Pregnancy Timing

In Arizona I say get preggy in May..Not to big and uncomfortable in hottest month..baby in February....not too close to Christmas..child not the youngest when they start school Giving birth in April isnt bad either...February was the best for me....

Hi J.-

Children tend to be healthier if born in the spring or siummer. I forget where the statistics are, but they are out there:-) Hope it helps- S.

I dont' think there is a best time...unless you follow astrology or Chinese astrology and want to have a baby under a certain sign because of certain traits. I dont' say this in sarcasm...I say it because there are parents who base the birth of their children on the astrology chart. Which in that case I don't have any knowledge. But if you are asking in general...then again, any time is a good time. Summers here can be a little hard because it is sooooo hot and doing errands with a wee one is a challenge...but summer babies can have great pool parties on thier birthdays! There will be pros and cons to every season. When you decide to have a baby it will be born at just the right time.

Much good energy to you.

In Peace,
A.
mom of 4. Birth and Parenting Mentor
www.birthingfromwithin.com

First thing to note: even with are the planning, your baby can be born on a national holiday, whatever the season.i have 3 all around the calendar. November, March and July. The november will be either the oldest or youngest so you have flexibility according to his/her personality. That also helps for boys and sports and eligibility to play up or down. The July jokes that her birthday is a national travel as she will always wonder where she will be on that day. I also cannot believe how many of her friends have birthdays within days of her.
Air conditioning and pool work great. My husband (a May baby) thinks his month is the greatest but would you want to put a bathing suit on so soon after delivery? The March is normal. Maybe that is best.
As you will probably have more than one child, i think it is more important to have their birthdays spaced out.
From what i see as normal: BOYS ARE BORN IN NOVEMBER and GIRLS IN JULY, almost 2 years later. I have seen this successful pattern OVER A DOZEN times. Try to plan that one.

I had two babies in October and two babies in May (both on May 18th.) I preferred delivering in May since I got pregnant in September and was pregnant the whole winter/spring. With the October babies, I was miserable during the summer.

My mom says it is best to have the baby come in the fall when baby likes to be swaddled up anyway. Then spring and summer the baby wants to move and doesnt care to be swaddled anymore but you no longer have to worry about keeping baby covered as well. (Obviously she considered the baby's needs over her own comfort.)

Beyond that... school year birthdays are fun for the kids. My son has a June birthday (not that *I* could've planned it!) and is sad he doesnt get to share his birthday with classmates.
Also, there's the school cut off date to consider - do you want your child to be one of the older/more confident ones or one of the younger ones?

(I'd try to find out if I were having a boy or a girl THEN plan when he/she comes! LOL)

What this boils down to is... you're gonna get LOTS of answers - ultimately YOU have to decide what's right for YOU, and when you are blessed with one. Besides, even if you *plan* to have a child in, let's say, January, it could come in October. You CAN'T control everything, much less a little person with his/her own agenda.

***IF**** I could do this again, and pick when the baby comes, I'd pick early spring/late winter. But I'd just be happy to even BE pregnant!

My baby girl was due November 14 and I had preeclampsia so I had to be induced and she was born October 6th. She was in the NICU at the VERY beginning of flu/RSV season and it SUCKED!! Not only are you supposed to wait to take babies around people for a few weeks, but you can't take a preemie anywhere for 3 months!! We weren't able to go anywhere or show her off throughout the entire holiday season!! I didn't really mind, I wanted the best for her and besides, all I wanted was to be with her and that happened, but fighting off family members and explaining to them a billion and one times why they can't come over was complete hell!!!! I'll NEVER have a baby at the beginning of cold and flu season EVER again (if I can plan it that way of course!) My next babies will be planned for a birth from March through June if I can help it!!

I'd say Spring- over the RSV Season... not too young in kindergarten. Check when the cut-off date is for entering kindergarten, if paying for an extra year of daycare/preschool will be difficult make sure you don't just miss the cut-off.

Well if you go by Dr. Oz from the Oprah Winfrey show the answer would be in the summer months cuz you will take the baby outdoors into the fresh air and give them natural Vitamin D. They will have stronger bones due to how it works with all of the calcium they are absorbing. And it is just plain good for them =)

The only major advice I have is this: Don't time it to where the baby should be born in August or September. It's the worst. The weather is hot, you swell up so badly, and then it's getting cold when the baby is really little and everyone is sick! Also... The biggest problem has been that my son was due on August 28th but was born on September 2nd. The cut off date to start school is September 1st. He is going to be a year behind all of his friends that we have made and he's soooo smart! It's frustrating - if he had just been born a day sooner... Just something to consider. I'd try to steer clear of that school cut off date. Good luck!

