Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Brigitte,                              
    I do a lot of family history (for both my parents' trees and my
    in-laws') and of about 500 birthdates I have come across (anywhere from
    1200A.D. to last month) I can roughly say that yes, spring does seem to
    have the most births (I notice it especially in the last 200 years,
    where I have the most accurate dates). 
    -Monica
    

    I remember my doctor saying that more planned babies are born in the 
    spring, because new mothers like to be able to get outside and stroll.  
    My first was born in January and the hospital was packed, my second was
    born this past April and the same hospital was empty!  It was nice to
    be able to be outside more with the second one.
    
    Penny

    My first was late June - few deliveries that week.  My second was born
    in mid-April - very busy that week - I had to wait in recovery for a
    bed in the ward!
    
    -sandy
    

    My first was born on December 21, 1988.  My due date for my 2nd is
    December 25.  I found that it wasn't enough staffs in the hospital
    around Christmas 2 1/2 years.  Maybe this year is different.
    
    Daisy

    
    My first was born on July 12, 1989, and I found it pretty busy in the
    hospital with all the new little ones being born.  I'm due with my
    2nd December 27th.  Can't wait to see how it will be this time of year!
    
    Nadine
    

There was a column in this Sunday's "Nashua Telegraph" which, indirectly,
dealt with this issue.  According to the column, some mathematicians were
studying the classic statistics problem where, given a bunch of people in
a room, how many people do you have to have before the probability that
any two share the same birthday is 50-50.  The astonishing answer is only
23, which is provable, but there is an implicit assumption that birthdays
are evenly distributed throughout the year.

So they got actual birth records and found out that births are most frequent
in June and July, and armed with the data, found that the answer "23" still
holds, and indeed they determined that an even distribution of birthdays is
the worst case; that with "lumps" the odds are slightly better of finding
two people with the same birthday.

			Steve

    In my family of 7 (mom, dad, brothers, sisters) it goes like this:
    
    January birthday    = 1
    June/July birthdays = 4  (2 in each month)
    October birthday    = 1
    November birthday   = 1
    
    Donna
    

    Yahoo!  I'm so glad to find two other people who are due in December.
    
    I'm due December 9th and ALL I hear is how terrible it will be to have
    to stay inside all winter with the baby (gotta love those thoughtful
    people)!  
    
    Personally I'm excited.  I'll have a baby for the holidays and by
    Spring time he or she will be a bit older and I'll be more relaxed for
    those outdoor activities!
    
    Lets hear it for December babies!!!
    
    Karen

    I'll give a yay for December babies!  I'm one (December 8th) and so
    are my daughters (December 9th and December 10th).  My husband thinks
    that St. Patrick's Day has something to do with all all the December 
    babies in my Irish family!
    
    -Tracy
    

    RE:  .8
    
    I think late autumn/winter is an excellent time to have a baby.  You
    are indoors with them so much anyway (changing/feeding/napping) that
    you can't enjoy nice weather much.  
    
    AND, in the summer they are old enough to enjoy the seasonal fruit,
    crawl in the grass, sit in a baby pool, etc.
    
    Laura

    Add me to the December baby list.  My first was due December 21st and
    born on January 5th.  I'm due December 21st again.  I prefer to have
    the baby a little older for the summer too - gives me an excuse to get
    into that inflatable pool with the baby in the summer :-)
    
    -Joy
    

    I'm due December 31, 1991. December is perfect for Southern California
    I want it cool for the last three months of my pregnancy. I look
    forward to the outside activites in spring, when the baby is a little
    older. What a great way to bring in the New Year!!!!
                                                                   

	Based on my very 'unscientific' survey, I'd have to say
	June is a pretty popular month.  

	At my ceramics class last week one of the ladies brought 
	in a cake to celebrate our birthdays.....not only did 6 
	out of the 8 class members have a birthday in June, but 
	we were all in the same week!   Our ages run from late 20's 
	to early 70's.  Also when I look at my brother/sisters
	birthdays (there are 5 of us) 2 are in June and one is
	very late May (almost June!), but she was a week early!

