First of all, congratulations on the baby-to-be and getting hired at CAL. Here's some info that may help you.
I recently changed airlines, too (not to CAL, but I had a roughly two-month wait for bennies). My wife is also pregnant. COBRA was the only option for us. Full coverage for the family would have cost around $900/mo. However, we ended up paying something like $230 a month for my wife only to be covered.
By talking to the benefits dept. at the company I was leaving, I learned two valuable bits of information about how COBRA works.
1. You can enroll a SINGLE family member (i.e., your wife, but not you) in COBRA even if your whole family had been covered during your employment.
2. You can (and should) enroll in COBRA retroactively. I think you have something like a 60 day grace period, maybe a little longer (obviously check the exact timeline with your benefits dept.) from your termination date to sign up for COBRA. During that time, you can use the benefits that you've had. But, if you do use them for something that can wait until your new bennies kick in, then you'll be throwing away money on those huge premiums once you start sending in those COBRA checks. So, you really would only want your wife to use the benefits if possible (i.e, unless you were really sick or were badly injured; then, obviously, it would be worth the $900 or so to retroactively enroll the whole family). Just don't forget to send in your first COBRA check by the deadline.
I hope this info is helpful to you. It's sickening that so many companies make you wait for such a fundamental benefit. Situations like this give firepower to arguments in favor of universal healthcare. It's obviously not just homeless or irresponsible people who can't afford healthcare. I struggled to pay for a mortgage, health coverage, and also invest in a 401(k) on regional pay. I worked hard, and have been entirely self-sufficient. If you want to make a change to CAL from the regionals, it's quite easy to find yourself in a position with NO benefits for a significant time after already sacraficing for years with the hope of one day getting the big opportunity.
It's self evident that in this profession, we don't control the timing of opportunities and we can't precisely time when a pregnancy may occur. We have to take these opportunities when they come. The problem is that CAL is obviously a good long term opportunity, but unless you have a rich uncle to turn to, going there can create a hardship for the person getting hired.
I suspect that anyone who is critical of a person for changing companies while the wife is pregnant haven't had to fight for much in this life. It's not easy when you have to fend yourself at a regional, and then get slapped in the face when trying to advance your career at a major.
Good luck at CAL. Congratulations again.
