The Octuplets

I'd like to have eight kids at one time... NOT. By the title of my blog, people may confuse me with this woman but No... That's not my style. I was asked what I thought about that woman and her situation. I am surprised a woman with six kids would chose to try to have six more! I am more surprised that the doctor actually went through with it!

But to be honest, I am kind of sick of hearing about her, talking about her and making her more famous is only fueling the fire so this is all I'm going to dedicate to this topic.

The Economy is Effecting Pregnancy Plans

A friend of mine sent me a story from MSNBC and it really made me stop and think... I'm not alone.

The economy is taking a toll on everyone, and it's making people like myself think twice about "the right time" to expand our family. We've been hit hard this week with economy problems. I hate it but I really feel like it's putting a damper on my plans.

*note added 1/30 By "damper" and "hit hard" I mean we've recently gone from two incomes to one and I can't imagine going from hardly taking care of myself to taking care of a whole nother being... Not to mention the stress! BUT I if I get an impression that having a child is what I'm suppose to do right now, I imagine I'd be able to take that leap of faith.*

Here are some interesting parts of the article I found:

Birth rates do tend to drop in times of economic uncertainty. There was a dramatic decline in fertility rates following the Great Depression in the 1930s, when, for the first time in U.S. history, women went from having an average of three children the previous decade to two.

In each year after the country’s last four recessions, general fertility rates — calculated as the number of women of child-bearing age per thousand who gave birth — dipped slightly. For example, in the year following the 1973-1975 recession, fertility rates dropped from 68.8 in 1973 to 65 in 1976...

Without a doubt, in good economic times or bad, raising a child is an expensive proposition. According to “Expenditures on Children by Families,” an annual report put out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a middle-class family making more than $77,100 will spend nearly $300,000 raising a child from birth to age 17 — and that doesn’t even take into account college tuition or inflation.

And here's a story I found to be so interesting:

Michelle and Paul Anderson, two Seattle-based high-tech professionals, were delighted to learn they were pregnant with their first child earlier this year, until they both found themselves laid off from their jobs and paying out-of-pocket for health insurance.

Friends and relatives, cash-strapped themselves, haven’t been able to help with baby gifts as much as they anticipated. “Being pregnant makes this very stressful on both of us,” says Anderson. We have trouble sleeping and we worry all the time.”

I can't believe that!... But I can. Times are tough and it's scary/hard enough to bring a soul into this world, imagine not being able to support a family.

It makes sense to me... The correlation between the bad economy and lower birth rates. Would it change your plans? Some people say "What's one more mouth to feed?" And other's say "You'll never have enough money anyway." Regardless, tough times make for tough decisions when it comes to growing a family.

It's really going to take a giant leap of faith in order for me to take the plunge with times being the way they are now.

Let me know what you think vote in the poll on this topic and feel free to elaborate in a comment.

You can read the full article here.

The Job

I have a pretty cool job. Yea, I work as a reporter, which is pretty cool when you consider that I get to do something different every day. Well, I told a few of my friends at work about my blog and let me tell you word spreads fast! I didn't know half the people at work knew I had this thing.

Some of you readers may be thinking "Uh oh... Ooooh....Remember you talked about strippin?... Or getting your whoohaa waxed?!" But ya know what? I'm not a private person (if you haven't noticed) and I knew people would read this going into it. I debated whether or not to make this blog private and decided since I don't blog about anything political or extremely controversial(which are boring blog topics anyway) I'd go ahead and let the world read this. This is me, who I am in reality. I'm a happy, low-stress, carefree kind of gal that likes to be sarcastic and laugh... Yea laugh! But the cool thing I'm finding is that a lot of people appreciate it!

I love what I do because I get to pick other people's brains and write stories that help people. Well, this blog is a bigger, broader-net version of that. It's more specific as it pertains solely to pregnancy/motherhood/womanhood related stuff but I get to do fun research and spread the word about my cool findings. The fun this about this is that I do get to express my opinions about my findings, and share my personal stories. I don't get to do that on TV.

Not only that but I get to write! I write every day at work but I'm confined to a specific structure-A 90 second story. It's nice to be able to be long winded and write for FUN, not just for work.

My friend at work (I'll call him Mr. E) told me he saw my blog and I asked him what he thought. He said don't rush it, have fun! He waited until he was married for like 8 years (together for like 11) before they had their first child. He was 33 and she was 30. He says he has no regrets, and they got their "parting" out of their system. Nice tip Mr. E, I'll keep that in mind! Anyway just wanted to put it out there that I know yall are reading, but the least yall could do is LEAVE SOME COMMENTS! ;op

Anyway, I leave all of you with a glimpse of the real me.