	Conni

    Worldwide, and through time, the most babies are conceived in the
    fall (which means born inJune-July).  
    
    This may be the human biological cycle.  Even though there's a
    very high spike in June marriages in most western countries, there
    is only a slight spike in March births.  The fertility rate
    appears to go up in the fall.  
    
    In farming societies, the surge is even more pronounced.  The long
    hours of harvest work, which often throws people into situations
    where privacy and lack of supervision allow opportunities that
    don't happen during the rest of the year, plus the prevalence of
    fall festivals of thanksgiving, contribute to a lot more
    conceptions, most probably not planned. :)
    
    In some rural farming societies in Asia and Africa, as many as 75%
    of the babies are born in May-July.
    
    --bonnie

    Odd ball as it appears, I gave birth to Daniel on October 15th (due
    date was Oct 1st).

    In my family (38 that I can remember dates) we have ...

    January	0
    February	1
    March	9 (2 on the same day, grandfather and grandson)
    April	1
    May		5 (2 on the same day, husband and wife)
    June	3 (2 on the same day, Greatgrandmother and great granddaughter)
    July	3 (2 on the same day, cousins by marriage)
    August	3
    September	4
    October	3
    November	4
    December	2 (Dec 25th and 26th)

    What's odd about an October birth?

    re: -1
    
    The only reason being that most birth that were entered before my entry
    were June/July or December Births.
    
    I LOVE October births, since my Daniel was born!!  :-)
    
    Funny how a child can change your opinion, huh?

I was born October 7 (day after my grandmother's birthday) and have several
friends whose birthdays are close to mine.  Just about 9 months after New
Year's Eve...

But *I* wasn't a New Year's Eve baby...I was a honeymoon baby :-) My parents
were married Jan. 4.

Jill

    
    Anyone hear or know of any HALLOWEEN babies???
    
    Thats my due date!
    
    I guess I'll be getting a little demon, or witch or warlock huh???
    
    :-)
    Chris
    

    
    
    I have a friend who was a Halloween baby...  You're in for it!  ;-)
    
    
    John
    

    My mother is a halloween baby and she's a wonderful, sweet person.
    Maybe you'll luck out!
    
    Donna
    

    Thank you Bonnie Randall for your interesting, informative note.
    
    Laura

    I have so much junk like this in my head, but can I remember to
    update the planning file on schedule?  Oh, no . . .
    
    --bonnie

    19:  My girlfriends son was a Halloween baby.  He's not too bad.  Just
    your normal, highly active preschooler.  I am due on November 1 and my
    friends are predicting a Halloween baby for me.
    
    Angie

    
    Angie...  be interesting to see when we actually do deliver...!  Youre
    the closest one I've heard of near my due date.
    
    I've been reading the replies to this note since its start, and it just
    dawned on me that we have/had 10 birthdays bewtween my husbands family,
    and myfamily/friends in the months of June and July!I went to the store the 
    other day with my list and spent $20 just on cards! And Fathers day, 
    and the weddings that usally pop up, don't help things much
    (financially that is....  gets tight on the purse strings!)
    
    Thank god my husbands b-day is Sept, the baby will be Oct/Nov and mine
    is December 15 (which I have always hated!)....  A little spaced out
    anyways...
    
    	Chris :-)
    
    

    re: .25
    
    My baby is due on Halloween, too!  I always tell people the due date is
    Halloween (as opposed to Oct. 31).  I love to see the reactions. A
    couple of people have even said, "Oh no!  That's awful."  I guess they
    take Halloween much more seriously than I do.  To me, it just means my
    poor kid will end up with a lot of orange birthday cake.
    
    Good luck in your pregnancy.
    
    Gayle

    
    Gayle...
    
    Nice to meet ya!  Now we'll both have little devils.
    
    One thing I plan on stressing, IF by chance this child is actually
    born on his/her due date...is NO orange cake.  :-)   I'll probably
    celebrate their birthday a week or 2 before or after...  only because
    my birthday is December 15th, and it really gets to you year after 
    year after year getting all your birthday presents wrapped in Christmas
    paper, (cause thats what everyone has around) and getting red/green
    cakes etc (cause thats whats at the bakery at the time)...  I know it
    sounds trivial...but you want it to be a "special" day...yours alone.
    
