000:00:00:00

The countdown clock is all zeroes, but BabyCue remains in the womb. We have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. It looks like BabyCue will be neither a St. Patrick's Day baby nor a due date baby. This is not a surprise, as 95% of babies enter the world on a day other than their due date.

4 days

That's right. The counter on the bottom of the blog says 4 days to go. Yesterday we had a checkup, and I am dilated a little bit. Not much, but enough for Dr. B to say any day. He is hoping it is soon too, because he wants to be here when the time comes. He goes on vacation the 21st.

At the daycare this week, everyone kept saying, "hope we don't see you next week." One little girl said she hopes I get the baby out. Another lovely child tried to look up my shirt for the baby.

Yesterday morning I stopped for some coffee, and saw Dr. B's wife and daughter. I teach their kids at the daycare, and E was very excited to see me. Even when I was standing in front of her, and talking to her, she kept asking to see me. Cute. Dr. B's wife mentioned that their 4 year old son wants to come see me and the baby in the hospital and would that be okay. Sure. I don't mind. I'm a little flattered. One of my piano students also asked if he could come to the hospital to see the baby.

So, back to waiting. Every morning Q tells the baby not to come yet, because he has more to catch up on at work. I tell the baby today is as good as any. Meanwhile, I tell my piano students who are sticking around for spring break that if there isn't a baby, I'll see them next week.

When will BabyCue arrive and what will BabyCue look like?

If Linda is right, BabyCue comes tomorrow morning at 8:30. (Good thing we packed last night.) But what if Erik is right? Then BabyCue won't come until Friday, March 27. SmileyCue gets to enjoy nearly three more weeks of pregnancy. Awesome! (Says the not pregnant one...)

We learned these predictions at the Avenue BabyCue, a baby shower held last month by two colleagues. Fancying myself a social scientist, I present some findings from the (highly un)scientific survey of guests.

When will BabyCue be born? Everyone chose a date between March 10 and 27. In fact, all responses except Erik's (March 27) were between March 10 and 20. The median date was March 15, the mode was March 14. As far as time of day, both the median and mode are high noon, though the mean time is 11:54 a.m. The time of birth ranged from midnight (Suzanne) to 9:15 p.m. (Erik).

How long will BabyCue be? With a range of six inches, most people think BabyCue will be 19-20 inches long, with a mean of 19.64". (That's 48-51 cm for the rest of the world, with a mean of 49.9 cm.) Chris (not my brother) thought it will be a diminutive 17" (43 cm); at the other extreme, Mollie guessed a GoGoGadget 23" (58 cm). Maggie wisely predicted, "long enough."

How much will BabyCue weigh? With a range of 4 pounds, 5 ounces (nearly 2 kg), MamaCue may be giving birth to anything from a melon to a Thanksgiving turkey. Katie guessed the lightest weight at 6 pounds, 2 ounces (2.77 kg) and Chris (again, not my bro) guessed a scale-breaking 10 pounds, 7 ounces (4.73 kg), nearly twice as heavy as Katie's prediction. Despite the range, the median averages out to just under 7 pounds, 15 ounces (3.60 kg). The median is 8 pounds, 1 ounce (3.66 kg), and the mode is both 8 pounds, 1 ounce (3.66 kg) and 8 pounds, 2 ounces (3.69 kg).

What color of hair will BabyCue have? The overwhelming choice is brown. A few answered blonde. Taking note of our mechanic's looks, Tom chose black. Two others chose bald.

What eye color will BabyCue have? Brown wins, 12-8, over blue. Green received two votes, and the mysterious "hazel" received a vote from Elaine.

We've tallied the results, which are available online through Google Docs.

birth day

Babycue is due to join us soon. Fortunately, if Babycue does not arrive on the predicted day (the 17th), there are many days in March that would still make us happy parents. Some days we like because of their personal significance, others because we like the number combinations, and still others just because. We would prefer an odd numbered day, because we were both born on odd numbered days in odd numbered months in odd numbered years. Here is a list of days and why we like them:

3/6/9 -- 3 is a magic number.
3/9/9 -- Smileycue was born on the 9th.
3/11/9 -- Smileycue's parents' anniversary, and a rock band (311) has claimed it too! This day is also a non-emergency number.
3/12/9 -- 3 is a magic number, but not as magical as 3/6/9.
3/13/9 -- Q's half birthday, and a Friday this year!
3/14/9 -- Pi, enough said.
3/15/9 -- Ides of March, Smileycue's grandma's birthday, and Q's cousin's wedding anniversary. Et tu, Babycue?
3/16/9 -- like John 3:16, except this is Babycue, not the Messiah.
3/17/9 -- this is the actual due date, and St. Patrick's Day. Babycue will have an Irish last name, so this is appropriate, and also cool since only 1 in 20 people are actually born on the day they are due!
3/20/9 -- a day for celebration, the first day of Spring!!!
3/21/9 -- Q thinks it is cool because it is sequential, and Smileycue thinks it is cool because it reminds her of a locker combination she had in Junior High.

Given our preferences, naturally this means BabyCue will be born on 3/10, 3/18, or 3/19.

So, it isn't too late to make your prediction...leave one in the comments, and tell us why that day is significant to you.

Watch SmileyCue Grow.

It's two weeks to D-day. Here's a montage showing MamaCue's growing belly:

Avenue BabyCue

Today was the BabyCue baby shower. Thank you to all of you who attended or sent gifts. We're humbled and speechless. BabyCue will look cute in the outfits, on the blankets, and with the stuffed animals and other playthings. Big thanks goes to my colleagues Jayn and Rachel for co-hosting the shower! Jayn worked with a local baker, Yumi's, to get an Avenue Q-themed cake and Rachel made frog mints. Plus. the shower "game" was making picture frames. Very crafty.



If you prefer your slideshow as a music video, try this:

Sneak Preview

The emergency ultrasound did have a silver lining. We got to see BabyCue again:



For those of you keeping score at home, I am convinced he looks like my brother. There may be a reason for this: SmileyCue had wanted BabyCue to get UncleCue's curly locks and piercing blue eyes. Apparently, the hair and eyes were part of a package deal: we got the cheeks, nose, and lips, too. As Sesame Street's Ernie and Elmo would say, they're all part of one fine face. A face we'll see face to face in a few weeks.

Some readers and friends have asked if we have a name. We have a few names in mind. We had thought about Rickrolling you, an internet prank. We would have posted a teaser, "BabyCue's Name Revealed!" and then a link -- except the link would not have gone to BabyCue's name, but a YouTube video of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You up." SmileyCue wisely talked me out of it. We figured a third of you would have had a good laugh about it, another third thought we were going with the name "Rick Astley McCue," and the other third would have emailed us, politely letting us know that the link to BabyCue's name did not go to the intended site but to a music video.

We promise that when BabyCue arrives, you'll hear it here. No RickRolling. But if you want a hint...