When I was finally able to convince Kristian to have a baby we never really discussed our preference for the time of year we would like for the child to be born in. After all it takes a lot of couples many months or even longer to conceive (and I didn't think we would be any different, we got very lucky in that respect) so most people don't really get to pick the time of year their child is born, they take what they can get. I do know that some couples will take a month or two off from TTC (trying to conceive) in order to avoid having a Christmas baby or having the child born during a certain time of year that may be inconvenient for them.
Well I was so excited when Kristian finally agreed to "just see what happens" when I just happened to be ovulating that I didn't count ahead and realize that if it did happen to work that month we might end up with a Christmas baby. Lo and behold two weeks later I was pregnant and looking at an estimated due date of Dec. 26th. Now if given the choice in a perfect world I would not choose for my child to be born around Christmas. From everyone I've talked to with a birthday around Christmas they think it more or less sucks reindeer balls. But not much I can do about it now except try to make his birthday as special as possible each year.
With all that said I have to admit I am happy to be having a winter baby in general. There are definitely pros and cons to having a winter baby but for me the pros currently outweigh the cons. Let's take a look at my handy little list:
Cons-
*Having a birthday right around the holidays (this isn't an issue for later winter babies born in Jan/Feb)
*Having to potentially drive to the hospital in a blizzard (fortunately we don't get many of those and my husband has 4 wheel drive)
*Making sure any visitors don't get the baby sick during the height of cold/flu season
Pros-
*Not having to be 9 months pregnant at the height of the summer which would be even more uncomfortable
*I don't foresee wanting to go out much during the 1st six weeks anyway and being that it will be cold and potentially snowy I won't feel bad about staying inside. If it were nice weather I would hate being stuck indoors.
*I will have about 5-6 months to get back into some sort of shape before bathing suit weather
*I will be 8 months pregnant at Thanksgiving which means I don't have to worry about the first trimester nausea/food aversions during the holidays and can still enjoy my meals.
*Jan/Feb is a fairly slow time for me at work so my boss was pretty happy about the timing.
So despite the whole Christmas birthday part of it I'm kinda glad the timing worked out for us to have a winter baby even if we didn't exactly plan it that way.
Share time- what were the pros/cons about the time of year your kid was/will be born?
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10 comments:
Great pro/con list! I'll keep these pointers and thoughts in mind for the future.
I'm due December 29 so I totally get you! i also get quite annoyed with people who tell me how much my child will hate me with their birthday so close to Christmas...
My birthday is 2 weeks before Christmas. It's really not a big deal at all.
If I had a choice, I would never want to be pregnant during the summer again. Maybe the early stages, but not 7+ months pregnant like I was. I love summer but rarely felt up to getting outside and enjoying the weather. I agree with you that I'd love to be pregnant in the winter so I wouldn't feel bad about staying inside.
I didn't want to be pregnant or have a newborn in the winter. The woman I babysat for fell 9 months pregnant down her front stair and it's always freaked me out. Plus, the baby carriers are heavy so I freaked out about falling carrying the baby, too. It turned out, I made other people carry her and used the stroller a lot so I didn't have to carry the carrier thing because it was freakingly heavy for my weak arms.
That said, we are aiming to have another Fall baby even though they miss the school cut off and have to go to preschool for 3 years instead of 2. I figure we can re-use a lot of seasonal clothes if we try for the same time of year.
My boyfriend is a Christmas Day baby! I feel bad that he has to share his birthday with a holiday so I always make sure to specifically wrap his birthday presents in birthday paper. He said he's never known anything different for his birthday so he doesn't mind it too much. And I know that we're older now so presents aren't as big of a deal, but he's said that a handful of times people have tried to give him one present and say, "Merry Christmas and Happy birthday!". I don't think that's very fair though...
I think as long as you make the day special and take some time out to acknowledge the birthday as its own event, it doesn't matter what day you were born on!
We didnt really think about the time of year at all; you never know how long its going to take to get pregnant so impossible to plan I feel. We just went with it and now im due the end of Jan which will be so cold here but I was a December baby so it doesnt faze me. My sis is due 26th December too!
p.s my best friend was born on christmas day and her parents always had a time that was specifically for her birthday so she didnt miss out. Each year we all always make sure we use birthday paper and cards and dont just wrap her present in xmas paper!
I am right there with you on the pros/cons. We decided that we are going to start trying in the spring but skip a month where it'll put us with a Christmas baby but you know what, you never know. I am just stoked the hubby agreed to be on board with baby making plans that if a Christmas baby happens then it happens, oh well.
My birthday is Dec 20 and really wasn't that bad. My parents always made a really big deal over my birthday - still do as I approach 29. The worst part was when I was older in high school and you all exchange gifts for Christmas with your friends...my 1 gift always counted towards Christmas and birthday. But oh well :) All in all, it wasn't a bad deal!
And I'm due the end of Feb and I'm SUPER happy I'm not 9 months in the horrid heat of the summer. I can't plan my pregnancy due to fertility issues but I hope I'm never 9 months in August or my hubs will be moving me to Alaska!
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