Pros/Cons of being a stay at home mom?

Question

A little back story: I was 18 when I had my first child and worked full time and went to school full time. 
When he was in first grade I finally finished my bachelors degree - woohoo. 
Got a new, better paying job with benefits, PTO, and the option to work from home for part of most days... but with a very flexible not consistent schedule. 
Fast forward to now: married, still working great job & 17 weeks pregnant. I would LOVE to stay at home with this next when (I don't love childcare, plus the cost).. however I do love my job... and all the "extras". 
We live a pretty comfortable life style. I'm able to go shopping, take vacations, eat out - without really having to stress about bills/money. Obviously if I stay at home all of this goes away. 
Has anyone stayed home before without feeling like they are giving up everything? I feel so torn. I want to be able to take my kids on vacation and have experiences but I also want to be at home and I know I'm going to feel a huge loss dropping the new baby at childcare and returning to work. I don't want to stress about money and bills... and I know things will be MUCH tighter... with the added cost of baby on. 
I also feel like I had my first son really young and worked REALLY hard to be where I'm at (school, shitty jobs to make ends meet) and I feel guilt about wanting to throw it all away. The job I have now is not a "common" job and not something I could pick back up after a few years. 
Any advice is helpful.

Answer

I have been a SAHM going on 7 years now and I dont regret it at all. Yeah moneys tight, but my kids aren't going to remember that we ate grilled cheese and hot dogs more than their friends did. They are going to remember me always being home, being able to yell for me 24/7, they will remember morning cuddles, and playing games, and reading books and trips to the park and the library. We have taken a few vacations and the kids have obviously enjoyed that. But when they are grown and out of the house, I'm not going to wish for more time at work so I could buy them more things. I'm going to want more snuggles, which are always free!!

Answer

I love being home with my daughter but I miss my money and some alone time that I would get on the way to and from work

Answer

Thank you everyone for your replies! I will say that the struggle is so real. I think my husband is also on the fence because the loss of my income is scary. It gives us an extra cushion. 
I do get three months of maternity leave and I told him I think that I will have a very strong feeling to stay home. This will be his first child so he has no idea what it's like to leave a new baby for work or in the care of someone else. 
I think maybe part-time would be my happy place. We are planning now as if I would be staying home because I want that option.  I guess when baby gets here I'll know what I want to do.

Answer

I always say this. That little extra money can help the family with a vacation, money to pay for things for the house, a new car, a better house, paying debt off. Women have been working all their lives and maintaining a household. It’s possible, maybe consider part time instead of full time....

Answer

I was a teacher at a private school before I got pregnant and it was extremely stressful with a 1-hour morning commute and 1.5-hour evening commute. The pay was awful, despite spending a fortune going to school for 6 years to earn my bachelors degree then teaching credential, so I don’t regret quitting at all. 
Before we even got married, my husband and I both agreed I would be a SAHM after we had our first baby. He makes plenty of money to support our comfortable lifestyle. We actually make about the same amount of money as we would if I were still working because we don’t have to pay for childcare and we get some tax benefits.
That being said, teaching is a job that can be done anywhere, so I didn’t feel like I was giving up something that would be difficult to find again if I ever wanted to go back. I also think it would be harder to give up if I made more money. Most of my friends in your situation decided to go back to work because they didn’t want to give up what they worked so hard for.

Answer

I loved my job and had full intentions of going back to work but part time. I ended up getting pregnant 5 months postpartum and was really upset at the prospect of not being able to work for a few years. It wouldn't make financial sense to pay for crèche for 2 baby's. I'm getting my head around it now and look forward to raising my baby's. 
We'll be down a few €100 a month from me not working but my situation is different because it won't make a difference to our lifestyle. The only thing is there's more pressure on my partner to be the provider. I'll also miss having my own money and being completely reliant on him. I plan to go back to work when the baby's start school. 
It's such a tough one and no easy answer. Maybe you could speak to your employer about being more flexible and doing the bulk of work at home?

Answer

I'm a mom of 3 going on 4. I worked full time with my first, part time with my 2nd and stay at home with my 3rd.
I'm older than you  (38) so by the time I decided to stay home, I was SO DONE with the career I had been in for 13 years. Even then, it's not easy. I absolutely love my kids, but most days I feel like a cleaning lady/babysitter. In some ways when I was working, I felt like a better mom because I missed my kids. Once I had multiple kids though, my time was spread more thin and childcare expense was too high, and by then I was okay with giving up my career.
 The harsh reality is that it's hard to get rehired after taking a lot of time off in most fields. So the "you can always go back to work" idea doesn't exactly happen in many cases, unfortunately. 
Part time was the WORST because I had a salaried position, so they basically tried to get me to do a full time job on part time pay and time. That may not be the case for you, but that's what happened to me. 
My advice would be to try going back to work. It's hard for everyone at first. Give it a month and see how you do. If you absolutely hate being a working mom,  you'll know, and then you'll be 100% sure of your decision to quit.
Good luck!

Answer

The struggle is real isn’t it?
Is your current job so specialized that it also comes with a specialized salary...where it would be very difficult to get that salary again if you let the job go?
Part of my struggle is that I want to stay home/have more time with my kids...but all day...24x7...I’m not sure that would be great for any of us long term.  I would love having at least 1 year off so I didn’t have to worry about pumping all the time (and feeling like I am never getting anything done).

Answer

I am giving up $4k/month (though half would go to daycare) plus benefits to stay home. I love the freedom and flexibility the extra income gives us, but my husband and I decided its best for our family for me to stay home. And we will have to budget tightly, stop eating out, buying things without thought, and going on fancy vacations. I’m 34w so not there yet but I know in my heart all the material sacrifices will be worth it. Good luck.

Answer

Is there any way you could go part time? That’s what I’m doing. I don’t really have much support at home as far as a baby sitter situation goes, so I can’t work much more than 3 or 4 days a week....but I have been working 5 years to be where I’m at in my career so I couldn’t just walk away...I’d lose the skill set I worked so hard for. Not to mention, extra money is nice! My husband is definitely the bread winner in our home but I do help pay a few bills. I enjoy being able to buy things when I want or do things. It’s a hard choice because childcare is expensive and scary to think about. Especially when they’re just babies. You want to spend all the time you can with them while still providing them with the whole world if they wanted it. But DONT feel bad if you continue working. You worked your ass off to be where you are in your career, don’t feel like you have to give that up if your not ready to. There are plenty of working mamas that keep a full time job!

Pros/Cons of being a stay at home mom?

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