Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A baby costs what???

If it's been a while, or even a couple years, since you've had a baby, you might be unaware of what it costs to have a baby these days. I just got the bill from the hospital for me and for Kiersa, and if you total those plus my prenatal care bill from my doctor, it costs $15,000 to have a baby now!!! That's about enough to make me have Hyrum go get the snip!! Maybe they just charge you more according to how ugly your baby is, because Kiersa, and Hyatt especially, were little trolls when they were born!

This is Hyatt right after birth. Sorry it's blurry, but he's probably easier on the eyes that way in this photo. He's troll doll model #1, without the long fuzzy hair.


Here's Kiersa with skid marks on her nose. Yes, I did love her anyway!

Alright, that was mean, but I'm not one of those mom's who thinks my child looks like a beautiful angel when it's all smashed and swollen. I think they cuten up later. Kiersa did cuten up after 6 days, and Hyatt's nothing BUT cute now.


But come on...$15,000??? That was a pretty normal birth too!! No emergencies, no c-sections...not even a stitch! Nope, just regular care for 2 days. Okay, okay, I did have a couple of extra expenses. I had an epidural, and I had group beta strep which requires 2 I.V. rounds of antibiotics before the baby's born, and since my labor was faster than expected, the antibiotics weren't in there for 4 hours before the birth, so Kiersa had to have an I.V. of antibiotics for the 2 days she was in the hospital, and because of the group beta strep, we had to stay in the hospital for a full 48 hours after the birth. Also, there was maconium (how do you spell that, by the way) in the water, so a pediatrician had to be present at the birth. But really, those are all minor things. An epidural, some antibiotics for me and the babe, a 2 day stay, and a pediatrician. My pregnancy was normal too, so no extra frills added to that bill. It's crazy that they can charge so much money for a normal pregnancy and birth! Maybe three kids is plenty.? Is adoption cheaper than $15,000? Just curious.

2 comments:

Annie said...

Tiana - I can't believe it...$15K? That sounds totally crazy. Is that with insurance too?

Karin Stephens said...

Yep, I can believe it. I had to have a c-section because Matthew just did not want to come out. Our total bill was $25k. We are pretty fortunate to have great insurance and only had to pay a one time OBGYN fee of $10 and a hospital co-pay of $50. I keep telling Jordan that he has to stay with Intel at least until we're done having kids.