When Will Baby Arrive???

Well, isn't that the question du jour!!!  We have a due date {Sunday, May 25th}, I'm going for weekly check-ups, we have a poll where friends and family can record their own hunches, but the funny thing about baby births is that despite all the miracles of modern medicine and all the "convictions" our loved ones have in their own minds, nobody REALLY knows when baby will be ready to make his or her debut!

For some reason it hit me this week -- Week 37 -- that I could go into labor at ANY minute.  YIKES!!!  I know I typically love surprises, but in this case it's terrifying not knowing WHEN or even WHERE baby or my body will decide "it's show time"!  Instead of wondering whether we'll need a boy name or a girl name to give baby, my mind is occupied with desperately trying to predict when we'll need a name at all and how I could potentially limit any humiliation by not being out in public at the wrong time!  If I feel a twinge, does that mean something's happening?  Should I not walk around too much "just in case"?  I've freaked myself so much that I've been sitting on a towel at home every day this week!

It's a well known fact that very few babies are born on their actual due date.  I think the last statistic I read said that only ~5% of babies enter the world exactly on their due date.  {Fun fact:  My hubby fits into this category!  Me?  I was late being born, and late every day since...}  I've also heard that it's most common for babies to be born anywhere from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after their due date.  BUT THAT'S A FOUR WEEK SPAN!!!!  That's not a narrow enough window for me to mentally prepare!  I know in my head that there is no possible way for me to find this answer, but that doesn't stop me from looking for it!!!  :)

According to this Baby Center article:

The most popular day for babies to make their entrance is Tuesday, followed by Monday. Sunday is the slowest day, with 35.1 fewer births than average. Scheduled c-sections and induced labors have a big influence on the fact that far fewer babies are born on the weekend, but spontaneous (non-scheduled) deliveries occur less often on the weekend too.

Interestingly, I was born on a Tuesday, while Shep was born on a Wednesday!

I'm sure many of us have heard the old wives tale that there are more births during a full moon.  Though many scientific studies disprove that theory, it's worth pointing out the next full moon in NYC is May 14th!  Gulp... that's *less than a week away*, though technically during the relevant window of time!  {And for anyone curious, it's a Wednesday.}  I don't know though, that sounds much too soon!!!  I'd love a little more time if possible!

Then I stumbled upon http://whentoexpect.com/, which is a prediction calculator that compares some self-reported demographic info to public birth certificate data from the CDC's Division of Vital Statistics on live births in 2009 and 2010.  {Read more about the calculated estimates here.}  According to this calculator, I'm most likely to give birth during week 39.

Source: http://whentoexpect.com/

That seems a little less scary.  :)  One other tidbit from this prediction site:  Our best guess of your baby's birth weight: 7 pounds, 12 ounces.  Given my recently-developed wish for a "not too large" baby, I think I could live with that! ;)

Oh, and I can't leave out Madame Zaritska's prediction:

The day you deliver, outside will be cloudy. Your baby will arrive in the early morning. After a labor lasting approximately 10 hours, your child, a girl, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 5 pounds, 4 ounces, and will be 17-1/2 inches long. This child will have medium green eyes and fluffy blonde hair.

***

So there you have it folks! I could have this baby on a Tuesday, or a Monday, or on Wednesday May 14th, or anytime the week of May 18th - May 24th, or on a cloudy day...... or basically any other day from now to early June. How's that for a scientifically accurate prediction? ;)

Too Good to Be True

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I remember the moment I read in one of my pregnancy books that an estimated 25% of women don't get morning sickness while pregnant.  Most women would be thrilled to find themselves in that category, but I distinctly remember feeling uneasy upon reading that statistic.

You see, I just don't have good luck.  It could be the 2 mirrors I broke while moving into Manhattan 7.5 years ago; it may very well be something else.  But whatever the reason, luck is generally not on my side.  If 25% of women don't get morning sickness, that means 75% do, and those kinds of odds are rarely in my favor.  Nevertheless, I don't consider myself overly superstitious, so I tried not to focus on that fact too much and instead hoped for once I was on the right side of the odds.  But, there were several other reasons I feared this pregnancy seemed too good, or at minimum, too easy, to be true:

