I’m not sure what it is, but with each pregnancy I’ve always had a somewhat interesting due date — or one that wasn’t so desirable, depending on your point of view.
The oldest was due on April 2, and I was scared to death that our first child would end up as an April Fool’s Day baby. It didn’t happen, as I was induced about a week early.
The baby we lost at 8 weeks had a very early due date of 8/8/08.
Our second child was due on New Year’s Day. While I thought that was neat and could have involved getting the “first baby of the new year” honors, my husband and I were more interested in getting the tax deduction for having her in the previous calendar year. Again, I was induced (just before Christmas), and her birthday is just another day in December.
Baby Number 3 might just get the granddaddy birthday of them all.
Feb. 29.
I will probably be induced again (due to gestational diabetes – we’re 3-for-3, people), and if the doctor let me have my way, I would pick that day. I am all for the Leap Day baby, but my husband disagrees. If offered the choice, he would shun it.
He thinks the kid would hate me forever.
My brother, who was born in a leap year and has several friends/classmates with a Feb. 29 birthday, said that he never met a Leap Day baby that didn’t revel in their individuality. If anything, having a Leap Day birthday is a guaranteed conversation starter. As I discovered while doing research for this article, there is actually an Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies
Seriously.
It’s pretty unique to have a Leap Day birthday. Here’s this calculation, courtesy of enchantedlearning.com: “Assuming an equal distribution of birthdays throughout the year, the fraction of people born on leap day is the fraction of people born on one day out of four years, or 1/[(365 x 4 ) + 1] = 1/1,461 = 0.068% (less than one-tenth of a percent of the population).”
Maybe I’m weird, maybe I’m too much of an individualist. But I wouldn’t care if I got to celebrate my birthday “once every four years.” That would only make it more special. And we rarely have our childrens’ birthday parties on their actual birthday, so what’s the difference?
Of course, this is all hypothetical anyway. I probably won’t get to pick the day I get induced (although I should be able to. After all, I’m the one who has carried this thing around all this time). And maybe, just maybe, I will have a baby who will decide to come all on its own.
But if there is that small chance, I would welcome — even leap at — the opportunity.
I want to know what you think — thumbs up or down to a Leap Day baby? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Laura Weisskopf Bleill is the co-founder and editor of chambanamoms.com. You can reach her at laura@chambanamoms(dot)com.