    I usually take my younger sisters (8-10-12 yr olds, my 1/2 sisters)
    out trick or treating every year with my husband, and they keep teasing
    me telling me I won't be up for it this year...  I keep telling them
    that it will be a great way to induce labor!!  Walking around for 3
    hours, lots of hills etc...   we shall see!
    
    Chris
    :-)
    
    

    Not everybody minds sharing a birthday with a holiday.
    
    Mine is St. Patrick's day.  I always enjoyed the shamrocks, green hats,
    Irish songs, and all that stuff.  It means my day is REALLY special for
    EVERYBODY.                                   
    
    Boy, I loved it during college.  I was guaranteed a campus-wide party
    and a real good time at the pub.  No need to make special arrangements. 
    And everybody slinked out of classes kinda early.
    
    Of course, sharing with Christmas would be TOO MUCH.  Nobody wants to
    compete OR share with a steamroller.
    
    I think Halloween would be a lot like St. Patrick's Day - just a way to
    enhance the good times.  Think of the wonderful costume parades!  It's
    never a serious day at school.
    
    The only warning - DO NOT name your child after the holiday.  I'm so
    glad my parents didn't name me Pat.  A Halloweeen name would be even
    worse.   Nicholas at Christmas?  Well, maybe.
    
    Laura
    Who'll be wearin' the green,
    Whose honorary Irish eyes are smilin'!

Re: .28

I didn't mind getting the name to go with my St. Patrick's Day birthday.

>>>==>PStJTT (Patrick St. Joseph Teahan Taber)

(The only difficulty in the family was explaining to my brother why he
didn't get a parade on *his* birthday....)

    My nephew is a Halloween baby (he's going to be 11 this year!)  He
    loves it!  Not only does he get to celebrate his birthday (NO orange
    cakes or strange wrapping paper, his mother refuses to mix the two) but
    gets to go out trick-or-treating too.
    
    And, although his is an angel most of the time, at times he turns into
    a little devil!
    
    Karen

    
    Yes, Laura (re .28) it is tougher I think sharing a birthday around
    Christmas time. I guess it made more of a difference when I was a kid
    than it does now. Everyone is so preoccupied with shopping,etc, they 
    forget, or the christmas paper, or everyone is broke from buying xmas
    presents I think kids get a little cheated, or you get ONE present for
    both (ie: Happy birthday/Merry Christmas).....and even as an adult, 
    planning a party is tough cause everyone is busy with company Christmas
    parties, shopping etc...  
    
    My mom once offered to celebrate my birthday during some other part of
    the year, to pick a day, say in May....  but we never did.   And now
    that I'm an adult, its not as big a deal as it used to be...  
    
    I guess its my own fault....I was due Jan 15th...I arrived a month
    early!   Boy was my mom a little irratated!  She said she had wanted to 
    finish the Christmas shopping, and figured she had another month before
    having to make sure she had everything for the nursery...  Suprise!
    
    :-)
    

    Well, maybe its no consolation for Chirstmas babies, but look at it
    this way:
    
    What does Christmas really celebrate?  The arrival of a baby who is
    desired, loved, and a gift to the world.  When you look at the holiday
    this way, as a celebration of childbirth, it is actually a perfect day
    for a birthday.  The still point in the midst of the whirlwind is full
    of meaning.  If only Chirstmas parents would say to their children,
    "Just as Jesus' birth was precious to the world, so your birth was
    precious to us."
    
    I'm not Chistian myself, and I always found the holiday to be a major
    annoyance.  But since I started looking at it as a commemoration of the
    holiness of birth, and since becoming a mother myself, I can appreciate
    it in my own private way.  It's the quiet hush of a cold Christmas eve,
    that's really the holiday for me.  The world stands still and I bless
    G-d who gives us our beloved children.  Even if we give birth on the
    straw in a barn, our lives are filled with light and happiness.  Even
    if we are poor, life magically brings us what we need to survive and
    prevail.  And we hope for so much from our tiny babies, that they may
    be cherished and appreciated by others as we cherish and appreciate them.
    They bring light and warmth to the coldest night.
                        
