Exciting Announcement and Advice Needed :)

[wimbly11]

Hello Scer's,

So first for the exciting news. DH and I are expecting our first child together We are over the moon excited and have been keeping it fairly under wraps to this point. We have reached the three month mark and will be hearing the baby's heartbeat tomorrow so if everything is going well we will start spreading the news However I wanted to announce it here because I'm itching to ask some questions that I know can get answered here! (For anyone who has me on FB please don't write anything there yet

So as excited as we are, the financial reality of the situation is starting to sink in. I would like to take the full year. Work and EI will give me up to 75% of my pay for 15 weeks. After that I don't know what's available or how we could possibly make it work. Looking for some advice from people who have been through this

[SassyAshley]

Congratulations

Sorry not 100% sure about benefits but I am pretty sure a co worker got about 60% the whole time she was off which was a year but I am not sure on this.

[Natalka]

Congrats - that's fabulous news!

I had my son too long ago to comment much on EI, but here's the recent info:

Fifteen weeks is the maternity benefit, then there are 35 weeks parental.
It's 55 %.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/s...parental.shtml

Hope you are feeling decent - the icky times hit women at different times...
Just know it will pass, and you will feel fabulous!

[wimbly11]

I'm starting to feel a little better these days. Energy is coming back a little, nausea isn't as bad. I'm eager to hear the heartbeat tomorrow so I know everything is ok


We have so much going on. We just moved into our first home a little over a month ago and I started a new job. I haven't told them the news yet as I'm nervous about how they'll react...

[Zonny]

Congrats, that's great news! Glad you're starting to feel better. I felt queasy the entire pregnancy from about the second month until he came out, even barfed on myself during labour.

The truth of the financial part is, if we all waited until we had enough money to afford a baby, the human race would have gone extinct a long time ago. You will be fine!

[fama]

hi, congratulations first of all,
if you worked for 600 hours in past 52 weeks will get almost 1 yr mat,
I got sick leave, and maternity and parental.. visit nearest service Canada office before applying and will tell you how much you will get.
and by the way.. everyone born with their destiny, so do not worry relay on super power and almighty God as he is the one who gave you baby and he is the one who will feed your baby before birth and after also..

take care and be happy

[walkonby]

wimbly11 I have only congratulations to offer, I am not sure about mat leave these days. ( I am also from the time when all we got was the 17 weeks ) The full year would be incredible!! Enjoy every moment.

[MrsSunshine]

omg Zonny hit it right on the button.
heck i still can barely afford my two kids. they are adults(19,20) LOL

coupons, join VIB, SDM, Nestle, those type of companies offer coupons, freebies etc.
ask friends/family if you can have a 'share it' shower. where they each bring something moms NEED. for you to borrow to get you through the first year. clothes, furniture.

Congrats btw. so by the sounds of it by christmas there should be another announcement on here. or somewhere around there.

[Natalka]

I agree with the financial aspect others have mentioned.
Babies do not need the latest and greatest, and all the fancy-dancy equipment.
They just need you.

[lilo0003]

First off congrats
If you can breast feed. This saves a lot of money but not everyone is successful. If you can't don't beat yourself up and joing all the formula clubs. There are lots of new moms on here so they will be so much help and those of us with older kids can send you diaper coupons. Babies need very little and we all go a little crazy with stuff that becomes clutter. If DH can get the mat leave top up plan to have him take part of the leave. My company now offers 12 weeks at 80% and lots of the men will take even the last 6-8 weeks, it's a good transition time for all.

[Natalka]

My husband didn't want to use up leave from me, so what he did was take days off with no pay (or others could take holidays then). It was nice to have him home for a few days, then my mom came after that to stay for a few days.
I was in the hospital for a week, so baby was six days old when we went home!

[Insane]

CONGRATS!!

It's 55% to a max of $514 a week (minus a few bucks in deductibles) for 50 weeks. If you make more than that, it's way less than 55%. Also check if your employer has any top up benefits. Mine topped up my salary for 30 some weeks.

One piece of advice is to start right now putting away what you'll be paying for daycare when you go back. That way when babe is born you have a nice cushion to help you out while on leave. And you'll already be used to the reduced income.

Parents, and new parents in particular, have a tendency to over buy. Babies really don't need that much stuff. A lot of things are luxuries. For example, we have a wipes warmer. I love it, but it's a luxury, they certainly don't "need" it.

Also look into cloth diapering. I never did it as hubby was so against it, but it's supposed to save a lot of $$$.

[Zonny]

I too recommend having DH stay home with you for a bit if possible. My DH took the first five weeks off with us, and that's when I needed him most. We've often joked he saw me cry more in those first five weeks than the previous seven years! I'm not a crier, but hormones and lack of sleep do weird things.

[wimbly11]

Thank you for all of your kind words

We talked about DH staying home yesterday. He needs to see what his work will give him, but I definately wouldn't feel better having him home with me!

My work will top up the first 15 weeks so that's a help. We want to start putting money away, the thing is, that has never been a strong point of ours! DH came into the relationship with quite a bit of debt and he also has a daughter which means child support payments. Trying to figure out how to save some money and pay off debt can be overwhelming!

[macw1960]

Congrats!!!