I don't feel guilty at all financially. My dh and I have planned for this since we were in high school, honestly! We both had mothers that stayed home w/ us, and that is what we decided would be best for our family when we had one. We even put away my paychecks as often as possible in order to remain used to 1 income. The only problem was, once the time came, I had no idea how hard it would be for me to leave my job. I love teaching, and I felt nearly devastated to leave it for such a long time, no matter how badly I wanted to stay home with my son. I just felt like it was the ultimate sacrifice -- choosing between two things I love so much. However, my son won. I knew he would. They even offered me an EXTREMELY tempting part time position, and I *bawled* when I hung up with my principal, turning it down. But, I still think I am doing the right thing. When it came down to it, I decided that later on in life, when I'm old and gray, I *might* regret working when my children were young, but I would *NEVER* regret staying home w/ them. This is what made my decision, ultimately.
I think guilt would have eaten me alive if I had kept working, since I've always planned to stay home. When I went back to work for the end of this past school year (DS was 3-6 mo), I kept thinking, "I'm spending all of this time enjoying and molding everyone else's children, while my own sits at the babysitter."
That made me sad. It was definitely an emotional battle for me, but I think I'm doing the right thing for my son and myself.