Big Announcement – I’m Pregnant!

UPDATE: We were very excited about an addition to our family, but unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. I had an early miscarriage. Again, thank you to everyone for your kind words.

The grandparents have been notified, so now I am excited to share the news with all of you! I’m pregnant

Yes, having another child will have many implications on our debt reduction progress. But I can’t think of anything else that can be so worth it!

My husband and I always wanted two children. After the birth of our son, we wanted to wait at least 3 to 4 years until we had another child, to help space out college and such. After waiting that time, we knew we couldn’t afford another child because we didn’t have health insurance. Well, in December we finally obtained health insurance and my son is already 5. We still aren’t financially secure by any means, but we are in a much better position than when my son was born.

I’m actually not entirely sure how far along I am. I first became suspicious in February because my monthly cycle was absent. I ended up thinking it was probably stress-related because that’s when the New York Times article came out. I took a pregnancy test and at that time it came up negative.

That occurance made my husband think that perhaps it was time to try for another. We both are not getting any younger and I had decided that some time ago that I did not want to have children after I was 30. Perhaps now was the time so we let our guard down a bit and decided that if it was going to happen, it was going to happen.

Another month passed and a few days ago I began having some other pregnancy symptoms. I took another test yesterday and it was positive. Sometime soon I will make an appointment with the doctor and I’m sure they will be able to pinpoint a due date.

We are very excited about this addition to our family, and it will mean many, many changes for us. There is much to talk about from a financial standpoint from working to increase our income to cover new costs to saving money with the new baby. I haven’t given up hope with still meeting our debt payoff goal date of May 2009

Oh, and tomorrow will be my first attempt with quitting cigarettes cold turkey. Wish me luck!

Posted by Tricia on March 18, 2007 at 5:14 PM in About Me, Life Experiences, Spending Money | 53 Comments »
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2SpottedDogs responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Congratulations! What a wonderful blessing!
Clever Dude responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Congratulations Tricia!
bluntmoney responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Congrats! (And I know you can do it on the cigarettes, anyone who can tackle debt like you can be just as successful at other things too)
D responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Yeah!!!! A Baby!!! Money is not everything, this is fantastically wonderful.

Trisha – you can and you will survive the lack of cigarettes. Be strong, deep breaths will help. If I can help in anyway, please let me know.

I’m so excited, you would think I was having the baby. Thankfully, my factory is out of production. LOL.
Henry responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Congrats on the baby. You should name her Tricia Jr. if it’s a girl!

I hope you can kick the habit. I heard that there can be some health implications to a child. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer there. I’ll make it up to you by giving you a smiley face:
J.D. Roth responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Congrats, Tricia! Best wishes for you and your family.
c responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Congrats on the baby! What a wonderful time for you. I’m sure there will be some readers who will comment that it is irresponsible to have a baby without your financial house in perfect order, but I believe that if everyone waited for that, no one would ever have kids. Things have a way of working out, especially when you’re making wise decisions and doing all you can to get where you want to be. Again, congrats to you, and great job on the blog–I read it almost every day!
Beverly responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Tricia, congratulations, there was 5 years between my sons, and after the 2nd son, every 3 years I would have another (girls). Families are great blessing to us!! You have had such a positive attitude, you WILL get your debt paid off, even if it takes a little longer. There are some things in life you can’t put a dollar value on, and a new baby is one of those. As far as the cigarettes, my cousin, when she stopped smoking after 30 years, sucked on mini tootsie rolls. And she quit, “cold turkey”. Best Wishes to you and yours. I have enjoyed your blog, and I too read it almost every day!!
Claire in CA responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Congratulations, Tricia! Oh, babies are so much fun! I got to hold a six-week-old for 1-1/2 hrs today at church. What amazing miracles they are!
Marlene responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Congratulations, hope you have a healthy baby.
NCN responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Having a baby rocks! Congratulations!
NCN
Single Ma responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Congratulations! A bundle of blessings. How exciting!
Allstar responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Congrats! I quit smoking myself back in Nov. It was hard at first, but gets easier after a while.
Dasha responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Congratulations! That’s so wonderful!
The Digerati Life responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Wow! Congratulations! Having a baby is such a blessing! I always wished I could have more children. But I’m an older parent and having 2 is hard enough as it is. Plus I had difficult pregnancies. So I wish you all the best: stay healthy and good luck with your debt reduction process as well.
Donna responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Congrats! Just think of the money you save with quitting smoking. You should put that money you usually buy them with in a clear glass jar in a very visible location so you can see how much its worth and when you get your first ultrasound, put that picture on the jar. That should keep you going! Good luck.
RealME responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Congrats! I Have been reading your posts for long time but its my 1st time to leave a message here. Wish you all the best and so happy for you!! thats the most wonderful thing in the world.
db responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
What awesome news!!! Many blessings on you and your children.

