MNHQ here - are you having a 'lockdown' baby?

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We've been analysing some data here at MNHQ and going on what we can see, quite a few MNers (more than in comparable time periods in previous years) seem to have been talking about conception, pregnancy and BFPs in the late spring and early summer this year.

Which makes us think... is there a pandemic baby boom on the way? Are the shops about to sell out of Bugaboos? Will school admissions in 2025 be an absolutely massive scrum?

If this is you we'd love to hear about how you got your BFP (I mean you don't literally need to tell us how you got pregnant, we're mostly confident about that bit...) and what it was about lockdown or your changing personal circumstances that made you decide that this was the time to go for it.

Did you have more time at home without a commute? Did lockdown prompt you to reassess and rethink in some way? Did you have life changes (eg less paid work or the loss of a job) that prompted you to crack on with trying for a baby? If conception hadn't been an easy journey for you, do you think the quieter (if weirder) circumstances of lockdown helped?

We'd love to know what your experiences have been if you'd be happy to share them with us.

Thanks
MNHQ

1. We actually had time to have lots of sex and we weren't as stressed at work with not commuting.

1. Despite me having a pay cut the cost of living meant we had extra cash and were we to pay off some debts.

1. Gave us a chance not to be distracted by weddings, hen DOS etc and just think why not? We've been married 6 years.

1. Time to reflect.

We were planning on TTC at the end of last year but actually conceived in March, a week into lockdown! My husband has been wfh since December last year and that definitely helped in terms of being around more!

We had 3 miscarriages in 2019 and I was 40, waiting for a recurrant miscarriage appointment (which was cancelled due to Covid).

So we were feeling a bit stuck, not really knowing what to do and ended up not trying but not preventing and got lucky with one that has stuck. I took 150 mg aspirin per day this time which I'm pretty sure helped. It was a terrifying first 12 weeks (well, first 20 weeks really). I'm now 34 weeks.

We had lots of time together and it confirmed our thoughts about the relationship and our commitment to each other.

We had already planned to move house and start thinking about marriage and kids next year but the stamp duty holiday spurred us to put our house on the market early and moving will give us the space we need for a family.

We also realised a baby was more important to us than marriage. The fact that wedding venues are likely going to be solidly booked for the next couple of years and there's no guarantees about big events going ahead contributed to this decision. Neither of us were prepared to wait another couple of years to start trying.

There was definitely an element of thinking life's too short to put things on hold any longer.

Aw these stories are lovely - thanks so much to everyone for sharing and massive congratulations to you all - but want to send a particular hearty arm-punch to @Starlight39

I got pregnant in May, so due in Feb. The baby wasn't exactly unplanned and certainly not unwanted - we knew what could happen if you have sex without contraception, we just thought it wouldn't happen so fast for us because this is our second and DS took us two years and three miscarriages. We had been planning to start actively trying in March, didn't because of coronavirus and did discuss me going back on the pill but I sort of thought that if I stopped using contraception in 2020 I'd maybe have a successful pregnancy some time in 2022...! As it turned out it took one shag (and god knows how we found the energy for that, while both working full-time around caring for a 2 year old, looking back!), which I'm still in some disbelief about.

I am worried about what maternity services will look like in late Jan/early Feb when I'm due and I have wondered whether it was a mad decision and whether we should have delayed at some points (and there may have been more traffic on the conception boards during lockdown, but there were also a lot of judgemental posts on AIBU about idiots getting pregnant in a pandemic) but I feel so lucky to be having this baby without the heartbreak and sadness that it took to have DS that I can't bring myself to feel any regret.

TTC for over 2 years. We had 6 failed cycles of ovulation induction last year. First round of IVF was postponed at the start of the first lockdown, but finally went ahead in September. We were very lucky to get a BFP with our one and only embryo. However, I was then hospitalised with OHSS which made me feel very guilty in taking up precious NHS resources.

I don't feel like I'm having a "lockdown" baby in our circumstances. The pandemic and the interruption of fertility treatment caused infinite stress & anxiety. Not a case for us that we simply had more time, energy & less stress. I would feel a bit judged if comments are made about our "wink wink" lockdown baby. That's not at all a criticism of anyone who did conceive under those circumstances, but it's not a simple as many seem to think/joke about.

After 3 yes of trying, we started IVF last year, had eggs collected in November but couldn't have them implanted due to me having OHSS. We were due to start the process for Frozen Embyro Transfer in March which was cancelled due to COVID. It was heartbreaking for months knowing our babies were there, ready to be implanted but that we couldn't do anything.

We finally got the good news in July things were starting again at our clinic but by some miracle, I ended up falling naturally, getting my BFP 4 days before I was about to restart the hormone injections.

Maybe it was the relief things were moving again, it could have been that lockdown did bring me and my gorgeous hubby even closer dealing with the setback and COVID, maybe it's just we were having more sex. Whatever the reason, our little boy is due in April and I can't believe how lucky I am

Thought that while we couldn't do anything else I may as well be pregnant.. very romantic. DD1 started sleeping brilliantly, which massively helped the decision.

I’m pregnant, but my midwife says they’re seeing fewer people than usual at the moment. The ivf clinic shutdown will have reduced the number of births very slightly. I’ve also got a couple of cousins who were due to get married early this summer just gone, and obvs didn’t. Both of them would have started TTC straightaway, but didn’t want to be pregnant for (hopefully) weddings next year. (They’re both late twenties/early thirties, so don’t have much time pressure yet - obvs would be different if they were in eg late thirties.) I wonder if it will just balance out?

