I ended up with an emergency c-section after a very easy and uneventful pregnancy. What a shock that was. Because of the extended hospital stay and additional medical interventions, my bills increased dramatically. I expected to pay around $500 out of pocket if I had a "normal" delivery. Instead my out of pocket costs have been $1500 so far and I am still receiving bills nearly four months later.
I took eleven weeks off of work, 5 of those weeks were unpaid. Because of the c-section I wouldn't have been able to return to work for at least 8 weeks, but to me the time at home with my daughter was well worth the cost. I am now working two days per week for the rest of the school year. I will then have 8 weeks of summer vacation and return to work next year (september) full time.
Fortunately I was able to get my daughter into a home daycare where several of my friends take their children so I feel comfortable with it. It costs $3.50 per hour, whether we go or not. So, you better believe that if I had better be on my deathbed before I take a day off work. This is an excellent price for good child care. While I was looking the big centers in my area were charging between $7-8 dollars per hour, full time slots only. This would have eaten up 65% of my take home pay, which to me makes it almost not worth it to work at all.
I realize with being a working parent you have to look at the big picture. First of all, my job costs me money. Because I work in an office I have to have slacks and other "dressy" items that I would not otherwise own (at least to the extent that I do for my job). Also there is the cost of commuting. Of course I would still drive if I wasn't working, but not as far and often as I do to get to work each day. Additionally there is the cost of lunch type foods. I almost always pack my lunch (I eat out perhaps once a month if I meet a friend on my break), however I do purchase items for work that I wouldn't buy if I was at home.
Typically I purchase canned fruit, granola and nutrigrain bars, single serving chocolate milks, string cheese, single serving yogurts, and snack crackers. These items are easy for me to eat at my desk since I don't always get a full lunch break, or get hungry during the day.
Now that I have my daughter I need to offset the cost of her child care so I plan to attempt to save money on lunch items and work clothing since I can't do much to save on commuting--we live where there is no bus route and none of my co-workers live in my area to carpool with.