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High-Risk Pregnancy
Kadyra
member
Finances and bedrest
Kadyra
member
This is an intensely personal topic, so I will not be offended if no one responds.
With DS, I went on bedrest at 25w6d. I delivered at 36w1d. I went off work again for another 3 months due to PPD/PPP when DS was about 6 months old. I didn't have STD. Never thought I'd need it. My work paid for 6 weeks leave postpartum and I wouldn't have been able to take off more than that anyway. I had a couple health issues, but they were under control. Fortunately for us, DH worked and some of the nurses I worked with generously donated their PTO to me so I didn't have to pay huge amounts to keep my insurance up.
Well, as soon as I finished residency and got my current job, I got STD. I knew I would have another baby and would be high risk. Plus the job didn't pay for any FMLA. Well, obviously I'm on bedrest. Have been off and on since 12w1d and will be until delivery, whenever that will be. DH has been a SAHD for... a year and a half-ish. It didn't matter that we didn't have his income. I'm a doctor and well, I make enough. We aren't rich by any means (I pay $1000 a month in student loans and have large credit card debt, so a lot of our income goes there). I drive a Corolla for God's sake.
So when I needed the STD to kick in, I did some more research into it. I should have done this when I signed up, but hindsight is always 20/20. Well, because of my income level I get the max. The max is approxiately 30% of my usual take home pay. We have a lot in savings because I did NHSC Loan repayment, but that money is supposed to go to my student loans and anything out of it that doesn't get used for loans has to be paid back. They check. Due to our financial position, we are dipping heavily into the money from the NHSC. It's the only thing keeping us afloat. DH has been looking for work since I got put on bedrest at 12 weeks. But the economy sucks and he's not finding anything. He's doing yet another course to make himself more marketable. It's great he's home to help out, but it doesn't nothing for our finances.
So, I wondered how you ladies are paying for it all. Were you the main breadwinners like me? Or does DH make the money in your house? if you're struggling financially, how are you making ends meet? Just wondering. I don't think we'll get to the point where we'll have to ask for money from family, but you never know. And I'd like to avoid that, KWIM? Thanks,
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Re: Finances and bedrest
You should be able to defer your student loan payments due to disability, and many of your credit cards as well. After college it took me a few tries to get a decent FT job, all of my creditors worked with me and my one big credit card out me on a special repayment schedule with only 9% interest (lowered by bill A TON).
Your creditors do not want you to default or fall behind--it is in THEIR best interest to help you get through this and back to work so you start paying your bills regularly again.
I get 60% of my pay when on STD. That said, with my first I was only on bed rest for 3 weeks before I was induced. (from 34 to 37 weeks)
I'm holding my breath I make it to at least 30 weeks before bed rest this time too because it was still really tight with the 60% and now we have Daycare for our son that is an expense we didn't have before.
It was hard, but I still ran out the FMLA after he was born when I was don't my 6 weeks after on STD. I am the breadwinner making Almost $30K more a year than my husband. Somehow we made it work last time & I'm hoping the same for this time, though it keeps me up at night.
Oh, I also did want to say you can defer the student loans.
Well I'm in Canada so the assistance I get is different, as well as mat leave and parental leave after that. I am very blessed in that area. DH and I make an equal salary, he works for a crown corporation in private security and I am a nurse. When I went off work it took 2 months to get the sick leave disability benefits to kick in, and they are 93% of my previous salary, so we were ok for the 2 months, and I got backpay in a chunk when the payments started. We are very fortunate that he was able to provide for us at that time, especially since we just bought a new house and most of our savings went to a downpayment and essentials for the house. I had student loan payments that I missed, but I called them and they were more than willing to differ the payments since I have a 'disability' in their words.
I know my situation is not comparable to yours, but I hope you believe me when I say I'm thinking of you and all the other bedrest mommies, and pray for everything to work out, financially and otherwise. We're all in this together!
I also want to thank you again for keeping up posts for the bedresters, I love reading them all and even thought I don't always post, I truly appreciate knowing there are other great women out there going through the same things as me.
Big HUGS!
I am really lucky to have accrued a ton of sick and vacation time, which I will use (so I keep getting paid) until my short term disability kicks in at 30 days. AT that point, I think I get 50 percent of my pay. We're also really lucky to have saved quite a bit, so we aren't in a position where we'd worry about not paying bills, though, honestly, I hate the idea of dipping in to savings.
The whole financial part makes me kind of sick, but I'm just not going to let it be another things to stress about.
Baby Boy born sleeping at 20 weeks.
I'm actually not on bed rest, but i researched it. My company pays us 100 percent of pay for up to 6mos std, and it does not impact ur mat leave at all.