We were planning to ttc as I'm 36 and my DH is 40 and we just didnt think we could afford to leave it another year, so just carried on with our plan! We did leave it a few months but when it became apparent the pandemic was here for the foreseeable we just decided to go for it.

It's been a very different experience and there is no doubt maternity services have been affected but I still stick my my decision. If I'd been a few years younger I would have left it until next year though!

Baby due April 2021

@Pinkroses87

I’m pregnant, but my midwife says they’re seeing fewer people than usual at the moment. The ivf clinic shutdown will have reduced the number of births very slightly. I’ve also got a couple of cousins who were due to get married early this summer just gone, and obvs didn’t. Both of them would have started TTC straightaway, but didn’t want to be pregnant for (hopefully) weddings next year. (They’re both late twenties/early thirties, so don’t have much time pressure yet - obvs would be different if they were in eg late thirties.) I wonder if it will just balance out?

Yes, I remember lots of speculation about loads of pandemic babies but then some news reports saying they didn't think it was going to happen - e.g. www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/14/no-baby-boom-in-the-time-of-corona. I haven't seen anything more up to date?

My lockdown baby was born last week! She was due 20/12, conceived pretty much as lockdown started.
We had a contraceptive failure and I took the morning after pill purely because my DH didn’t want another (I had verrrrry traumatic deliveries with my older 2. He’s never really for over it and he maybe needs some help for that) and anxiety caused by the pandemic. But still I was pregnant!
I always wanted one more baby.I’m delighted, especially now that she’s here and her birth was the calmest and best experience. DH visibly relaxed once he knew I was ok and now we’re getting used to being a family of 5.
Despite being over the moon, this is tinged with sadness that my dad hasn’t yet been able to meet his newest grand baby

Honestly @MNHQ show a bit of compassion it’s a difficult enough year for people, especially pregnant people who are higher risk due of covid, have concerns about how covid will effect the birth and support from available families without suggesting new issues of will shops sell out of baby equipment, especially with Brexit concerns about supply issues. Your not a tabloid, think about how you word things.

We were TTC'ing since august. And it just happened that we conceived 28th January. Didn't change anything and lockdown didn't affect our TTCing, just good luck :) xx

Went into lockdown 5 weeks pregnant. Baby now here and 1.5 weeks old.
It’s been a really positive experience for me. Not really much different from my first. Great maternity care antenatally and during the birth. Had my concerns early on in the pregnancy when covid was less understood but was too late then and was a much wanted baby.

We are having a baby that was planned and just so happened to be conceived during the first week of the March lockdown.

I have had to put up with the “wink wink nudge nudge we know what you’ve been up to during lockdown” which is pretty childish. So I don’t refer to him as a “lockdown” baby.

Despite DH not being able to attend any scans and any private scan places being closed until I was 25 weeks pregnant, maternity services have been good in my area.

I feel sorry for friends who gave birth to babies between March and June, whose families weren’t able to meet their babies immediately and who have had their mat leave impacted.

DH and I are pretty resilient and don’t know any better with this being our first. If I need to labour alone etc, then so be it - it’s just one of those unfortunate things.

@Thatwentbadly

Honestly *@MNHQ* show a bit of compassion it’s a difficult enough year for people, especially pregnant people who are higher risk due of covid, have concerns about how covid will effect the birth and support from available families without suggesting new issues of will shops sell out of baby equipment, especially with Brexit concerns about supply issues. Your not a tabloid, think about how you word things.

I think there are legitimate reasons to be worried about supplies in January, but anyone in a genuine panic that they might not be able to get a Bugaboo needs to get a grip!

Our IVF was initially delayed because of the lockdown, but the minute the clinics opened we went ahead.

I do believe the increased flexibility with work due to working from home may have helped our outcome.

DS will be here in March.

We had been TTC for 18 months including a miscarriage during the first part of lockdown. Wasn't going to put plans on hold because of Covid so just kept trying. Got a couple of new medications and it eventually worked. So lockdown not really anything to do with it here.

We luckily managed to complete our IVF cycle just before the fertility clinics were forced to close. I am so lucky that the cycle worked and my baby was born at the start of November.
So little has been said about women (couples) whose fertility treatments were stopped, sometimes mid treatment, because of lockdown. Heartbreaking
I am lucky, I know this.

Pre COVID life involved a lot of business trips, gym visits and days out. Between that and a three year old, there wasn't an awful lot of time to get romantic.

Being locked down stopped a lot of that and gave us the chance to chill out and spend a lot more time with each other. (But I wish he could go back to the office some days lol).

And the upshot is that we have a wee brother or sister for our daughter coming in March.

@Hardbackwriter mental health issues in pregnancy are much more common than PND. My whole point is that this year especially telling people to just get a grip is not appropriate.

2nd lockdown baby. Just feeling more relaxed being home and not worrying about stupid things I think helped

We lost a baby at full term in 2016. Then had two years of TTC, followed by 3 miscarriages in one year. I'm now 18 weeks pregnant and all seems to be going well so far.

I definitely think life slowing down a bit and being able to wfh has had an impact. I'm also taking aspirin every day this time round which I didn't before, so think that has helped too.