To be pregnant is a blessing. It took my husband and I three years and one catastrophic ectopic pregnancy to have our son Liam. Going through that, as many women now are, gives you a new found appreciation for what a miracle it is to create life. It is not in the same realm as scheduling your dentist appointment or even planning the day of your wedding. Becoming a mother is the best day of your life, no matter what day that is. Mine happened to have 18 inches of snow on the ground. I understand your question, have heard it many a time, and know that for some people it works, but I felt it was important to give a response with some perspective.

Speaking from experience...If you're lucky enough to be able to plan like I am, I would give birth anywhere from December to May. Being your biggest in the hot summer months is pure MISERY! Unless you're a rare and lucky type of person, the swelling is out of control!! Forget having ankles if you're giving birth from June to October!! It's just dang hot!!

Good luck and enjoy being pregnant no matter what time of year! It's such a blessing and truly the only time in your life that you can feel huge but everyone thinks you look great!

A.
(SAHM of 3 boys and one on the way!!)

I think it depends on what time of the year you would prefer with a little more wieght and hormones running a muck. I would prefer to carry during fall and winter due to the weight and being so hot in Arizona during the summer.

The best time to give birth is in April or May. I had my son in December and he got RSV at three months of age. Now he has respiratory problems. It's best to deliver when its not cold and flu season. Also, you won't be huge during the hottest part of the summer like I am right now. The heat is really terrible when you are 37 weeks pregnant in August!
Good luck :-)

February or March is perfect. You don't have to go through the most uncomfortable part of your pregnancy when it's hot and you can actually take the baby for walks in the spring time. I had one summer baby and it was horrible, for both of us. I felt so cooped up because it was just so hot that I couldn't take her anywhere!
My youngest was born in February and I loved it!!!! Good luck!!!

In phoenix, being in the last trimester during the summer months sucks (pardon my language). I just gave birth one month ago and it was so hot during june and I was quite miserable and swollen and sweaty. For me, if I do this again, I'd plan on giving birth from november to may. So get preg. now!

Can it really be planned that well??

I personally loved getting pregnant in July and giving birth in April. I wasnt due till early May, but it was great. I hate the heat, so being big and pregnant without all the heat was the best for me. Plus with my career, I dindt have to miss too much time.

About 9 months from the time you conceive. :)

I have three sons - born in July, November and May. It's easiest to be largely pregnant and finished with it all before summer although mid-summer birth wasn't too bad either. The November birth was harder because I had to have a different size maternity clothes for winter and it didn't get even chilly until just a couple weeks before he was born so stuff I had bought early on thinking would fit in cooler weather didn't. My advice is don't shop ahead for clothes - get them as the season changes and you need them. The fewer maternity clothes you get the more you can wear your money's worth out of them. You get sick of them by the time the baby comes but who cares? You won't wear them much longer after that and can give them away. Good luck with planning - usually babies come when they are meant to not when we plan them.

Let God take care of the timing. I had a baby in March and one in October. Both were horrible sickness, both I felt hot and gross. I just threw out my pills and got pregnant in HIS timing. The best thing is even tough both of my pregnancies were rough and I was on bed rest it was so worth it in the end. Just enjoy every moment. Now that I cant have anymore I long for the little flutters no matter how bad I felt.

I'm having my second in a couple weeks. Both times I was due the first part of Sept. So I've been preggo here in Phoenix during the summer and it really isn't fun. You swell up worse, you are hotter then everyone else, the A/C never seems cool enough, and really the best times to go out for any type of exercise is early morning or at night after the sun is down or at least behind the mountains. Also, if you have another youngster at home they want to do stuff but being that is it so hot you can't stay out that long and so they end up being cooped up inside a lot. I say skip the summer and go for a spring baby.

A. K.

In Arizona, the best timing is not to go through the Summer Peak (June-August). I went through the summer with my son, and unbelievable hot! Our AC was working so hard! LOL to keep me cool.

