My husband and I are thinking about TTC this summer, but are having a hard time deciding if it's the right time.  How did you know it was the right time for you?  What made you decide that you were ready?  It's obviously one of the biggest decisions we'll ever make together, so it's nice to hear from others and how it worked for them.  Any advice is appreciated.  Thank you.                
                
             
        
Re: How to know when the time is right...
We're just kind of ?ready? for a baby. We "own" our home. We're both finished w/ our undergrad degrees. And we've got to do a good bit of traveling. We want to take one more big trip before we have a baby. We are starting to TTC this month. We were leaning toward waiting until May, but then some things came up and so now we are here. Hopefully we?ll still get to take our trip even if I?m pregnant. Part of me wants to wait another two years, but I?m totally excited about possibly being a mom w/in the year.
I think it's a personal preference but I believe if you have crossed everything off of YOUR prebaby checklist then you should talk about starting :
My Ovulation Chart
Not to be cynical, but in this economy there is no "good time". In 2008 I had a GREAT job. Made a ton of money. So did my ex. We had a nice condo in a nice neighborhood and life was great. There was some money in bank, three cars in the driveway, etc. By 2009 we were both unemployed, I was disabled due to bad accident, and our savings dwindled in less than 6 months and the debt built up from there.
Now my life is completely different, but it's not a bad thing. My husband and I only have one car, our house is old and kind of falling apart, and we are both back in school to try to get more usable degrees, but I honestly think I'm better off now than I was in 2008. Not that I'm saying anything will happen with you and your husband like what happened with my ex and I! But if you'd asked me 4 years ago if it was the perfect time to have a baby I would have YES and wouldn't even have imagined what was coming!
I say that as long as you're happy and feel solid in your relationship and ability to care for another human being, you're good to go!
B born 7/15/13, C born 3/2/15, #3 on the way May '17
I’m a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified multi-cultural, post-modern deconstruction that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I’ve been up linked and downloaded, I’ve been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I’m a high-tech low-life. A cutting edge, state-of-the-art bi-coastal multi-tasker and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond! I’m new wave, but I’m old school and my inner child is outward bound. I’m a hot-wired, heat seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice activated and bio-degradable. I interface with my database, my database is in cyberspace, so I’m interactive, I’m hyperactive and from time to time I’m radioactive.
GOod luck to you!
We just wanted to make sure we had a strong relationship, and were in the ballpark of financially ready. We know we'll never feel like we have enough money, or stability or have travelled enough, or any of that stuff. We could spend our entire life preparing and never be ready. So we figured to heck with preparedness, picked an arbitrary date to stop BC and just went for it.
My DH is 30, I'm 28. Today is my last day on the pill and for the first two or three cycles, we're just gonna see what happens!
We both have steady careers and are very happy in our marriage. We have some money saved up (but not a ton!) and we recently took the big trip that was on our bucket list. Like a previous post said, there will always be more travel to do, more money to save, but we just feel ready and are very excited.
We said we wanted to have 20k in savings to cover the "start up costs" of having a baby plus have enough left over just in case anything goes wrong. We have also set up a college fund and we haven't even conceived yet!! We also made sure that I was covered in my benefits for work under long term and short term disability just in case I would have to be put on bed rest for any reason once I do conceive.
My Ovulation Chart
We had 2 oopsies. Pleasant surprises, actually.
I don't think you need to own your own house, or have the best career. I think you need to be in a good, stable relationship, have a roof over your head, food in the fridge, and a ton of patience.