Trying for an 11-11-11 birth date

Mid-February of this year, I was trying to keep my cool and bat away any baby fever urges that crept up. I’m not really sure why I was so set on the timeframe, but I was determined to wait until the summer to get pregnant. I told myself to savor the freedoms, the self-indulgences, the sleep, the selfish time to myself, the stuff I knew I would soon lament.

And then I saw this:

11-11-11

The date jumped out at me from this news story: Shooting for the coolest birthday ever.

“Babies conceived Feb. 18 will burst forth Nov. 11 assuming a strict 40 week gestation period.”

The words latched on to something in my subconscious — the same something that had been encouraging me to absentmindedly browse nursery themes and daydream about baby names. I was getting itchy. The attempted coolness was being taken over by a force greater than myself.

Curious, I plugged dates into an ovulation calculator. Turns out I was ovulating on February 18.

The thoughts trampled their way into my head. It’s a sign! What a cool birthday to try for! We could just try once on February 18 and if it doesn’t happen then we’ll know it’s not meant to be yet…

The news story continued: “Do it, do it now, though, because as the aforementioned article points out, the next chance to birth a baby with a birthday of all the same number doesn’t happen again until Nov. 11, 2111, and we will all be dead.”

Do it, do it now? I felt like the story was intentionally pushing my buttons. I tried to just forget about it and honor my original plan, but the 11-11-11 kept elbowing its way to the forefront of my mind.

Fast forward to today: I’m nine months pregnant, with a due date of November 12.

“We see this all the time where patients will latch on to a certain date for their baby’s birth, whether it’s wanting a family member’s birthday, wanting a holiday or not wanting a holiday, etc.” said Dr. Darren Tate, OB/GYN on the medical staff at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.

However, when it comes to scheduling a C-section or induction, the date needs to be based on what’s safe and practical, Dr. Tate said.

“Giving birth before the 39 weeks gestation is associated with increased risks for mom and baby,” he said. “If mom has completed 39 weeks and certain factors are in place then sometimes we can oblige.”

So did I ask my OB/GYN if I could be induced on 11-11-11, at 39 weeks and 6 days gestation? Nah. There’s no good reason for it. I'm not even slightly dilated yet, so I'm positive my doctor wouldn't do it even if I asked. And I'm okay with that -- while the birth date seemed so intriguing back in February, I think in all honesty my mind was just searching out a reason to go ahead and get pregnant in a fit of baby fever.

Instead, I’ll leave the birth date up to fate and the whim of baby Jacob.

What about you? Did you hope to give birth on a certain special day?

Megan Brooks is a Sr. Public Relations Specialist for Texas Health Resources, Stepmom, and Soon-to-be Mom expecting any day now.

Physicians on the medical staff are not employees or agents of the hospital.