• We got pregnant on our second try.  I know some women struggle for months and some for many years to conceive.  For as long as I can remember, even back to my teenage years, I've always had a deep-seated fear that I'd be unable to get pregnant.  To learn we got pregnant so quickly was very surprising to me after so many years of worrying.
• Our baby's estimated due date was the 25th.  Not only is my birthday the 25th, but so is my mom's.  I know babies are rarely born on their due date, but the potential for this happening was pretty neat.
• And not just any 25th... our baby was due on December 25th.  Christmas Day.  I can't think of a more beautiful way to celebrate Christmas than to welcome a new baby of our own into our lives.  I've always loved Christmas {and not just because of the presents!} and it's always been a very big tradition in my family for many extended relatives to gather from near and far.  The news that our baby was expected at Christmastime made the experience all the more magical for both my husband and I.  We were absolutely delighted to learn we were pregnant, and over the moon with excitement when we calculated our due date.  I went to numerous different web sites, repeatedly filling in dates, to be sure it was true!
• We pulled off two YouTube-worthy surprise family reveals.  Our moms both live about 1.5 hours away {in different directions} and we successfully orchestrated the biggest Mother's Day surprise by inviting them both over for brunch, and then presenting them with matching "grandma to-be" t-shirts while recording their priceless reactions.  And, they didn't suspect a thing.  It was such a fun and memorable surprise, and the timing was perfect because we'd just had our first ultrasound 4 days earlier, so even had photos on hand to insert into their cards.  We even got a baby bottle of bourbon for my brother, so the new uncle-to-be wouldn't feel left out.  Then, a few weeks later, we surprised my aunt, uncle, cousin and 91 year old grandmother who live 7 hours away during what they thought was an experimental laptop video-conferencing for my job.  I prepared and sent via FedEx to my aunt four sealed envelopes, each containing a piece of paper with one of the letters B, A, B, Y.  They opened the envelopes simultaneously and put the clue together while we silently watched from our laptop.  We captured their wonderful reactions on video through the wonders of modern technology, and were so excited to be able to tell them our wonderful news "face to face", even though we couldn't do so in person.  This may not sound like a big deal, but it meant everything to me.  As I mentioned, my grandma is 91 years old.  She is the brightest light in my life and I felt so honored to tell her that she was going to become a great-grandma.  Her reaction was absolutely priceless.

I know these things all probably seem pretty petty, especially as compared to the incredibly serious and solemn occurrence of a miscarriage.  But at the time, these small details magnified the excitement of experiencing our first pregnancy beyond anything we could have imagined.  Everything just came together o perfectly.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be too perfect.  It was too good to be true.

April 21st

Hubby and I just took a pregnancy test and it’s POSITIVE!!!! Of course, I had to snap some photos of his face, my face and the test right away for posterity.  :)  I was pretty convinced we were pregnant because my period is over a week late, and I think I experienced what’s known as “implantation bleeding” last week, but for some reason I was afraid to look at the stick once the results were done! So, Hubby and I held hands and as I flipped it over, he looked first while my eyes were closed.  I asked him what the result was and he didn’t say anything for what seemed like an eternity!!  I asked “what does it say?!” for the 3rd or 4th time and he finally replied: “Congratulations, Mama!”.

Of course, I started to cry. I’m sure hormones had nothing to do with that.  ;)  WOW.  We’re pregnant!!!!   Even though I was pretty sure before we took the test, I can’t believe it!

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Your baby's the size of a poppyseed!

At week four, your baby, now known as a blastocyst, is practically microscopic -- a teeny ball of cells. She's busy settling into her new home (your uterus), prepping for all the crucial development she'll be doing over the next six weeks.

The ball of cells is splitting into the embryo (your future child) and placenta. Baby's neural tube, the building block of his spine, brain and backbone, is already formed. The amniotic sac and fluid are forming into protective cushioning for your baby.

 

at 4 weeks

- The ball of cells is splitting into the embryo (your future child) and placenta.

- Baby's neural tube, the building block of his spine, brain and backbone, is already formed.

- The amniotic sac and fluid are forming into protective cushioning for your baby.

I’m excited and nervous all rolled into one.  I love Hubby so much and first and foremost am so happy to be taking this journey with him.

Using an online tool, we calculated my due date as December 25th!  A healthy baby couldn’t be a more perfect Christmas gift if you ask me.

Now there is so much to think about!!!!  I need an OB, a hospital, an announcement plan..... I’m overwhelmed!  I better start researching OB doctors stat!!

Hubby went to the grocery store while I stayed home researching like a maniac.  When he got home, he announced that he’d bought me a gift and very sweetly presented me with a yellow baby beanie cap.  He explained that he wanted to be sure he was the first one to buy me something.  So cute!!!  Am I lucky or what?!

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I signed up for a few different websites and began my “to do list” on The Bump:


Being that I’m always late, it figures I’m already behind on a few items even though I just got started!  Although technically I have until Wednesday, which starts my 5th week!  :)