Up until last week, my biggest financial concern regarding our baby was making the initial payment for my prenatal care at Andaluz. It was really hard keeping the money in our bank account over the holiday but we managed to do it.
It's finally starting to dawn on me how much money babies might cost beyond the cost of maternity care. Actually, I should say, the reality of the price tag on having a baby is still a bit of a hazy blurry number floating in space, but I'm starting to see that there is in fact a very large number floating out there. Sure we need some items like a car seat and a crib. And these things aren't cheap, but we always manage to have what we need.
That's been my attitude thus far and thus far it's kept me sane.
What has me second guessing my philosophy is the sudden realization that we are going to be needing a lot of stuff. So I started looking into it. And I realized not only are there a huge number of things you definitely need and can prepare for, there are probably even more things you can't even begin to imagine you'll need. Not only that, but many items become unusable after the baby reaches a certain size and weight and then you need to buy bigger more expensive items later on.
This is rather dissimilar to a wedding registry. At least with that, the items I didn't get weren't really "essential" per se. Like, the fact that I didn't get a cuisinart isn't going to be a big enough problem that I definitely have to go spend the $200 to buy it or I will never chop food again. But if I don't get a stroller, I will end up having to buy one in addition to the many other essential items that won't be fulfilled on my baby registry because they're not glamorous enough to give as a gift.
I've been trying very hard to think minimalist when it comes to this baby stuff. I don't want my kids to ever have more than a few toys. I can get buy without many things that are touted as essential. And what makes it easier not to go crazy is that many "baby"things are just heinous as far as aesthetics are concerned. I pretty much dislike every matching nursery and bedding set I've seen. Perhaps I'll just have to resolve myself to a home full of pastels, hard plastic rainbow colors and sickeningly sweet farm animals. What worries me is will I have the money to buy things that need to be frequently replenished? And what will I do when I've run out of the 20th onesie that my infant has spit up on that day and there aren't any more clothes left? My breasts can't pump themselves and a good breastpump is nearly $300!
Rest assured I haven't hit the panic button yet. I still have 6 months to get my inventory together and I think we'll probably be able to survive the first few weeks at least after the baby is born. It's just starting to dawn on me how much stuff we really need!
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