Baby on the way...

September 21!

I miss the movies, as well...I loved going to the movies while pregnant because I could put the popcorn bucket on my belly for convenience.

Since it's a gridlock alert day, I'm going with September 24th.

A quick check of her Facebook indicates that @xlizellx is still pregnant.

Yup. I am.

I'm going with Oct. 1st.

Sept 19th:    @xlizellx is more pregnant than ever.

Indeed I am.

This weekend (hopefully my last one pregnant???) so far has been a good mix of going out and staying in:

Friday -- beer launch/lots of water drinking at Sycamore

Saturday -- went to Roberta's for the first time for some pizza and then came back home to watch a movie.  We thought about going to the theater but we kinda hate movie theaters....too many people talking, uncomfortable seats, and people's cell phones lighting up/ringing.  This also allowed me to pee three times throughout the movie without missing anything

Today -- Going for a walk to the Flatbush Frolic.

I want to get some cleaning done based on what @crownheightster said, but my energy is a bit low today....

I predict you'll go into labor today or tomorrow.

If you didn't organize in the second trimester, it's probably not going to happen for another year or so.    And you probably won't care either.  

Get lots of foot and ankle massages!  

At this point, don't worry about the organization and cleaning--take naps!

Ok, I took a nap. Good advice :-)

I believe it is now time to start predicting the actual date of birth.

As stated above, she is expecting on Sept 25th (Sept 6th plus 19 days).    

I will go first, and predict Sept 23rd. 

As a result of it being 3:40 PM, I have only 8 hours and 20 minutes until I am out of the running.

@whynot_31 - Offer to go on a nice loooong walk with @xlizellx; maybe a private tour of CH.  That may just do the trick.

Rose hip oil, dancing, walking, or chili pepper might also help!

sorry, Whynot, it's the 24th and there's no baby yet.  Did get some membranes stripped though...so laying here with a heating pad, pain killers, and waiting for tacos to be delivered.

Since it's a gridlock alert day, I'm going with September 24th.

@Homeowner is almost out as well.

...And by delivered I mean I sent my husband to Gueros to get my favorite food -- fried avocado tacos and their nachos....nomnomnom

We should have put this thread on Huff Post or something with a lot of traffic.    If you don't have it tomorrow, you have to wait until the next guess.

That's @heightsmom

She guessed October 1st.

NO!!  I want it to be one of the next 4 days...as a teacher I have this Thursday and Friday off, so I pretended today was my last day...I'm hoping that it is actually the case and I don't have to return Monday.

Are you getting paid FMLA or are you having to go on disability?  If you are getting paid, you could ask your OB/Midwife if you're cleared to work.  There is a chance you could be on disability now before FMLA kicks in.

I can help you out with my good karma-influence. I hereby predict baby will come this Saturday.

Ha, and then you wouldn't have to lessen plan over the four day weekend!

What I did to get things moving was scrub the kitchen floor. Like, squatting on hands and knees, with a scrub brush, I made that tile grout white again. 6 hours later my water broke and baby was born four hours after that. Try it if you hit Saturday and start to get worried!

Ha.  I was also struck with an incredible urge to scrub the kitchen floor while massively pregnant.  I think I was somewhere near 40.5 weeks at that time.  I worked with a scrub brush and toothbrush to really detail it.  The only thing I succeeded in doing was scrubbing off the shiny part of the linoleum and seriously worrying my significant other.  It was another almost week and a half before I went into labor.  But sure, try scrubbing the floor.  Worst case scenario you have a clean floor and a worried husband. 

I'm allowed to take up to "6 weeks paid" using my saved-up sick days.  I luckily have more than 6 weeks of sick leave saved up.  That said, if I start my 6 weeks prior to the baby coming, I just simply have less time with my baby after she's born.  Man, America sucks at babies.

Scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom may be on today's to-do list...

Yeah, America it's sad that having a baby is treated as a disability. Too bad Sweden doesn't need English teachers. Or Finland.

xlizellx, it sounds like you won't be using disability then?  Look it up, but I think once your sick days are all used up, if you're still not able to go back to work, you could go on disability.  It's not full pay, but it's better than unpaid.  Do those 6 weeks count for your FMLA leave or are those 3 months separate?  This country is horrific with maternity and paternity leave.  I would rather not Sweden though, they have really strict and obnoxious laws about what you can name your child.  I'd be completely down with Finland though and quite happy with Germany off the top of my head.  

In Germany you would be on your compulsory paid 6 weeks maternity leave for before the due date.  You are also required to take 8 weeks paid leave afterwards.  Then, either mom or dad can take parental leave.  If time off is shared there is a freaking year of paid leave.  If mom stays home for a paid year dad then gets two months paid leave when the year is up.  Parents can continue working part time and still receive the parental pay.  Additionally, your job is legally protected and must be returned to you for up to three years away. If you choose to not take your full year in one go, you have a total of three years you can take off until the child is 8 years old.

Yeah.  It's completely barbaric here.   

Yup, America is still in the caveman era for having a child. I'd love to have the Finnish box that comes when one has a baby. Free baby stuff!

xlizellx, it sounds like you won't be using disability then?  Look it up, but I think once your sick days are all used up, if you're still not able to go back to work, you could go on disability.  It's not full pay, but it's better than unpaid.  Do those 6 weeks count for your FMLA leave or are those 3 months separate?  This country is horrific with maternity and paternity leave.  I would rather not Sweden though, they have really strict and obnoxious laws about what you can name your child.  I'd be completely down with Finland though and quite happy with Germany off the top of my head.  

In Germany you would be on your compulsory paid 6 weeks maternity leave for before the due date.  You are also required to take 8 weeks paid leave afterwards.  Then, either mom or dad can take parental leave.  If time off is shared there is a freaking year of paid leave.  If mom stays home for a paid year dad then gets two months paid leave when the year is up.  Parents can continue working part time and still receive the parental pay.  Additionally, your job is legally protected and must be returned to you for up to three years away. If you choose to not take your full year in one go, you have a total of three years you can take off until the child is 8 years old.

Yeah.  It's completely barbaric here.   

I'll have sick days still in my bank...but you're only allowed to use 6 weeks of them even if you have more.  They run at the same time as FMLA so I'm allowed 12 weeks with 6 paid and 6 unpaid - even if I had 12 weeks of sick leave saved up.

One thing the City does for its teachers (with enough years of experience) that is great is they will save my job until my kid is ready for pre-k (no pay, etc.) so at least I could return to work if I took off the 4 years prior to pre-k.  That said, this city is way too expensive for us to do that.

Yup. Maternity leave sucks in this country.

http://theweek.com/article/index/263819/how-america-ended-up-with-the-worst-maternity-leave-laws-on-earth