DB
Amanda responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Congratulations! That’s great news — and the perfect motivation to quit smoking! Good luck!
Sonja responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Congratulations. That’s great. Children are such a blessing. Even if they can be so much work, they are so worth it.
Stephanie responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Congratulations! Good luck with your little bundle, and also with your decision to quit. We’re all pulling for you, and don’t worry about money – knowing the way that you’ve been able to aggressively knock down your debt, I know you’ll be fine!
Kirby on Finance responded:
Posted: March 18th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Wow! Congrats!!!
mbhunter responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Congratulations!
MOMM responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Yay! That’s awesome! Congratulations!!
Shauna responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Congrats!!!! What great news. Best of luck to you for quitting smoking, I know you can do it!
Deby responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 2:43 am
Tricia,
Congratulations to you and your husband!
Golbguru responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 2:49 am
Congratulations ! That’s wonderful !
Yay responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Yay good news! Maybe your hubby can pick up a job on the weekends at UPS or FedEx to get your savings up to a more comfortable level and pay down a little more debt? Hope everything works out for you!
Elena responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 7:46 am
Congratulations! I’m a long-time lurker, but I don’t think I’ve commented before.

Don’t get too uptight about having babies after 30 Tricia. I had all six of mine after 30, two of them after 40! Maybe that’s why I feel 25!

I wish you a happy, healthy pregnancy!
Lauri responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Congratulations!

Best of luck on quitting the smoking, too!
Mandi responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Wow!!! That exact thing happened to us just two years ago and in December we had our second bundle of joy. Our wait was 7 years instead of 5 though. We were waiting for the usual, bigger house, better job, better financial situtation and so on.

We thought we were pregnant in February and turned out we weren’t. We were scared because all the things we wanted we didn’t have yet. Then we decided, they were just things that we wanted, not needed. And we couldn’t wait forever.

My boys are my life (including my husband) and I wouldn’t change them for anything.

Congratulations to the four of you. This will be such an exciting time for you all!!!

I know you can quit smoking, you have already made up your mind to do it, so you are almost there.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Blogging Away Debt!!!!

Mandi
Kim L. responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Congratulations! That is wonderful news! As others already said, finances are not everything. You have such a better appreciation for it all now that it will work itself out.
Ginger responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Congratulations what a blessing
Ginger
Jags Mollu responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Just HAD to comment on this post. CONGRATULATIONS!!
Jen responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Congratulations!! Very exciing news!

As for quitting the cigarettes, have you checked out the American Cancer Society web page? I think they have an online program to help people quit smoking. Or maybe it’s the American Lung Association. A guy I know was able to quit that way.
Karen responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Awesome news! So happy for you and your family. CONGRATULATIONS!
Him & Her responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Congrats! Best wishes for a healthy baby!
Matt responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Congrats!! This is awesome news even if it has a financial impact.
jim responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Congratulations and I’m so late to the party!
Joane responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Wow. What a wonderful blessing. The baby will help you keep a perspective on your life and its challenges. Congratulations.
steven responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Congratulations! That’s wonderful.
mapgirl responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Oh my! That’s wonderful news. I’m so happy for you and your family.
Beachgirl responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Congrats! I’m very happy for you and your family.
Debt be Gone responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Congratulations!! What great news.
Tammy responded:
Posted: March 20th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Congratulations ~ I’m so very happy for you. I’m thinking warm thoughts for you and your family. A mom to four also working to become debt free.
Ivy responded:
Posted: March 20th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
hi congrats- our son is six mos. and soooo wonderful my husband quit his 20+yr. habit after we came home from the hosp. -do you need to have your wisdom teeth taken out by chance? that is how he did it. the patch and loz. work wonders- see if your ob sugg. those. good luck- if you were anything like me, all i did was vomit- not pretty i know- but anything to quit. i am addicted to your blog. good work. take care
Tricia responded:
Posted: March 20th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Thank you everyone!
Finance Carnivals For The Week of March 21, 2007 » Silicon Valley Blog About Money responded:
Posted: March 21st, 2007 at 11:10 am
[...] us was hearing about some life changing news from a fellow personal finance blogger: Tricia from Blogging Away Debt is expecting her second child. Someone else in the pf blogosphere just had wonderful news as well, but since he hasn’t [...]
sf mom responded:
Posted: March 21st, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Congratulations! I’m just catching up with your blog and was so surprised, and very happy for you.
sf mom
Rodeo of Debt Reduction #12 → We’re In Debt responded:
Posted: March 24th, 2007 at 10:06 am
[...] over at blogging away debt announced that there is going to be a new addition to her family. Congratulations [...]
Rose Carter responded:
Posted: March 24th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Congratulations and that is a great from god and i think i can help you with something and i wnat you to email me briefly about what happen
I’m a Little Behind Schedule Today : Blogging Away Debt responded:
Posted: April 13th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
[...] Very Sad News (61)Big Announcement – I’m Pregnant! (51)Welcome Readers from the New York Times! (44)Want to Start Using Quicken? Need a Copy? [...]
Welcome to Blogging Away Fat : Blogging Away Fat responded:
Posted: April 21st, 2007 at 9:55 pm
[...] our debt head on, I’m ready to face my weight head on. In one week, I’ve had the joy of learning I was pregnant and the sadness of learning I miscarried. I was heartbroken, to say the least. But I hold onto the [...]