July 20

When I tell people my due date, I get the same response 90% of the time: "Oh man, you're going to be hot". The other 10% of the time, I hear, "Oh, so and so's birthday is July whatever. Maybe he'll be born on that day". My brother's birthday is on July 23rd. At first, I just thought the same thing, that they could have the same birthday. Then, around Thanksgiving, I realized that meant that I would be going through my stages of pregnancy at the same times of year that my mom did. We were both around 6 weeks at Thanksgiving, 10 weeks at Christmas, 11 weeks at New Year's (no partying), and, yes, in the later stages of pregnancy in the heat of the summer. Just another way that I feel connected to my mom.

My due date is also significant because Chris' beloved Gramps passed away on July 20, 2005. He is greatly missed and would have loved to meet his great-grandson. But if our son is one of the 5% of babies born on their due date, it would be a nice, sentimental reminder that Gramps is still with us, and hopefully many of his traits will be passed down to Talleybaby.