Dr. Phil's "summer" advantage would be accomplished here by having a baby between September and about March. I had my baby in Phoenix in late May, which had the advantages that 1) I was in those weird my pants don't fit/bella band stages in the winter, and could cover up with loose pants and sweaters; 2) I wasn't pregnant during the summer in Phoenix - one weekend of 115 degrees was enough for me (and being trapped in Phoenix all summer because I was in my 3rd trimester would have been driven my heat-averse husband batty); and 3) we were able to spend a chunk of my maternity leave out of state in a cooler climate (my husband works from home and the family had an unoccupied rental house). If we couldn't have swung #3, I wouldn't recommend it, since I would have been stuck with three months of never going outside, seeking exercise by walking around the mall, trying to protect my newborn who can't regulate his own temperature.

Hi J.! I grew up here, and I got pregnant in July. I planned this, because I had no desire to go thru the summer carrying extra weight when it is so hot and miserable anyway! I gave birth in the beautiful month of April and loved it. Just a suggestion, but I had the best pregnancy, no swelling either!

S.

Anytime but the summer. You will be miserable if you are pregnant when it is that hot!!!!

I would suggest timing it to have a baby in late spring...March-early May. My first was a May baby, and it was just starting to get uncomfortably hot when I had her, but then it was summer time and I was able to get out and work off the baby weight before it got too hot out. My second was a September baby. UGH!!! To top it off...I was pregnant with him during the summer with record high temperatures; and it cooled down the week after he was born. Of course, with the second one, I was also able to get out and be active in relatively mild weather again. But I would prefer to be pregnant again over the winter months than the summer any day!

9 months after you conceive!
--C. Willis

"There is no such thing as an ordinary baby." Anne Shirley

My spring babies were the best because I got pregnant around the begining of summer so I had the first few sick months during a less stressful time of year when I didn't have to take the kids to school and deal with homework, etc. That passed by the time they had to go back to school. Then, I didn't start to really show until fall. I got big in the winter when it was not hot, and I delivered in the spring, giving me a couple of months to work on the baby body before the lighter clothes of summer were necessary. I hope this helps.

I think it's really nice in Spring because it's not too hot to take walks with your baby outside to get out of the house. I live in Phoenix and had my baby at the end of February, right when it gets warm. It was such perfect timing. Also, studies have correlated babies being in warmer weather and wearing less clothing to being able to crawl faster. It's so hot now that my son runs around in a diaper and he's crawling at 5 months and doctors are amazed at how quickly his motor skills are developing. Supposedly it's attributed to clothing- that big bulky clothing can make it harder for a baby to move.

It was really nice to be pregnant in winter too. Phoenix winters are mild anyways. But because I was so hot all the time, I hardly ever needed a jacket!

That said, any timing is a blessing :-)

I have 2 June babies, one November, and am prego with one due October 4. Of those, the Junes were best. I had them before it got too hot, and they were able to have a couple rounds of immunizations before the winter sick season. It's been really hard being very big during this heat and humidity. Also, for June babies, conception is in September, so if you have morning sickness like me, you don't have the compounding issue of the heat to deal with--I think the heat makes you feel even worse when you're nauseous. Good luck!

I was the same way you are. Just thinking of a "good" month to get pregnant and have the baby. Well our plan worked out according to when we got pregnant, but it ended in a miscarriage. I am only 25 and never thought that could happen to me. So we left it in the hands of god and we are expecting our second in Dec. Personally not the best month, but we are happy that we have made it to 5 months. So I would just let things happen on their own...

My oldest was born December 22. I would never recomend anyone trying to have a baby in December for ovious reasons but also I was miserable in the cold! I felt so frumpy in the maternity clothes & didn't feel good about myself at all. My 2nd just turned 9 months, she was born in November. This was awesome! Not sure if you have a pool but being pregnant in the summer was great for me, although I was only half way through the pregnancy. I was in my pool floating around as much as possible, it felt great. The fall time was wonderful, you can get out & walk, its not cold or hot. I wouldn't worry about the winter being a "sickly time of year" for babies. Just keep your baby away from sick people & don't take an infant into busy places with lots of people in the begining. You will know when the time is right for you.

I say having the baby in February/March is the best! You are your biggest during the winter, which helps because you are usually always hot!! My daughter was born Feb 29th, so I got pregnant in June.

NOT summer in AZ, thats for sure. But you also don't want to be too far along in this heat either. I'd say get pregnant around mid to late summer that way you deliver before it gets too hot.