Due Date, Shmue Date

Well today is my friend Christina's due date and no one expected her to last this long. She has been home from work for about two weeks now and is trying her best to enjoy a little R and R before the giant upheaval of her life (I mean, um, the miracle) of having a baby. Every pregnant woman counts down to this day and yet, ironically it is probably the day you are least likely to go into labor.

It got me thinking about my own due date, March 25th 2010, and what I did that day. I had been out of work for a couple of days and was frantically trying to finish my grading, my baby shower thank you cards, cleaning my car (no easy task if you know me), cooking mac and cheese and chili to freeze, etc. I remember I took some time that day to head to the gym (oh yeah, I remember the gym, the building with the exercise machines, right?) and got my nails done. Of course, I didn't have the baby for another five days, so my nails were already chipped by then, but at least my calluses were gone. The best part about your due date is that when you go out and people ask you when you are due you get to say, "today," and they act very nervous and excited as if you shouldn't be out and about and that the baby might just fall out right then and there on the elliptical and they will have to catch it in their gym bags.

You also know that within a few days you will get to finally see the little person who has been sharing your body with you for so long. I told Christina that it is like waiting for Christmas, except you don't know when Christmas is going to be, so it is extra exciting. She said, "yeah, if Christmas is the most painful thing you can possibly imagine, then it is just like that." Of course, having a baby is really painful, but it is also kind of cool. No matter whether you have an epidural, a C-section, or a natural birth, five hours of labor or two days of labor (sorry Gina), by the end of it, you have a human all your own and you have a story to tell, a story in which you (the main character) did the coolest, most amazing thing human beings are capable of. And you get to know that you totally rock. forever. And that is pretty awesome.

So, happy due date Christina! Put your feet up, eat some Chef Boyardee, and relax because you won't get to do that for another 18 years.