Monday, February 11, 2008

Is He Done Yet?

"When are you due?" I get this question at least a few times a week, and I'm sure the frequency will pick up over the next few months as I start to show even more. I think this is just the most interesting question ever! Not that it's an improper question, or one most people can't easily answer. But it DOES beg an imperfect answer. "Due date" implies that a baby can be under- or over-due, which is odd to me. (Obviously given normal circumstance, and not born dangerously premature.) My kid is not a pasta, and if he decides to come a bit earlier or later than this mysterious "due date," he will not be "aldente," nor will he be overcooked. He will be right on time if he's born within a 30-day period surrounding this "due date." (And, if he knows what's good for him, he will come before his Mama is too miserable! :) Ha!)

This Thursday we have our "big" ultrasound. This is when they bring in the "Cadillac" machine (so named by my doctor) and take tons of measurements and pictures and give us a more "accurate due date" (hilarious).

I'm 20 weeks now, halfway there!

8 comments:

Jessie said...

So, I don't understand. WHEN are you due?

:)

Thursday said...

Al dente...ha!

I think they should call it baby forecasting, like weather forecasting.

Also, I think "when are you due" should be answered with a straight-faced and completely sincere "Only God knows." When the person who asked laughed, continue staring at them with a straight face until they wander off, confused and potentially thoughful....

Mandi said...

yeah, i always felt bad for women who put so much stock in that date, because then they were really disappointed if the baby wasn't there by then! i just wish they would say, your baby will be born sometime in the beginning of july, for example, that way women don't get so dependent on that date.

i always just wanted to say, "due for what?" just to embarass people. i've never had the balls to just go up to someone i don't know and ask them when they were due, because i've heard (and had my own experience with) too many horror stories when the woman hasn't been pregnant. i won't even ask if it's painfully obvious...

Kimberlee said...

yes, mandi, i whole heartedly agree. i don't care if the baby is on it's way out, i'm not going to suggest that a woman is pregnant until she says something first! no way! beth, you are so smart to have no expectations for when baby D should arrive. those babies have a way of showing up when they please and not a moment sooner! i tried every remedy in the book to bring on labor when i was "overdue" and nothing worked. she came in her time and her time only :)

berlin-ruth said...

This is Ruth from Germany, Beths hostsister in '95...
Beth, I think the same!!!! Although I hope for you he won't wait very long - my daughter came 4days later - it was horrible because we had the hotest summer ever!!!!!And we were so bored, because evrything was done but I couldn' move ;-)But looking back it was somehow a nice time.The baby will chose the right time and so Emmy just came on the right date...

Mike said...

Beth, you helped me find it - my official choice for the name of your baby:

Albert Dente Dekker

It makes it sound like he has some mysterious international flavor in his genes - it will make people think "I wonder where the 'Dente' comes from?" Unfortunately, this means that his initials will be ADD. At least my choice isn't Albert Dente Horatio Dekker.

Carl Meyer said...

I don't know, I like the ADHD handle to the name, Mike. I think they should go for it. We can consider starting the ritalin a little early, eh?

Rebecca said...

Maybe it's just the nurse in me, but I never ask people when they're due... I always ask how many weeks they are. Althought that brings its own set of complications (when do you calculate weeks from? etc.)