Of Note....

Items of note this week include:

1. This week I'm officially full term---37 weeks! Unofficially, I became full term last week, and am tempted to consider myself 38 weeks along. You may recall that Snippet looked a little small at his 6-week ultrasound, so they held us over and delayed my due date by a week, from October 7th to October 14th. It didn't make sense to me, even at the time, but I didn't fight it. However, now that game day is upon us, I find myself obsessing a little over who is right---my calculations, or the national averages? If the national averages are right, then I had to have ovulated an entire week later than normal. But, in 4 years of monitoring my 28-30 day cycles, there was only one time that I ovulated that late: the month I went off of birth control. So, how much faith do you think I really have in the assumption that I suddenly ovulated a week late for no reason at all? Well, not much. So, my mind is abuzz with educated speculation that Snippet's arrival is much more likely to occur next weekend. (NEXT WEEKEND!!!!) Ahem.

2. While standing in line to scarf up lunch at Panera, I caught the eye of an older woman standing beside me. She looked about 85 years old---a tiny, soft-spoken sweet woman who smiled at me and said, "You're having a boy, aren't you?" I replied, "Yes, I am!" She said with a devilish grin, "I could tell. It's the way you're carrying. As soon as I saw you, I just knew." She went on to chat with me about how she had a set of twins, and how much she loved children, and how exciting it was that Snippet is our first. It was a very sweet little exchange, and the sort that I seem to be having with various people on a daily basis now. Not everyone guesses Snippet is a boy, but people ask about him all day long now, in some context or another. I guess since he's just so obviously out there, there's no ignoring him.

3. We have a pretty good contender for Snippet's middle name, after the sudden cancellation of the name we had formerly chosen. I say, "contender" because Jake and I are not 100% committed to this new name, but we're damn close, mostly because we like the name, but also because we are completely out of other ideas. We have scanned the baby name books so many times that I could (nearly) give a full report on the frequency and derivation of any boy name you could throw at me.

4. One of my closest friends from high school has volunteered to fly out and stay with us for a few days right around Snippet's due date. Out of the blue, she called to say she wants to come be our live-in helper---cooking, cleaning, dog-chasing and engaging in general mom-and-baby pampering. I am so incredibly shocked and grateful for her offer. Since my family lives far away, and Dan's family is all so busy with their own children, I expected to be on my own once we returned from the hospital. It's an incredible relief to know that she will be here, especially since she has a 5-year-old son (who will be staying with relatives for the four days that she's here) and will know what the heck is going on when I'll be mostly clueless. Now, if we can just make sure my due-date theory is right, so that Snippet will actually be born by the time she arrives on October 15th!