Originally Posted by
Throwaway_panther
Oh wow, such good news about the U/S!! Hoping all the best for you!!
I'm so sorry about your friend -- it does really suck that we constantly have to wait longer. My endo thought for sure I'd have problems conceiving before my DD, so ran me quite high before we started trying. Now we realize I'm apparently quite fertile despite all my thyroid issues and I guess my lot in TTC is just keeping them.
In the U/S, health insurance (since we're the unlucky non-socialized healthcare first world nation...) "resets" at the end of the year. So as of January 1, depending on kind of plan we have, you end up potentially paying a lot more. So for instance, with my DD, we "met our deductible," which meant we paid as much as we'd have to out of pocket, with her birth, so the rest of the year was all completely covered medical expenses. Everything ever was 'free'! With a child born in December, you're more likely to be closer to the end of the deductible and end up with a less expensive birth just because you've been paying more throughout the year; conversely, if your child is born in January, you'd also end up meeting your deductible (though all at once, so you'd have a huge bill at the beginning of the year, but end up likely to have cheaper to no medical bills for any future procedures that year).
It's a weird mixed bag of just wishing it was all covered! There's a longstanding joke, too (unsure how it is in other countries) about the tax situation -- a kid born Dec. 31st means the parents get a deduction (or lower taxes) when filing for that year, but a Jan. 1st kid means waiting a whole other year before being able to claim that child. Money, money, money... haha.
Yeah, I'm really working on not letting the supposed months bother me. Although, another issue is just the stress I imagine comes with having a baby around the holidays, haha!