Did you try to plan the month your child would be born?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is psycho.

It isn't "psycho" for teachers to plan so that we're not dipping heavily into our leave. Hey - if I have off from mid-June through August, I may as well take advantage of that time.

Perhaps you need to educate yourself about certain professions that aren't necessarily 12 month positions.

- mother of two children born in May

[Anonymous]

10:15 post here again...as an inhouse attorney it was also a perfect time for maternity leave to wrap up at work and pass on projects in mid December as everyone else in the company and at other companies I negotiate with are all doing the same thing since everyone is wrapping up before going on vacation and closing out for end of quarter/end of year revenue. It was nice having everyone all trying to wrap up around the same time versus it just being about me and my maternity leave.

I can see how being off work in spring would be nice also. I am an April baby myself. Commuting as far as I do to work in winter weather is not fun though either so its a toss up between delivery in January/February vs. April/May.

I'm due next week!

[Anonymous]

I had a spring baby and 'planned' our second baby to arrive during spring time as well. Unfortunately, he arrived early and is a Valentine baby! So much for good planning. We're currently going for #3 and hope to be pregnant this month for a fall baby. I don't really want a maternity leave in winter with two toddlers and a newborn who can't get out much. That sounds terrible! That said, we will take our chances and take what we get.

[Anonymous]

We thought about it for our first, or at least I thought about it, because I was a summer baby and everyone forgot my birthday growing up. I thought it would be more fun if DC got to celebrate with the class during the year. For our second, we won't "wait" mostly because I haven't weaned #1, I won't start my cycle again until I do, and I don't want to space the babies out any more than I have to.

[Anonymous]

I'm due in about 6wks. And, while I can't wait to meet DC, I'm actually hoping that I deliver a bit late instead of early so that my maternity leave stretches into spring a bit. If we had planned, I would definitely have been shooting for a spring baby. Due to some medical issues, we didn't know if we could get pregnant, so we didn't have the luxury of trying to plan, but I can totally see doing it and wish we could have!

[Anonymous]

My first was born at the end of July -- I hadn't given the timing much thought, but loved having maternity leave when the weather was warm. I didn't mind being pregnant during the summer at all. For baby #2, I very much wanted another spring/summer baby (due in May). I told DH I wanted to stop trying during the months that would have resulted in a winter baby, but I ended up getting pregnant the first month we tried, which is lucky I know.

I don't know how women deliver in December without getting PPD. It's depressing enough as it is with staying inside all the time and it getting dark at 5 -- throw in some hormones and a newborn and my maternity leave couldn't possibly be as enjoyable as it was in the warm weather.

My reasons are all selfish -- I never even thought about school and what would be better for the kids!

[Anonymous]

I didn't worry to much about it with #1 but now that we are TTC #2, I am thinking about the time of year. If we have two of the same gender and that are born the same time of year, I can reuse all the clothes! (Yes, I am super cheap. But socking away the savings into a college fund!)

[Anonymous]

This is an interesting one if you are due in the fall (i.e. September/October).

While I was not able to plan when my baby was due (it took us a few months to get pregnant so those plans fior a summer maternity leave were shot!!!), once I found out that i was due in late September, I actually worked with my Doctor to make sure that I delivered prior to October 1. Reason being that I had heard from friends that many preschools have a September cutoff date (which meant that if my son were born in October, he would have to delay preschool for a year and would then always be the oldest in his class--not a bad thing per se, but I wanted to have options available).

So, since my due date was very end of September, and (for medical reasons) I needed to be induced, I organized to be induced last day in September vs. October 2 (which was what the hospital was pushing for as they had an opening then ).

I'm in the process now of deciding whether to send him to preschool or wait--and I'm glad I have options to consider (while some schools have cut off of September 1, two I like have cutoffs of September 30th so he can be considered).

Anyway, just a different point of view on the topic for what it's worth!

[Anonymous]

I'm keeping my legs closed in August.

We have two May babies - exactly 2 years and 2 days apart!

[Anonymous]

I know so many moms who have planned their pregnancy even down to the time. If you're fortunate enough to have no issues with getting pregnant I say go for it! I didn't but I would if I had a second - mainly due to my SAD issues and health problems exacerbated by heat - I wouldn't want to be big and pregnant in the hottest summer months.

[Anonymous]

Definitely not PSYCHO!! Having a baby in the spring was AWESOME! - baby blues creep up but aren't so bad when you can take your baby a walk in the beautiful weather.

[Anonymous]

I didn't plan my first (she was a surprise) but I did plan my 2nd around when the first was starting preschool, etc, so as to make the transition to having a sibling as easy as possible for her.