Hi Peachy

We fell pg by accident and DP's major concern was the financial side of things. So far our biggest expenses were all before she was born, obstetrician and storing cord blood, not to mention the furniture! But all of those things are discretionary, you can choose how much or how little you want to spend.

We stocked up on nappies while they were on special before Lucy was born and because she is our first (and also the first grandchild on both sides) we were given a lot of things. I didn't have to buy any clothes and a lot of practical items as well. I kept a list of things I needed and when someone asked what I needed, I told them something on my list. That way we weren't left with a huge amount of things to buy.

I like Trish's list of what she's spent in the last week. This is mine for a 3 mth old that's bf but using disposable nappies:
- Dummy ($1.70 from supermarket)
- Went through half a bulk pack of Infants nappies (Huggies 48 in a pack)
- Box of Lux flakes to wash her clothes in (~$4, I think?)
- $14 on an outfit from Pumpkin Patch (it was on sale!)
- Petrol to take me to postnatal exercise class and Mummies group!
- $195 on a toy box. But that's a luxury!!

It's amazing how much money you spend that you don't remember spending before you have a baby, so IMO the financial concerns have been unfounded in our case.

The biggest cost is the loss of my full-time income. I'm still working, given that I work for myself, but not as much and that's put a bit of pressure on us. But I wouldn't change this for the world!!