Anyone planned pregnancy for specific month?

[Stella29]

Hi all,
Has anyone planned and been successful in planning a pregnancy for a specific month? I will be over the moon regardless if it works out at that time or not. Financially we would be a significantly better off during my maternity leave if we could time it this July or August as my bonus would be included in my average weekly earnings. Has anyone managed to plan ahead and be successful?

Mrs B x

[HazleNutt]

If you are asking how many women got pregnant the first month they started trying, then that's quite a large number actually (larger percentage if they are younger, of course.) But there are no guarantees you'll be one of those women as well.

I had my first in the summer and was suffering badly from the heat, never again I said. So as we got pregnant with DC1 easily, I planned the next for late winter/early spring.
I'm due in July..

[Annbag]

I like the website strawberrypal. Its great if you're irregular (shows average cycle etc) and the best days to TTC. But pretty much, do it every couple of days, take folic acid, cross your fingers!

[ProbablyJustGas]

I tried to plan a May baby. My DSD struggled in early primary, being the youngest in her class (Scotland, so it's the February birthdays that lose out). Springtime seemed ideal - not the very oldest, but definitely not the youngest. And I would avoid being either too hot or too cold whilst heavily pregnant.

I got November.

[FinickityCoder]

I don't think you can really plan for these things and even if you do conceive in the right month there's no guarantee baby will arrive when you want them to. We conceived first month both times but DC2 arrived 4 weeks ago, nearly 2 months early

[ProbablyJustGas]

^ Note, that was with tracking and super-duper ovulation kits!

[Stella29]

I think that's all we can do! Hubby will be happy! Yes it'll make a huge difference toy first 6 weeks pay. As it's calculated 90% of your average weekly earnings. I'd The qualifying period to include my December salary which pays my bonus. My bonus is 100% of my annual salary. It will work out that ill on average be earning more during my maternity leave than I would having been working full time.

[SellMySoulForSomeSleep]

I wanted a July baby because I thought it would be nice to be off in the summer and it's a good time to have a birthday imo. We got pregnant quicker than I thought then had DC early in early June. I'm lucky and very grateful. It will be much better for outside birthday parties in Years to come.

[HeadingHome]

Yep. All 3. Each with their own "birthday month". 1st one was 9 months (and 6 days) after wedding day. 2nd was 2 years 1 month later and 3rd will be the 2 years one month gap again :)

[Myfourblondies]

I plans for anything between September and January. Ds was born in September, dd1 October, dd2 October and dd3 April

[Flywheel]

Yes I timed dc2 and 3 to the month, for different reasons. With dc1 I had no preference and it took us 4 months to conceive. With dc2 and 3 I used ovulation kits and conceived first time with both. It was suprising, as I was miscalculating my most fertile time by quite a few days before I used the kits.
Obviously there is a lot of luck involved, but there are certainly things you can do to improve your chances.

[PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom]

"Yes it'll make a huge difference toy first 6 weeks pay. As it's calculated 90% of your average weekly earnings. I'd The qualifying period to include my December salary which pays my bonus. My bonus is 100% of my annual salary. It will work out that ill on average be earning more during my maternity leave than I would having been working full time."

How will you be working more during maternity leave than you would at work?

I can see that you would be during your first 6 weeks. You'd be paid effectively 90% of basic salary x2. But unless you have a very generous maternity scheme I'd be surprised if that outweighs the massive drop down to statutory mat pay and then no pay in the later weeks/months.

Or do you just mean that you'll be earning more in the first 6 weeks than if you'd been at work?

[Disclaimer; I haven't added up the weeks to check your qualifying weeks for SMP. I've assumed your conception dates work and you've allowed for the fact that due date is worked out at the scan, so can move]

[GotToBeInItToWinIt]

Haha Skeppers I always wanted to avoid a summer born for the same reasons, DC2 due in July!

With DC1 we wanted a sep/oct/nov baby ideally. Took us over a year to conceive, so will ended up with a Nov baby just a year later than planned!

[Number3cometome]

My OH is a teacher and a football coach. He said September babies are very often brighter children and are better at football.

It has historically taken me ages to get pregnant, so we started in July.

I got pregnant in October! Baby is due in July haha

I am over the moon, and he has since discovered that the September rule is not always true!

[Stella29]

Annual salary of 40K PA bonus of 45K. Paid 20/12. Include this December pay in your average weekly earnings and I will potentially earn 90% of my bonus again. The next 20 weeks pay 50% of overall salary not average weekly or bonus .

[skyra13]

Tried for a September baby ended up with an April baby it's really hard to do unless you catch easy x

[Stella29]

I think ill enjoy the next few months with hubby and hope for the best in July and August! X

[Peedie]

Yes, there was a baby boom at my work every July/August as that's when the baby had to be born to get your bonus included in your average earnings for mat pay. It was financial services so the bonuses were (at that time) very good indeed. I managed it twice and my mat pay was 3x what it should have been based on my normal salary

[Stella29]

It'll mean rather than £3500 for those 6 weeks it'll be around £30,000 so yes a huge difference!!

[Showy]

Just to clarify, I tried to avoid a July/August baby not because I am bothered about academics but because of a medical condition I have which makes things very difficult for me when it's hot. I didn't want to be heavily pregnant/giving birth and immediately postnatal in July or August.

I have to say though, ds is our last baby so knowing that he won't be going to school until he is just 5 is quite nice as he'll be at home for an extra 8 months compared to his big sister who I missed inordinately when she trotted off aged 4.

[Jackieharris]

I wouldn't plan for a baby to be born at the end of December.

[gincamelbak]

I originally wanted to avoid January or February as we end up being snowed in quite a bit during these two months. We're a bit of a distance from midwife unit and hospitals and the thought of being heavily pregnant and snowed in worries me.

I'm due 6 February. Snow expected wed and thur this week.

It took us 17 months to get pregnant so I really wasn't fussed about when the baby was due, just that we could have the baby.

(Am still worried about snow though.)

[Phantomteadrinker]

Yes we did. Money was very tight when we were thinking about dc2 and planned for an august baby purely for financial reasons as it means 1 year less at nursery. Ds2 will be just 4 when starting school, a few weeks later and it would have been another year until he started. We've been very lucky though and got pg at first time of trying 3 times.

[ILiveOnABuildsite]

We didn't aim for a particular month rather we tried to avoid certain times of the year. Our dd wa born in November and we weren't keen on a christmas birthday, jan and February are full of family birthdays so financially we were hoping for a mid spring to early autumn baby, so quite a wide gap. It worked for us, we are expecting end of April. It took us two months to get caught so we were lucky, with our dd it only took us a month, which surprised us as we assumed we would be ttc for a few months before BFP.

[PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom]

Good luck OP. It's a stupid, stupid rule (especially when you consider that the taxpayer largely funds it), but I hope it works out your advantage.

[Number3cometome]

Ok I totally didn't know or understand this bonus rule.

I will be going on Mat leave in July, I get my bonus in April.

My terms are full pay for 6 weeks.

Will this make a difference?