I always used to assume I’d have spring babies. For some reason, May struck me as the perfect month for a birthday. It’s warm, but not too warm, there aren’t many other holidays for competition, you can have a party before everyone scatters for the summer, and it’s unlikely that cataclysmic weather is going to disrupt it (as a January baby myself, I’ve always been hyper aware of the effects of weather on one’s birthday plans). Also, I’m more or less an academic and, well, any one who’s worked in academia knows there’s often a late-spring baby boom in those communities. As a friend of mine who has not one, but two May babies (and a wife whose job is professoring) says, “No, it’s not a happy coincidence. We reproduce on schedule.”
Now, though, with two Fall babies scooting around my house, I’ve started to think this is the way to go (not that I have a choice, anyway).
Yes, you’re pregnant during the hottest months of the summer, which is no fun–but, frankly, summer heat is summer heat. Being pregnant doesn’t make it that much more miserable because, if you’re in the Virginia humidity, you’ve reached some maximum level of misery anyway.
So here’s my Buzzfeed-style listicle on Fall babies.
1) They are in that intense, hold-me-every-minute stage when the weather is cool enough that snuggling feels good.
2) They’re over that by the time it gets hot again.
3) At Christmas #1, they generally haven’t hit the whole stranger-fearing, separation-anxiety phase, so you can pass them around and have your hands free to eat Christmas cookies (oh, and if you’re nursing, you need 500-1000 extra calories per day at this point…so, pass the Christmas cookies!).
4) At Christmas #2, they’re big enough to enjoy it, even if they don’t understand it.
5) They’re starting solid foods at exactly the point in the year when it feels pointless to put clothes on them anyway. Laundry saver!
Plus September and October are gorgeous months (depending on your location–September here, October there). I’ve thought a September baby would be fun. I think April might be a good month too. Our brief summer was over having Lydia in June. I was pregnant until she was born (duh), then it was postpartum and getting used to each other. By the time we felt like getting around, there was no where to go and it was getting chilly again. I do have some fond memories of laying on a blanket in the grass with my little ones and laboring through a midnight sun, but that’s about it. Also, six month olds are adorable under the Christmas tree. But April, you could get through all the newborn and postpartum stuff before it really gets nice (here anyway), and then it would be summer outings in little onesies and cute summer things. However, I’ve read some scary things about babies being more prone to all kinds of illnesses when born in April because their mothers never went through vitamin D rich summers in pregnancy. 🙁 Clara was born in February. I tell you, it was terrifying leaving the house. Deep snow, cold temperatures, cold cars, bundling my baby in the carseat. Warming the car to leave church. Packing a million extras in the car in case we get stranded somewhere. At least there is the snuggle factor!