Did you plan when you wanted your kids born?

Sunflower777

AnnapolisLari's post made me wonder... I know fertility can be a fickle thing, and it's not like you necessarily have a "say" in when/if you get pregnant or when your child will be due. 

That being said... you can control when you start trying, etc. So did you shoot for a particular time to get pregnant/the baby to be born, or did you just start trying when the baby fever hit?

 

DandelionMom

We waited to TTC until May so that we wouldn't have Christmas babies.  Both of my older girls due dates were the end of Jan but both were early and came within a week of Christmas. 

Jodi&Joe

Nope, it happened when it happened.

ETA:  Now that I read other responses, I guess I lied.  We started TRYING when we decided we were ready but it happened when it happened.  I got pregnant on our honeymoon. Molar pregnancy.  Had to wait one year to TTC again, which was November 2003.  Started 11/2003 and got pregnant February 2004 and Joey was born November 2004.

Got pregnant again in 07/2005, had a m/c.  (Joey and baby would have been 18 months apart).  Decided (after much discussion) to let nature take its course and if it happened, it happened.  Found I was pg before I even had the chance to change my mind (that was October 2005 and Cam was born July 2006).

AnnapolisLari

No. We started trying when we wanted to, and got pregnant when we got pregnant.

Apparently, March is my ovaries' favorite month.

joseysbride

With our first, not really.  We just started ttc when we felt like we were ready.  The first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage, so we were a few months off from when we originally thought we'd be having a baby.

With the second, absolutely.  I didn't want to have a second until Rory was a certain age, and then I also took into consideration my work schedule.  But, I didn't get pregnant immediately, and I would have liked him to be born a few months earlier than he was.  I just figure you can try, but you can only control it to a certain point.

#6

No we started ttc on our honey moon.  Got pg within the month.  Then got pg again (not planned, tried to avoid) with the girls when L was 4 months old.    

We have talked about having baby #4 in a few years and Im sort of thinking of trying to plan it to have another May baby so that all 4 will be in May.  Its a long time from now so I havent put serious thought into it.   

hikerbeth

Yes.  DH has 4 children (my two stepdaughters and our two kids) and they were all conceived on the first try.

I'm selling his body for medical experiments.

AggieCouple

Not with #1.  

With both #2 and #3, we had planned for me to get pregnant slightly later than I did.  Everyone kept telling us, "Oh you better start early; you never know how long it will take."  So we got anxious and started 2-3 months earlier than we really wanted to and, fortunately or unfortunately, we got what H likes to call hole-in-one's.  It didn't matter that much to us, but I really didn't want to go through the first trimester during the hot Houston summer.  With #3, it pretty much killed any potential summer trips.

JOEBunny

We wanted to have "spring" kids.  It just seems like a good time to have a kid, from a school perspective and from having a little one at a time of year that the weather is good for getting out, not flu season, ect.  We got very lucky and conception fell within the time we thought would be ideal.

Cbidt's girl

Yes for first DS, timed to work well with my work sched and my sister's wedding (I didn't want to be too far along, but also wasn't going to wait to ttc). With my second we planned based on the age difference I thought I wanted but I m/c the perfectly timed baby and then it was harder to get pg than I expected. By the time I got pg I could have cared less about a due date, I just wanted to be pregnant and have another baby.

lizard76

We tried with the first to have him in the summer, but that obviously didn't work out.  We were actually glad we had him in early Nov. because of how it worked with my teaching schedule.

With #2, there was no planning, considering we thought we were one and done, but thanks to a BC failure I am now due in March.  It actually is worikng out well with my school schedule this way as well.

winomom22

DD1 wasn't planned, we were fortunate enough to have her in August. We did however want DD2 born in the spring/summer and luckily it worked- she was born in May.

Jinsy80

I wanted babies in 2006 and 2009 (3 yrs apart)  to be done with kids before my 30th b-day. They ended up being born in 2007 and 2010...exactly 40 months apart...I'm 30 right now. We never charted or anything though, just stopped BC. I still want to try for a boy though, so maybe when I'm 35.

veloelle

DD - no. It took us 8 cycles, so at that point we didn't care.

