On Due Dates and Being Oblivious

In my last weekly check-in post (the 37 week one), my mom commented that she'd had a panic attack when she looked at my maternity ticker and noticed that it said that there are only 13 days left until Sprout's due date. So...I thought I'd shed a little light on the due date discrepancy that's there. It's hard to figure out exactly where to begin and how much information to share.
When David and I were finally given the green light to "try again" for our second baby, I did something I said I'd never do. I started charting my temperatures every morning in an effort to maximize my chances of getting pregnant. I'd heard of women doing the whole charting thing, and I thought it was absolutely crazy. But then again, at that point, I think I was absolutely crazy. So every morning, I got up at the same time (which for me was 3:30am, because you have to have a certain number of hours of uninterrupted sleep in order to get an accurate temp) and took my temperature. I also charted various other fertility signs that we won't go into on the internet. :) I used Fertility Friend and a paper chart to keep all of this organized. I was so disappointed each month when I turned up not pregnant. But at least I learned a few things that really helped in our quest for a baby. I learned that everything you read online/in textbooks/anywhere says that a woman is the most fertile on the 14th day of her cycle. Not so! It's amazing we got pregnant the first time, because my "peak fertile day" is always day 10 or 11 of my cycle...so a little earlier than your "average" woman (which is who they must base that 14 day myth on). When I figured that out, it didn't take us too long to hit the jackpot! Now, what does all of this have to do with due dates? Hang on.
When I went to my doctor for my first prenatal appointment, of course, the first thing they asked me was the first date of my last period. That's how they base the due dates...which means that they're also assuming that ovulation takes place on day 14. And that's how we got the June 2nd, 2011 due date. Because if I had a "normal" cycle of 28 days, and ovulated on day 14 of my cycle, then my due date would be June 2nd. But I know that I ovulated on September 5th (because of my temperature charting)...which is the 10th day of my cycle, which means that Dr. Basham's due date is 4 days behind schedule. So...my maternity ticker is based on the due date that I believe to be right...May 29, 2011. (And, for what it's worth, every single ultrasound we've had puts the baby's gestational age in line with a May 29th due date.)
When people ask me what my due date is, I always say June 2nd, and that's for a couple of reasons. First, it's because David really wants Sprout to have a June birthday (because he, his mom, and his brother all have June birthdays). Second, it's because that's the reference point my doctor uses, and I haven't been able to convince her that I know when I ovulated. But for my personal purposes, I base everything off of May 29th. My "change date" (the date I move from week to week in my pregnancy) is Sunday, because September 5th was a Sunday and May 29th is a Sunday.
Believe me, I know that it's a rarity for a baby to be born on his or her due date. I only know of two kiddos who were born "on time." I just think it'll be fun to see how close Sprout gets to each date. There's only four days' difference, which isn't much...but I'd love to meet my baby four days sooner than June 2nd.
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Now it's time for a funny story about my being completely oblivious. Last Friday night, I called my aunt to see if my sister and I could borrow some floral arrangements for a church function we were decorating for. It rang a few times, so I just thought I'd leave a message. But Paula answered on the last ring, and she sounded a little panicked. When I asked to borrow the flower arrangements, she audibly sighed and said, "Oh, I thought you were going to tell me that you were going to the hospital!" That thought hadn't even crossed my mind...after all I was still about 2 1/2 weeks from Sprout's due date! Then, a few days later, I called my Mom to ask a question. She answered the phone and said, "Is this my 'It's time to go to the hospital' call?" Nope...I hadn't even thought of that. Then, yesterday morning, I called David on his cellhpone while he was at work (which is something I do at least once a day). Most of the time, he doesn't answer because he's either in a meeting or doesn't feel it vibrate. But he sure picked up the phone yesterday morning. I said, "What are you doing?" which is my standard line. He said, "I'm in a meeting right now." So of course, I said, "Why are you answering the phone if you're in a meeting?!" And he replied, "Because I thought I'd better start answering it anytime you call." Wow! What had I done to warrant that kind of priority?! "Why?" I asked. He was quiet for a second and said slowly, "In case you're in LABOR!" Oh! I hadn't even thought of that! It just cracks me up that my family members are all hypervigilant about this baby coming, and it's not really even on my radar. I mean, I can't wait for it to happen, but when you've been pregnant for 9 months, it gets kind of hard to believe that it's ever going to happen! I'm not sure that I'll be making too many phone calls over the next few weeks, because I'm only going to disappoint people until they get the real call!