    Laura

My father was Dec 21.  He never seemed to mind.  But jan-3rd yuk!  Nobody wants
to party, school isn't in yet, everyone's away, no one has any money left, the
restaurants are all closed, etc.  Often people just "forgot" my birthday.

BUT, GOOD NEWS, I moved to Switzerland and the Swiss changed my birthday.  Since
over here we state our dates as day-mon-yr instead of mon-day-year, they
misread my birthday and turned me into a March hare (1st of March).  I never
corrected the error and "officially" changed my date with my family (pleased
my husband to no end since he could never find two gifts in one go).  If it's
important (pension, etc.) my records reflect the real date but otherwise I
let the mistake stand.

The only thing that sometimes confuses things is when people ask me when is
my birthday.  I say March 1st.  They then say, "Oh you're a ...(whatever
zodiac sign that is)". I say, "No, I'm a Capricorn."  I usually leave it at
that ;-)

I refuse to recognize the 3rd of Jan as my birthday.  I refuse gifts on that day
and say I'll put them away until it IS my birthday.  I do accept it as "the
day of my birth" for official forms, etc.

ccb

    re. .32
    
         I couldn't have said it any better.  Maybe that is why I also
    chose x-mas eve to get married.  There is just something "special"
    about it that no words can quite describe.  I don't know how a child
    would feel as my birthday is in May, but I know that I would love
    nothing more than to have a child right around Christmas.
    
    
                                           Sue

    
    re .32
    
    a very nice outlook...
    maybe I'll see my birthday in a different light this year...
    
    :-)
    

    
    	We had a childbirth class last night and the instructor told ue
    (with no qualification of statistics) that September is the busiest
    month for babies and January is the slowest month.
    
    	Must be something to it because there are *fourteen* couples in our
    class!
    
    				Wendy

    Kat is a Dec. 29 baby -- she tells me she likes having all the
    holiday excitement around her birthday.
    
    We used to have to get out the Christmas tree for Steven's April
    15 birthday because he insisted that he had to have a "birthday
    tree" too.
    
    --bonnie

    
    	I always HATED being born in January.  No summer pool parties,
    	no outdoor parties, parties cancelled because of weather,	
    	sickness, etc.  AND I got the shaft when it came to presents.
    	(not that it matters much to me NOW, but then it did)
    
    	/Kim

    
    	I've got to second that, I was born on January 8 and I've always
    hated it. It's close enough to Christmas so that very often I got the
    combination presents (Christmas and birthday).
    
    	Everyone is broke after Christmas and I also frequently got the
    holiday castaways that were marked down to 50% off.
    
    	I was always so envious of people who had birthdays in the summer.
    
				Wendy

    As a kid, I was always envious of people with school-year birthdays.
    They got all this wonderful attention, while I was stuck at home
    for my birthday.
    
    Now I'd love a day off for my birthday (July 23).  My Mom's company
    gives you your birthday as a holiday.
    
    My daughter was born on May 16.  Around that time I read that spring
    babies are not as easy to obtain, since conception occurs in the summer
    when sperm isn't as healthy (because of higher body temperature).
    
    Anyone else heard this?
    
    judy

    Judy,
    
    I felt the same way (July 28 birthday).  The kids who had birthday's
    during the school year would stand at the front of the room and
    everyone would sing happy birthday to them.  Come to think of it,
    I probably would have HATED that, being the shy kid I was.
    
    But I was always happy to get presents at two very different times
    of the year.  Now I just want everything that would have gone to
    me to go to my little guy.  But you all know how it is when you're
    a kid, those presents are very important!
    
    Donna
    

    Re:  36
    
    I also believe Sept to be a high birth month.  My familys birthdays are
    primarly in September.  Every year we had one big birthday party at my
    grandmothers during September.
    
