Aside from all the usual things to consider when you're ready, were there any other (not as common) things that factored in? Aka - what time of year you'd be mostly pregnant, when you'd be due, how long you've been at your job, etc. How much did the normal things matter before TTC (money, housing, etc.)?
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I really didn't even THINK about TTCing until my husband and I were married and had a house, but we were lucky and both things happened in the same year. Then I started thinking about it a lot!
The biggest factor for me was already planned events. For example, one of my best friends had planned her 30th birthday over a year in advance! I knew we were going to Vegas for a long weekend, so I decided to put off TTC until AFTER that event. I didn't want to be pregnant during the trip, or have a newborn, or not be able to go. So I decided to stall TTC until after.
The only other thing I took into account was health insurance. I switched to my husband's health insurance a year before we were planning to start TTC, so I could work out any kinks before I was actually pregnant. His insurance covers more than mine, so that's why I switched.
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Housing and money mattered a lot to us! So those were the #1 priority, but we moved into our house before we got married, so really it was more about money. We wanted to pay off at least one of our cars before TTC.
I'm trying to think of out of the ordinary factors... I'm not sure we had any, but had we had weddings or big events coming up, I think those would have factored in too!
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Weddings that we had coming up (I know not everyone takes this into consideration, but we did); when we would be moving to a new apartment (out of a 4th floor walkup)...that's kind of it. We did kind of think about how long I'd be at my job (I had just started when we were thinking about TTC), but decided to go for it anyway...and it ended up not mattering since I just got laid off anyway! Moneywise, we have a comfortable amount in savings, but if we didn't that would definitely have been a factor, as neither of us wanted to feel like we would have to scrimp and feel stressed over money once the baby comes, and we also want to be able to get everything we wanted for LO without depending on help from others.
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Housing and financing/jobs were our major factors. We wanted to own our home, have an emergency fund of savings and wanted to be able to live off of DH’s income (since we’ve planned from the beginning for me to be a SAHM).
We had a feeling that it would take us awhile to get pregnant/stay pregnant so we didn't bother planning around events, times of year, etc.
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Season didn't affect us at all since it could take up to a year (or longer) to conceive, so who knows? I did start a new job the same month we decided to start trying, so we waited a month or two longer so that my FMLA would kick in before baby was due IF I got pregnant the first cycle (I didn't).
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The two major factors for us apart from the usual stuff is transitioning our business to someone else so that the hubby could assist me with child care and raising out LO and pre-arranged obligations as being part of friend's wedding party.
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For us was an upcoming trip, I did not want to be pregnant when going to an all inclusive resort, so we deicded to use that as a baby-making "moon." We also wanted to get DH settled into his new position within the company and to make sure it worked out. We really worked on paying off some debt so that was less of a worry.
Next time around, I think I will take in to consideration the time of year we start, I really want to avoid being mondo pregnant during the summer months...it is not fun! I think an April/May baby next would be great!
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We put if off like 5 months so DH would be closer to finishing his MBA. We wanted some more time just us post school and prebaby. I also knew I could be just pregnant at Christmas time with my family. First get together I don't have a drink, I would get a million questions. Heck I got them at Christmas anyway this year, just when are we instead are you?
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I wanted to be able to party at our wedding and enjoy our honeymoon in Jamaica without a potential pregnancy forcing me to abstain from a variety of things. Once that was over, I was ready. He was too.
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Housing and finances for us too. I didn't care about weddings//trips/etc because trying for a baby was the #1 thing for me and everything else came in second to that. Buying our house and having enough saved were huge deciding factors for us so we wanted to wait until both areas were steady and secure before TTC.
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H has a multi part exam that happens every June, so we are basically waiting until a few weeks after 9ish months from that. Money wasn't the biggest thing in general though, since we plan for me to be a SAHM. And, my little sister will probably be getting engaged soon, so I think we would probably take a month or so off from trying 40 weeks before that. It would be local, so I'd be fine with being 8 months pregnant but I've be devastated to miss it.
We will be renting and don't plan to move until a little while after we have a baby so we are fine on that front. -
Money and job security for DH.
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We held off while waiting for my health coverage and residency to kick in and then once that was in place we waited for two cycles due to my best friends destination wedding. I would have been heartbroken if I couldn't go. As it is, I'll be 7.5 months preg as a bridesmaid.
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I'm a teacher so a July/August pregnancy would take maternity leave right into summer vacation. That was our plan, got pregnant first month off bc in April. mc in May and are now TTC again so we are back on schedule. Can't plan everything!
Also, we need to save sick time to have paid leave and I had to wait till I had enough saved.
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@Hilsy85 - Our lease is up at the end of next April and we plan on moving into a 2 bedroom. I hate having all that wasted space so we basically planned the move to coincide with when we start TTC.
@JessieJo17 - With these brutal 90+ degrees days lately, I can't even imagine being pregnant right now! I'm miserable enough without being pregnant, LOL.
@Alison206 - You're so right with the "can't plan everything!" statement. DH and I are uber-planners and some days I really need to step back and remind myself of that...
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We wanted to make sure that we both had decent jobs that would allow us to put aside some money in savings. Now that we've been TTC for a year and a half, we've definitely got the money saved. Now its deciding whether to keep saving, or blow it on treatments and start over again.
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I'm a social worker, and we waited until any pregnancy would be due AFTER I'm eligible for my license. We start trying this cycle!
We now have a 3- month window that would be ideal, after that we'll be moving which would mean giving birth somewhere different than where I received prenatal care (not to mention trying to move at some stage in pregnancy), but we didn't want to wait!
Sometimes I have moments of freaking out about money and say things like "we're broke! its irresponsible to have a child now!" and then my husband gives me an eye roll and reminds me of the opening scene to the movie Idiocracy
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For me right now we're waiting until I know we'll have more help. I get awful awful migraines, especially when I'm pregnant, so I need someone to be able to take care of my LO if I can't, or I need her to be a little older and more independent. My SIL is pregnant with triplets so my mom will be busy helping them, so I'm waiting until everyone is a little bit older.
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For us it's housing, the day we move into our new house we're going to start actively TTC because right now we live in a 2nd floor apartment and i'm looking forward to helping move, and painting the new house and doing yardwork, etc. I wouldn't even consider TTC in the place we are now because it's only 2 bedrooms, and we have too much stuff!
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How long I would be at a new job was a big factor for us. Also, we considered how long we wanted to have as just a marred couple before having kids.
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Our LO was a surprise but for our second, we just want to be in a new home!
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@alison206: I'm a teacher, too! I had an August baby
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@Artbee - A good friend suffered from really bad migraines on an almost daily basis. After trying just about everything under the sun, seeing a chiropractor regularly ended up helping immensely! She's having their first baby in October
@MrsBlue - That's where I'm at for the most part... I started at a new firm in February and would like to be here for at least a year before having to tell my boss I'm expecting. So that means not trying until the end of this year. I also need to find a better work-life balance (ideally) too.
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We wanted to be married at least a year before TTC. We started trying a month after our first anniversary.
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