Holidays, Birthdays & Due Dates

November and December are always a little interesting for me in terms of the extravagant amount of birthdays there are in our immediate families alone, never mind many other family and friends. In my husband's and my families alone there are 18 birthdays in these two months.

November 26th is particularly interesting. It's my mom's birthday, and my sister's, and my paternal grandfather, and a maternal cousin. This was also my "due date" with Kenya, my third born. It was also the day of my mom's failed induction with me!

This took place in Mexico on a Mennonite colony, that at the time was at least several hours from the nearest hospital (roads etc. have improved since then). As is their custom, especially in the 80's, they kept as much to themselves and were as self-sufficient as possible. That included running a small "clinic" on the colony, where most of the babies then were born. In fact, my whole family (parents included) except my baby brother were born in the same room in said clinic. To my understanding, the so called nurses that worked there did have some formal training, but to what degree I don't know, and it certainly wasn't anything like we'd think of as a nurse's credentials here in the U.S. today. Still, they knew more than anyone else and were therefore the most qualified for the job.

Partial view of the Colony from where I lived as a teen.

Back to my birth. As the story goes, they had access to some form of induction meds. I'm curious to this day what it was they used, but I believe it was administered orally. My mom went in for a dose to hopefully have me join the list of birthdays on November 26th. Well, it failed to put her into labor so she went back home, and I waited another 8 days to make my appearance. Come to find out later, she discovered that the "nurse" had deliberately not given her the appropriate or full dose because she didn't think my parents should be choosing my birthday! Let's just say, Mom wasn't happy. 😅

Fast forward 25 years when I myself was apparently expecting a November baby. If you've read my book,

you're familiar with the story. I was being pressured to induce, with the reason given that she was getting "too big", and I was past 40 weeks. Interestingly, Thanksgiving was on the 26th that year as well. Long story short, I ultimately decided against being induced and she came on her own-- not on the legendary November 26th, or any other family member's birthday she could easily have shown up on, nor my birthday, but on December 7th-- the anniversary of her great-grandfather's move to Heaven. As is so often the case, she was much smaller than predicted, weighing in at only 7 lbs. 6 oz.

Kenya at 8 days old

All these birthdays and talk of inductions in the middle of the two biggest holiday months really makes you think. Check out this chart of most popular birth dates. Several interesting things to note here.

First, September is inarguably the most common birth month (I guess our families didn't get that memo 😏). That might have something to do with being 9 months from the previous year's high holidays (I guess our families didn't party hard enough 😂). But notice the blotch of purple all through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Christmas Day has the least number of births. I'm sure that doesn't happen spontaneously. Which brings me to the point that holidays are never a medical reason for induction, and yet, obviously, it's happening a lot.

In my opinion, there's really no such thing as a "late baby". I believe babies really do come when they are ready, and that there are vital developments still taking place in those last days and weeks of pregnancy that will help them be fully ready to enter the world in the most optimal state. If at all possible, we should honor the finishing of those final touches and allow them to give the signal that they are ready. Simply put, I believe original design is not flawed, and that rarely is a baby better off being forced to come earlier than they would on their own.

However, too often around the holidays, suddenly some unexpected "reason" pops up to call for induction in a perfectly healthy and uneventful pregnancy. Maybe you are feeling pressured like I was, but are still unsure if it's really the best choice for you and your baby. I know for myself, it was a bit of a wrestling back and forth, but ultimately I just didn't believe they were right about her size, and there was no other valid indication for an induction. I also felt the induction process (which I had previous experience with) stole some of the anticipation and adventure of the labor and birth journey, resulting in disappointment that I wanted to avoid. I had to go with my gut--what I really believed.

That said, as mentioned, I have been induced as well (2nd baby), before I came to my current views on the issue. There's no condemnation from me for those who have or will, but if it's just not sitting right with you, that's not something to be ignored. If you need some help deciding whether or not induction is right for you, check out the Research page on my website and click on Induction in the side menu for links to some studies and research on this topic. Remember, as with all things in your pregnancy and birth, this is your choice!