I will likely die working there bc the benefits are amazing.
I feel for you. This is exactly why I am not having more kids - at least for now. Private practice and bedrest don't mix well. If I have any more, I'll have a smashing STD policy before we get pregnant and an elective prophylactic cerclage. Luckily, my DH does work (although not in medicine) and we could make it work on his salary alone.
Hang in there!!
I'm really fortunate that we have this income since I was put on bed rest at 15 weeks and if I make it to my due date I will be out a total of 26 weeks BEFORE delivery.
The catch in this whole scenario is that I took 6 weeks off last year after the birth/death of my son, so that counts against my FMLA & CA Pregnancy Disability Leave time for this pregnancy because it was within a 12 month period (barely). Both of those provide job protection but no pay. So officially, my job protection will expire Nov. 1. I don't *think* I'll be let go, but if I am we'll be in trouble. We can't afford our mortgage plus medical insurance without my income. We'd have to go on Cobra since DH's job doesn't provide benefits, so it would likely mean walking away from our house.
In the last 18 months DH and I have been on a strict financial plan with a tight budget. We've paid off 2 student loans, 2 cars & other miscellaneous debt. So we are almost totally debt free other than our house. BUT we have a gigantic mortgage (we live in SoCal & bought before the bubble burst). We're in a lot better position that we were a year ago but the mortgage is a huge issue. If I do get let go, it's not like I can run out and find another job a month before my due date. I also work in a really competitive field so it might be hard to find a job at all. I was hoping to go part time after baby is born as it is. Also, I work nights and I'm not willing to work days and put my kids in daycare, so it would be tough if not impossible to find another position that meets those requirements.
One thing I can say is that my loss last year has given me a lot of perspective on this situation. If I end up losing my job and we walk from the house, but we get to bring home a healthy baby, it's all for the best. I love what I do, but a job is a job, and the house is just a building. I don't think without the experience of losing a baby that I would have this perspective on the situation that I do now. While I know it would be stressful, I'm not worried about it. My family is what's important and the rest is just stuff.
It seems like we have a wide variety of situations here with bed rest. This has been an interesting thread; thanks for posting Kadyra!
You should also think about purchasing disability insurance.
I am a type 2 diabetic with excellent bloodwork results (low a1c) and even though I take insulin daily (I CAN take oral meds, but prefer insulin), I received excellent rates. I think I pay somewhere around $350 for the year. Between my union and the insurance, if I have to go on disability (bed rest during pregnancy or even PPD after delivery), I will get 80% of my regular pay check. I will definitely defer student loan & cc payments too.
I guess it's doable.
I'm the bread winner and I'm freaking out. I'm waiting for the bed rest call and I'm not sure how we'll pay for it. I don't have STD because every time we tried to qualify I was pregnant and didn't (we've been trying for 2 years). So.. yea. DH does work but it isn't enough to cover half of our bills.
Student loans- you can have them deferred for a period of time, which I would suggest. Call the bank and explain the financial issues, plus you can provide proof your on STD.
5 Angels
My situation is different in that I am a stay at home mom, but with my restricted activity levels, I'm not able to care for my boys without help at my house. Let me rephrase. I'm not able to keep them home with me full-time like I had been doing. My oldest goes to preschool every morning from 8:30am to 11:30am, but we hadn't planned on sending my youngest until next year. Given the current situation, he will have to go this year for 2-3 days per week. That's money out of our budget we hadn't planned on. Also, we have a high deductible health plan with a deductible of $6000 that must be reached before insurance will contribute anything to our prenatal care. We didn't plan on reaching that deductible until next year when the prenatal care and delivery are billed, but with all the specialist appointments and ultrasounds, we're going to meet that deductible 2 years in a row. DH is a teacher. We are screwed, for lack of a better word.
This is just one of the many things on our plate and I try not to worry about the financials. It's really, really tough, though.
I'm a lawyer and the main breadwinner in my family. For us my dh does work and our insurance is through his job...but we'd have a very hard time carrying our house payment and daycare for our son on just his salary.
I'm on bed rest until delivery also. I'm 25 weeks and have been told delivery may be around 34 weeks (placenta accreta).
I'm working from home right now to try to preserve my std, which is through my company and pays 100% for 8 wks after 1 Week of absence. That's important to me BC I know I'm having a RCS and likely a hysterectomy afterwards and a baby in nicu. I can't imagine that as a doctor that's an option for you though?
Basically it sounds like you need to defer those loans, cut back as much as you can and then fx that your h finds that job soon. That's what my approach would be BC I bet with the loan deferral you could totally handle the rest if your h had even a little bit of income coming in when combined with your std. I'm sorry your dealing with this factor plus your pregnancy complications, it's so tough!