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

[Anonymous]

This is sort of a random question... one of my coworkers recently told me that they "planned" the time of year their child would be born. (In order to have a child who was one of the older kids in their grade level.) Is that normal?? Has anyone else done this??

[Anonymous]

When I started trying, I didn't want to have a baby in July or August, partly due to the heat and mostly because it is difficult to figure out whether to hold them back in school. Then it took me 18+ months to get pregnant and I'm expecting in July and couldn't be happier about it. If you're lucky enough to be able to get pregnant when you want, count your blessings.

[Anonymous]

I cannot even fathom this level of organization.

[Anonymous]

I'm a full-time student, so I aimed to be due right after a semester finished, to maximize time off (since I planned to take one semester off afterward). We tried for two months but didn't get pregnant, took two months off to wait until the next "preferable due date range," and got lucky the first month we tried again.
School cut-offs had nothing to do with it.

[Anonymous]

My first child and the one I am carrying are August babies. I never could wrap my mind around the school thing. Does this mean my child can start k early? Don't mean to hijack, but could someone help me with this?

[Anonymous]

Before all my troubles to get pregnant, I wanted to plan to deliver around May so I could max my time off with the baby (I am off during summers).

[Anonymous]

I think it's pretty common for people with seasonal jobs to try to plan somewhat, and others might keep it in mind when they start trying. I figured we'd have a Spring baby, which would be nice in terms of maternity leave, easy to plan for schools, etc., but we got pregnant the first month of trying, so hello January baby. The idea of *really* planning seems a bit too idealistic, since it can only take a few months to really blow up your plans.

[Anonymous]

I didn't plan around this, but I did think about what astrological sign my baby would be and the chances I would end up delivering on or near my birthday (it turns out they are slim but there is a chance). But I was happy just to get pregnant, regardless of when I am due, and certainly didn't think about school schedules. Heck, I don't even know the school year age cutoff in my school system!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My first child and the one I am carrying are August babies. I never could wrap my mind around the school thing. Does this mean my child can start k early? Don't mean to hijack, but could someone help me with this?

They can't start "early" so to speak. Rather, they can start at the same time everyone else can, but they'll be younger when they're eligibile. E.g., an August kid will be 5 years, one month when he or she starts; a January kid will be 5 years, 9 months when they start. Some people like their kids to start earlier -- reduce daycare costs, kid seems bored, etc., but a lot of people around here don't want their kid to be the youngest in the class.

[Anonymous]

Not for the first one, who was a November baby, but for the second I really wanted to have a spring/summer baby so I could spend my maternity leave outside more.

[Anonymous]

Not even planned! but it was a pleasant surprise!

[Anonymous]

This is psycho.

[Anonymous]

Well, my mom always told me to try for spring or fall babies, to avoid third trimester in the summer (hot, swelling) and winter (ice, hard to get out with infant in the cold)... Baby 1 came in August and Baby 2 is looking like he'll come in January, so you see how well that worked for me (though I do think it's great advice, in theory!)

Obviously you don't generally get pregnant the first month you try, so... it's not an exact science!

[Anonymous]

With #1, I tried for a Spring baby and got one born in early spring. The second one we also wanted a Spring baby, and got a May baby. So it worked out for us getting pregnant right away when we wanted to - apparently I was lucky.

[Anonymous]

I wish!! Spending maternity leave inside in December and January totally sucks. If I'd planned, I would have planned for a spring baby. Or maybe early fall.