song for the boy on his due date

Seven o'clock on a Sunday morning, and breakfast — Irish soda bread from The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors — is in the oven. So simple — no eggs or butter. Just flour, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar and buttermilk. I couldn't get enough of this stuff when we were in Ireland, so I'm excited to slather it with butter and eat it with a cup of coffee, or maybe Earl Grey. The house smells delicious right now.

It's hard to believe the baby's due date has arrived! Well, the doctor's version of the due date, anyway. It really isn't that exact; an Internet chart we looked at set it at Aug. 15, and since we had two intrauterine inseminations on two separate days last November, there's probably a several-day window on when conception really happened.

After talking with Mom and our doula yesterday, I've decided to wait and let nature take its course this week before trying any artificial prostaglandin. On average, first-time mothers deliver five days past their official due date, according to the doula, so I don't see any reason to push things at this point. Impatience, maybe, but the baby is healthy, so I'd rather just let him decide when to come. We can revisit things in a week if need be.

Here's a little song that popped into my head last night. It's sung to the tune of Santa Baby, and Steve soon joined me in making up verses, which I can't remember for the life of me, but it goes something like this. (The blank line is where his name goes, obviously.) I didn't sleep very well last night, so the tune has been in my head all these restless hours.

Buh-bum buh-bum...
____________ baby,
We cannot wait to meet you — won't you come
Real soon
We'll have a lot of fun with you, ____________ baby,
So hurry down and join us tonight

_____________ baby,
Can't wait to see your little face and
Tiny hands
We love you, wanna kiss you all over, ____________ baby,
So hurry out and join us tonight

I know it's nice and warm up there
But we've got all sorts of clothes for you to wear
And diapers to keep you nice and clean and dry
And baby shampoo for your silky hair

Buh-bum buh-bum...
____________ baby,
We love you so — we'll hug you all day
And night
And cuddle you and play with you, ____________ baby,
So come on out and join us tonight ...