DS - sort of. I didn't want babies close together on the calendar.

meglew

With DD, we were lucky to get pregnant the first month of trying in May.  When my DH and I had talked about it, we thought it would be a good time of year.  Based on experience, for future children, we will start trying a few months later than that.  I had DD in the middle of winter, in a dark and gloomy climate.  I think it escalated my PPD tremendously.  Once the weather got better, I felt like a new person.

MrsCali_Bride

With our son, no.  It took longer than we had hoped and we were just happy to conceive whenever it happened.

With these babies, yes. I knew what the earliest time we could start trying was (based around vacation and such) and I knew when we could get the longest amount of use out of our son's infant seat to save us the money we would have spent on a new one.  Little did we know that we'd end up with double the babies this time and would have to buy another infant seat anyway.

emiliemadison

We TTCd when we were ready and the time of year a baby would be born wasnt of particular concern. We actively TTCd DS knowing that if I got pg that month I would be due around Xmas. What do you know, I was due 12-25 (he was born the 10th). My bday is the 28th and MILs is today and DH's brother's was last week, so we've already got the xmas birthday thing going on. What's one more?

buffalo_buckeye

Yes. I'm a planner. I obviously wouldn't have been surprised if it didn't happen on the first try but I did "plan" to try to have a boy, in the fall, and a girl in the spring. I do like that their birthdays are during the school year, but close enough to summer that we can have outdoor parties. And that their birthdays are pretty far apart from each other. I wanted them no further apart than 4 years but hopefully only 2 apart in school. It happened like I hoped (I doubt Dh really cared that much). Now if only I could "hope" to win the lotto...

luckyluvr

All 3 were planned for the specific months. I wanted the 1st two in March so I could miss the 4th quarter of the school and run into summer with maternity leave. For #3, I don't have the saved time, so we planned for the end of the year....school ends May 25, edd is June 5. We've been very lucky.

CleoKitty

No.

Our first pregnancy was unexpected. With our second it took 7-8 months before I got pregnant. 

BubblyToes

Yeah, I planned and God laughed.  And then he laughed some more.  And he's still laughing.

gdemars

No.  We started trying in September and found out in November.

BUT, now that I know what it's like to be gigantically huge in the middle of the summer in FL, I will want to try a bit earlier so that the next one will be born in the spring. 

wifeandmama

Nope.  Had to do Clomid with #1 and at that point, I didn't care when he would be born - I just wanted a baby!  I love having a February baby.

With #2, we decided to "see what happens" and got pregnant the first time, shockingly.  When I calculated my due date (August 23) I wanted to cry.  I haaaaaate the summer and I was MOH in my sister's wedding 3 weeks after baby was born.  I survived, somehow, but if there's a #3, I will totally avoid being 9 months pregnant in the summer. 

Ciarrai

Well, my girls were an "oops" and a "surprise" so definitely not planned time frame there.  Not really planned babies there, but we couldn't live without them.  DS is our only "planned" baby and yes, we planned when we wanted the EDD.  I'm self-employed and take about 4 months off for maternity leave.  I'm a wedding photog and can't leave a bride in a lurch if I went early or late or ended up on bedrest (like I did with DS) so I quit early.  Anyway, we wanted to have a winter EDD to avoid my busy season.  If we hadn't gotten a BFP when we did with him, we would have waited another year for one.  After waiting a year, though, we probably would not have waited another year after that if it didn't "take" right away.  

mamarazzi

With our first, we didn't even think about it.  We just threw caution to the wind one time and that's all it took.  He was due Jan. 10th and born on the 4th, so a week and a half after Christmas.  It wasn't a huge biggie to us with one birthday, but we planned to try and avoid a Christmastime birthday with #2.  I got pregnant and was due in September and then miscarried.  It took us a couple months after the miscarriage to get pregnant again and we decided we didn't want to give up an opportunity for another child based on the timing of the year.  We didn't think we'd get pregnant, but didn't want to not try.  Of course, DS2 was due a week after Christmas and was born exactly a week before.

