Project Baby: A Report From the Trenches and a Little Giveaway!

Seeing as we are now only five little days away from The Due Date, I thought it would be appropriate to emit a little sign of life, and affirm that, yes, we're still here, and no, we haven't had the baby yet.

We have, however, reached the point in which I answer the phone and people are disappointed to hear my voice. When we see someone we know, there's always that quick little glance to ascertain that I am indeed still pregnant. But I do that too, so honestly, who can blame them?

My days are a getting a little weird.

I've been trying to sleep in as much as I can (because hauling a bowling ball around with your stomach muscles can be a little tiring), but can't really make it much past nine. So I get up, get dressed (AKA, pull on the only nightie that fits under my robe that hardly ties anymore) and meander downstairs. Then I pour myself a bowl of cereal and curl up on the couch. Which is where I typically stay all day long, mostly hooked up to my laptop. I read blogs, I Facebook stalk, I chat. I occasionally get uncontrollably emotional and make weepy phone calls to Nick at work. I talk to my mum a lot. I occasionally watch TV (mostly What Not To Wear, but never A Baby Story). I made dinner yesterday, and considered it a Personal Triumph of Great Dimensions.

In short, if I wasn't 9 months pregnant, I'd be admitting myself to some sort of clinic.

Thank goodness for lovely friends like Karen who are willing to drive down from Provo with heaps of DVDs for me, including the 6-hour BBC Pride and Prejudice and all five seasons of Angel. And thank goodness for lovely friends like Annika, who are not only willing to brave the UTA bus system to come and spend an afternoon with me, but bring pumpkin cookies too.

And thank goodness I only have a another week or so to go! It's been fun, it's been real, but now it is time for this pregnancy to be done.

Which brings me to our Giveaway!

As is tradition here in bloggyland, I (together with my lovely spouse, Nick) am hosting a Guess the Birth Date/Weight/Height Giveaway so y'all can be part of the fun.

The rules:

1. The competition is open frommmm....... NOW! and until the very moment he is born. We will be checking the time stamp on your guess so there can be no cheatering. I know what you're like.
   
2. Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment with your guesses on this post.
   
3. As there are three categories of guesses, there will also be three winners. One for date, one for weight and one for height. These three categories will be scored as follows:
   
   • Date: The most accurate guess wins. if you're the only one with the right day, boo-yah, you win. However, if more than one person picks the right day, we'll go to the hour, then to the minute, etc. If there is a day/hour/minute/second tie, the first poster wins. We will be counting in Mountain Standard Time (GMT -7), so don't try anything funny with time zones.
     
   • Weight: Again, the most accurate guess wins. We will be accepting guesses in both metric and imperial measurements (pounds and kilos). Whoever guesses the closest wins. In the event of a tie, the first poster wins.
     
   • Height: Same as for weight, only with inches and centimeters. Again, if there is a tie, the first poster wins.
   
   
4. In the event of one person guessing correctly in more than one category, we will simply deem them extra awesome and the winner of both prizes. If they get all three correct, we will be a little creeped out.
   
5. As first time parents, we are under no obligation to get your prize to you in a timely manner. But by Christmas for sure. Or at least by the baby's first birthday.
   

Which brings us to prizes!

Each of the three winners will receive a personalized prize, tailored to suit their personal preferences (at least, as interpreted by me). However, each prize is likely to contain:

• One certificate of achievement, deeming you the Grand Poobah of North Family Baby Guesstimation.
  
• Photographic documentation of the Man Himself - WHICH YOU MUST TREASURE ALWAYS!
  
• Something baby-related. Rest assured that this will indeed be tailored to your specific phase in life.
  
• Something hand-made and/or edible. Because that's just how I rollz, yo.
  

And finally, a little bonus for those of you who are still reading! In the interest of fairness and full disclosure, we will let you in on a few of the things we already know about our baby.

1. The estimated due date is Tuesday, February 16th.
   
2. He's big! At our 39 week ultrasound, the doctor estimated him to weigh about 9 lbs 2 oz or 4.14 kg. Bear in mind that ultrasound estimates have a margin of error of one lb ( 450 gr.) in either direction.
   
3. If he hasn't arrived by then already, we have the option of being induced on Monday the 15th. Probably around lunch time. Let me be clear in stating that this "option" has pretty strong appeal to a woman who can't see her own feet.
   
4. In case you know what to do with this information, at the ultrasound earlier this week, his femur was measuring 77 mm or just over 3 inches.
   

And that's it!