When is that Baby Going to Come?

Here I am at almost 39 weeks pregnant. We went to Belle Isle (where we had our first date). That's Hollywood rapid in the background.


At church and at school the last few days, everyone seems to be predicting that I will have the baby some time this week. At Richard's office, one of his coworkers has been telling him how many seconds remaining til the baby's due. Many of our friends say to me, "I hope, for your sake, that he comes soon!" The funny thing is, I am not desperate to have the pregnancy over just yet. Sure, it's uncomfortable, but I have more things I want to get done - cooking and cleaning and read the latest draft of a paper my collaborators & I are working on. I also don't feel like his arrival is imminent. [TMI alert!] Sure, I've been walking around slightly dilated & effaced for nearly a month now. Doesn't seem like that means a whole lot. I am still waiting for my 24-48 hours of nesting energy of which I've heard so many stories.

Anyway, here are some of the family trends or circumstances that may influence when he makes his entrance. If anyone is inclined to place bets, now's the time, and the following information should help.

1) Minor holidays. This is mostly a Holcombe trend. Richard and his grandmother were born on Veteran's Day. His sister was born on Flag Day. His dad was born on St. Patrick's Day. Oh, and my nephew's birthday sometimes falls on Easter. So when could our baby be born? Well, we made it through Valentine's Day without incident. But coming up is President's Day (tomorrow, 2/16) and Washington's birthday (2/22) . And 2/25 this year is Ash Wednesday.

2) Born on the 11th. My dad (5/11), my nephew (4/11), and Richard and his grandma (11/11) were all born on 11th's. However, we are NOT waiting til 3/11 for this little guy, and we already passed 2/11.

3) Statistics/math. The average for first-time moms who go into labor naturally is 41 weeks + 1 day. (40 weeks is something of an arbitrary scale.) That would be March 3. The cool thing about March 3 is that it is 3/3/09. 3x3=9 seems like a fun birthday to have. (Assuming our child is as much a geek as we are. We might have some recessive un-geeky genes, though.)

4) Weather. My sister's labor started during a snow storm (in Colorado in April). Here in Virginia, a few flurries is equivalent to a blizzard. We actually might get some snow tonight. Is it Murphy's law or a change in atmospheric pressure that influences labor?

I'm sure he will come at the right time, whenever that is. We are ready enough, and will be more ready the longer it takes.