarriage has passed. My week 13 involved getting a bad sign, and the doctor confirming what I already feared was going on: my pregnancy hormone levels had already plummeted, which meant you weren’t alive anymore.