The $300 baby book

Despite the costs it was all worth it...

The cost of having a baby is one thing that will be repeatedly touched on in this blog. I'm sure once the baby arrives the costs will be long forgotten, but until then, I can't believe how much it costs to have a baby and all the extra services you have to get. This baby isn't even born yet and all I seem to be doing is whipping out the credit card - no wonder people are having fewer kids!

Our first ultrasound was momentous. Kos knew she was pregnant and could feel her body changing - boobs getting bigger (no problem here), hips widening slightly (Beyonce anyone?) but besides these things, for a bloke it seemed that I had to go on face value that she was pregnant. The first ultrasound was great. For the first time I could identify that there was a baby growing inside! Hearing the heartbeat (always a good thing) and having the baby's arms, head, legs etc pointed out to you is a great experience. It really is the first time it hits you that there is a baby there.

This first scan was to make sure everything was going well (which it was) and do a transnuchal (sp) test to see what the risks were of any abormalities. I had paid my $300 for the ultrasound but we had to hang around for 5 minutes -after the scan we were required to visit with the nurse who would go through the results. Everything was in good order. There was a one in 5000 chance of something being amiss which was a good reading.

The classic moment came as the nurse had concluded her presentation - she gave us a showbag of baby supplies (sponsored stuff of course) and then she went to her bookcase, pulled down a book which looked like it had been picked up at the $5 bargain bin down the road, handed it to us and said "Here is your free book to track your baby's development." We already had 3 of these types of books, but I felt like saying "Hey - that book isn't free, we just paid $300 - don't tell me that book is free!" Unbelievable...you've given us a 20 minute scan and a 5 minute debrief, but don't say the book is free!

At least I thought we would get most of it back from Medicare or from HCF - after all we had been paying $70 a fortnight for the past 4 years without any major claims.

Medicare rebate on Ultrasound was $80. Despite all the costs that first image of our child is priceless!