    My immediate family: (Not including the 6 cousins/aunts/uncles born in
    			  September)
    
    Mother:  September 10
    Father:  December  15
    Brother: September 28
    Me:      September 29
    Husband: October    6
    Daugher: March     21
    Baby #2: November (?)
    
    Angie
    
                                    
    

    For my family November is a big month, we only have one in September:
    
    Nov. 6 (brother)
    Nov. 12 (me)
    Nov. 12 (grandfather)
    Nov. 13 (nephew)
    Nov. 19 (aunt)
    Nov. 26 (cousin)
    Sept. 5 (son)
    
    The rest are scattered throughout the rest of the year.
    
    Kathy

    
    Angie....
    
    You won't beleive this, besides our due dates being *one* day apart...
    *your* birthday is the same day as *my* fathers, and *my* birthday is
    the same day as *your* fathers...!!!  Odd coincidence or what?!
    
    Would it be funny if our babies were born on the same day!
    
    :-)
    Chris
    

    Chris,
    
    Sure is a coincidence.  I won't be surprised if our babies were born
    the same time.  Maybe there is a full moon around our due dates.
    
    Angie....  

    As far as I can recall, I was never unhappy with my birthday being on
    January 4th. I was proud to be usually the oldest of that birth year, 
    (1959) and have my birthday when other people didn't. I enjoyed having
    it at the same time as Christmas and New Year's celebrations, and found
    it was just far enough away so people would not give me combination
    presents. As  a kid I always found it amusing since I could always ask
    for my birthday those things that I didn't end up getting for
    christmas. The rest of our family seems to be centered around July and 
    August.
    July 7 - brother-in-law
    July 12 - cousin
    July 21 - brother
    July 26 - grandmother
    August 3 - Husband
    August 27 - Father
    Sept 7 - Mother
    
         - Monica (proud of January)
    
    

    I'm due Jan 22....I was wondering if the holidays interfere with
    Jan birthdays....I really wanted a later baby but someone else had
    other plans I guess....I hope I'm a week late (at least).  End
    of Jan is better than the begin...  I think it also has a lot
    to do with the child's attitude to their birthday...I think it
    is interesting that some people hated 'sharing' their birthdays
    with holidays and others thought of it as an 'extension' of the
    holidays.....
    
    I was born on my mom's birthday...she thought it was great,
    but being a kid, I felt that I never just got to GET presents
    I always had to give one too....Kids are greedy, huh?
    
    I'm glad Jan is slow..maybe I'll get my dr instead of the one
    on call.....any other Jan due dates out there?
    
    My family is all over the place....
    
    Feb 10 - Nephew
    Feb 21 = Me & MOM                                      
    Mar 13 - Hubby
    Jul  9 - Sister
    Sep  7 - brother-in-law
    Sep 17 - father-in-law
    Oct 26 - Sister
    Nov  2 - Mother-in-law
    Dec 28 - Father
    
    
    

    Alexandra's birthday is January 19, and it's definitely far enough from
    the holidays so that the winter blahs (and, sometimes, the January
    thaw!) are setting in by then.  It's nice to be able to take advantage
    of the post-holiday toy sales (it's not ALL broken, nobody-wants-me
    stuff), and when wrapping holiday presents and realizing the wretched
    excess I've amassed, it's nice to have her birthday out there to save
    some of it for.
    
    Of course, it's easy for me to say that in July, but ask me again right
    before Thanksgiving when it seems like the "holiday season" goes right
    up to February!
    
    Leslie

    Hey Cunningham, didn't get your first name sorry, I'm due November 2nd.
    I'm so, so, so excited.  And for anny of you wondering I was the one
    worried about twins in note #887.  Its only one baby. 
    
    I'm glad I'm having a fall baby.  I like to stay in and be cozy in the
    winter anyway, this way I'll get to do it, and by the time next summer
    roles around, my baby will be older and we'll be more mobile, and I'll
    be much more relaxed!
    
    Lisa
    

    
In my family, it seems we have a birthday celebration almost every weekend
from July thru October.  I also like birthday shopping for the kids in
early February at the half-price after-Christmas sales.