With two holiday-time birthdays already, we thought we'd try to avoid that with the third.  We planned to start TTC in June, but only used avoiding my fertile period to TTA in May.  DD is due at the end of January.  So, we'll have Christmas and then all three kids' birthdays within about 6 weeks of each other.  It's a crazy (and expensive!) time of year, but ultimately, we still make their birthdays and Christmas special independently, so it all works out.  And H and I give the boys their birthday gifts in the spring instead of on their actual birthday since they get so much at once.  It's nice to be able to get them something for outside and something new to play with when they aren't inundated by a billion other gifts.

gibs

See?  Almost everyone said yes in some form or another.

*Amy*

With the first and second, no we tried when we were ready.  With the 3rd we had hoped for a spring baby b/c we could spend outside time with the baby right away and the boys could run off steam, but the timing didn't work that way.  However, I wouldn't trade it for a second.

eclaires

No. Jackson was a surprise baby (pg on the pill) and we'd been TTC for 7-8 cycles when I got pg with Scarlett. Funnily enough, they shared a due date. Apparently this drunken NYE baby (me) likes to have her own drunken NYE babies. Guess I better make sure we double up on the BC this holiday season...

Baby4OT

Like some have said, fertility doesn't always cooperate. We started TTC the first time while I was in grad school so that if we got pg right away the baby would be due shortly after graduating. Didn't happen. It took about a year to conceive. We started TTC the second time when DD1 was almost 10 months old because we wanted kids to be 18-22 months apart and hoped it wouldn't take as long the next time. It took about a year again so they are further apart than we had hoped. The third time we just waited until we were ready to TTC and didn't have a set timeframe. Mostly, I had to be ready to even think about sleepless nights again because DD2 didn't STTN until she was 14m old. I couldn't even fathom having TTC when SHE was 10m old!! Anyway, we got lucky and got pg the first cycle trying this time.

shopgirl78

DD was a result of "one time [without BC] won't hurt."   : )   We got pregnant in December and she arrived in August.   It was very hard being hugely pregnant in the Tx summer but it is a fun birthday time (though she doesn't get to invite her classmates).   This next year she wants her party at AG anyway if we do it, I would be a very small party!!!

DS1 I believe took 7 months of BCP.   We didn't really try or avoid but I new I didn't want another August baby, so we did more avoiding in December and got pregnant in January.   There was a lot of rain and flooding in the summer of 07 so it didn't get as hot and was a much easier pregnancy.  I like his birthday in the school year and its still warm (sometimes hot and sometimes has a perfect fall breeze) for outside parties.  Although this year it was very hot in a train without AC. 

DS2 birthday is in January-- 8 days after Xmas.  We got pregnant in April.  I didn't like having a winter baby (for maternity leave), DS1 and DD got cabin fever and so I did I.  It sucks that his birthday is getting combined with Xmas this year (we will in my home town, actually its Dec 26 is his party) but its great that he will have family at his first birthday and some of my very best friends.   I am sad its not a very big hoopla, planned thing and I worry it will be like that every year (well until he is in school)  because of the season.  I guess we should have planned him better.  Although it is nice that his birthday its close to the other too. 

August/Sept get expensive as well as Christmas and DS2's birthday. 

mmbench

Nope.  We started trying in June.  Took until Feb. to get pregnant.  Got a due date of late November, but they were born early October.

peekaboo716

No, there was no timing to the due date. We took a late honeymoon, and started TTC after that. After over 18 months of TTC, we finally got our BFP.

With our second, we just knew we wanted them more than two years apart. We started TTC when DS was 13 months. Took 6 cycles, and we were pg with #2. The kids are 2 years and 2.5 months apart.

Now for #3? I will have to convince DH to get started, and I would start at any time now without a care when the due date would be.