February   1    daughter
	   8    son
	   9    mother-in-law
	  10    sister-in-law
July       2    brother-in-law
	  16    sister
	  28    brother
August    17    father-in-law
	  28    sister-in-law
September 10    sister-in-law
	  14	me
	  28    brother-in-law
October    5    sister
	   6    sister
	  14    husband and father (what would Freud say about that)
December  16    brother-in-law
	  17    sister
	  24    mother


Whew..anyone know a good discount birthday card store in Colorado Springs area?

Donna
    

    Just wanted to add my opinions to the many expressed here already.  My
    birthday was just a couple weeks ago (July 22), growing up I absolutely
    hated it, everyone was away on vacation, never could get enough people
    together to have a decent party, and even if we could it was so darned
    hot that no one could have a good time.  I've got more pictures growing
    up of me, fresh from the pool with this wet curly hair that looked like
    "poodle frizz", blowing out birthday candles.  As I grew up I realized
    July produced many birthdays, two neices just turned 6 on July 26 and
    29th, and it's sort of funny three of my closest friends that I met as
    an adult were born in July.
    
    Now that I have my husband's family to count I see many birthdays near
    Christmas, My husband's grandmother is Thanksgiving, his mother is Dec
    26, his sister is Dec 28, My cousin is Dec 28, a former inlaw is Dec
    27, and last but not least is our son Aj, who was born on Jan 2, 7+
    weeks early.
    
    For AJ's birthday we always wait on his party til a week or so later,
    so we don't have this marathon taking down the Christmas tree, clean
    the house, find the money for party things and presents on New Year's
    Eve or day.  People seem to appreciate the "breather" between the
    Holidays and the party.  I keep threatening to either swap my birthday
    for his, or just simply postpone his party until the summer when we can
    have the party outside, to avoid a house party with "elbow only" room!
    
    Lyn

    I just celebrated a July 20th birthday.  I routinely
    schedule my yearly OB/Gyn appointment for the week of 
    my birthday. It's the only way I can remember to do it.

    The wait was incredibly long this year (about 1.5 hours).
    My doctor explained that part of the problem was that her
    associate (the dr that delivered our last child) had
    decided to move to Texas and left the office two weeks
    earlier than planned, leaving the other doctors with lots
    of pregos to check over.  She said that July was by far 
    the busiest month in terms of pregnancies. Of course that
    doesn't mean all of these women are going to give birth
    before August, but it is a busy time of year.

    I never had an issue with my July birthday.  But my son's
    birthday is August 28th and it's a real drag.  His sister's
    birthday is May 20th and she usually gets all kinds of neat
    'summer' things (clothes, toys, pool thingies, etc.). My 
    son then lists all the neat summer things he wants for his
    birthday which is still over two months off.  We recently
    broke down and got him a couple of things he wanted because
    summer will almost be over by the time he gets them.  I feel 
    really sorry for him.  

    My husband's birthday is Sept 10th.  Not really a good situation
    when he was young either.  School had just begun.  Money had 
    recently been spent on school supplies leaving mom with 
    little in the way energy or finances to offer him a big party.  

    I think March thru June birthdays are probably the best in terms
    of weather (at least in Calif), available friends and finances.

    But these are just my opinions.

    Jodi-

    I read somewhere over the weekend  (Boston Globe maybe?) that August
    and September had the highest birth rates. The rationale was that
    people would try for spring babies and miscalculate how long it would
    take to get pregnant. 
    

    My baby is due on March 28th which will add to the Marches in our joint
    families !
    
    We go:
    
    Feb 15th - Husband's Grandma
    Feb 17th - Brother
    Mar 21st - Brother-in-law
    Mar 29th - Mum
    Mar 31st - Mother-in-law
    Aug 27th - Father
    Sep 16th - Husband (He was due on Aug 27th !)
    Oct 13th - Me
    
    Guess March is just going to be an expensive time !
    
    Angela.

    re -.1  Hi Angela,
    
      	I'm due March 28th too!  Good time for a baby.
    
        Karin