So my family does this cute little thing where we call one's birthday his or her "birds date."� Today I received this lovely little poem in my inbox from my father dearest:

[caption id="attachment_548" align="alignright" width="255" caption="awesome cupcake baby"][/caption]

Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter,

Who waits in Boston for the breaking of her water.

Will Lil Lump choose this day to make her a mama?

Or is he/she waiting for the inaugural of Obama?

Regardless, today you're three and twenty.

So I hope you enjoy your day aplenty.

You've officially made it to U-24!

Is it cold up in Boston?� I blame Al Gore.

Thanks, Dad!

I've been overwhelmed will all of the birthday wishes today.� Thank you to everyone who has wished me a happy birds date on facebook, twitter and via text message or phone call (I can't believe how many of you there have been, and the day is only half over!), and thanks in advance to those who will do so later today.� I feel so special because of you!

As for sharing a birthday with Baby Lump, it doesn't look like that's going to be the case at this point.� Even if I went into labor right now ... Wait a minute ... No ... That was just a swift baby kick to the rib ... Anyway, even if I went into labor right now, I doubt my labor would be speedy enough to enable me to pop out a baby by midnight.� And though, yes Lauren, it would've been "totally cosmic" to share a birthday with my baby, I agree with my mother that Baby Lump should have his/her own day to celebrate.� Besides, that will totally mean I get to chow down on two separate birthday cakes within the span of one week for the rest of my life!� Not too shabby ...

Oven Timer: 40 weeks, 2 days (OVERDUE!)

Maximum Days Until We Meet Baby Lump: 8

No, I'm not talking about the invasion of Normandy during World War II.� I'm talking about my due date (Maybe it should be DD Day?).� Well, it looks as though I won't be one of those few women who has her baby on her due date.� (Less than 10 percent actually do!)� My oven timer must have broken.� I'm also still pretty suspicious of Baby Lump's scheming plot to steal my birthday.

Maybe not though.� According to my doctor's visit today, I haven't really progressed at all since last week.� Although the baby's head is low and I feel like I've been having a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions, I'm still only two centimeters dilated, so my status is pretty much the same as it was during my last visit.� I guess my little tenant just finds me a much too comfortable mom motel to check out of.� I prefer to think of myself as a five star hotel actually.

I do, however, have an appointment for my induction.� It was originally scheduled for next Tuesday (January 20), but I was able to reschedule it for a few days later to give myself more time to go into labor naturally.� It looks as though the launch of Baby Lump will be initiated on the morning of January 23 at the latest, which means he/she could possibly share a birthday with (Boston's beloved) John Hancock and, - even better - Tiffani-Amber Thiessen!� I guess you could say that on January 23, I'll be saved by the bell.� Ha.� Ha.� (cricket, cricket)

The countdown begins - either way, there are only (at max) ten more days left of a pregnant me!

Oven Timer: 40 weeks!!!

(Maximum) Days Until We Meet Baby Lump: 10

Okay, okay, I know I haven't exactly made it to my "due date" yet (Monday), but I'm not going to lie - I'm getting pretty anxious.� After all, your due date is really only the date that falls in the middle of when you're expected to deliver (between 37 and 42 weeks), so technically "any day now" has been going on for 18 days already.� Less than 10 percent of mothers actually deliver on their due dates.� I think I'm allowed to be anxious.� I've been adding the disclaimer "if I haven't had Baby Lump by then" to everything I say for the past two and a half weeks.

Everyone keeps saying I'll go into labor when I least expect it, but honestly, I'm ready and expecting it all the time, so I hope that doesn't mean I won't go into labor on my own.� I even have the Contraction Master bookmarked on my browser just in case James and I are incapable of doing simple calculations in the chaos of the moment.� I've speculated that Baby Lump may just be trying to steal my birthday (next Wednesday, January 14) - what a little thief!

Anyway, if by Monday I haven't had Baby Lump, my doctor wants me to schedule my induction to occur between weeks 41 and 42� (January 19-26), which gives me mixed feelings.� For one thing, labor that is induced is much more intense and difficult to deal with, which doesn't exactly support my plan for an unmedicated birth.� On the other hand, it does mean there is an end in sight - I'll get to choose which day I'll meet Baby Lump, and hey, I won't be pregnant anymore!� (Although it does kind of mess with the unbiased nature of the birth stats guesses, date-wise.)

In any event, James and I are ready and raring to go.� My bags are packed, we're stocked up with supplies (thanks for all the gifts, everyone!) and mentally, we're both prepared to be parents (as much as we're going to be anyway).� We still haven't decided on a boy's name, but we've got a few top ones picked out and pretty much agreed to decide when we meet him, if that's his flavor.

Any day now! (crossing fingers)

Oven Timer: 39 weeks, 3 days

I can't believe I missed this when I wrote the post about Volkswagen's awesome Routan, "have a baby for love, not German engineering" campaign. Maybe they hadn't come out with the RoutanBabymaker3000 at that point, but yesterday I came across it on this really awesome dad blog I occasionally read called "Noodad." Basically, the RoutanBabymaker3000 allows you to "make a baby without actually 'making' a baby."

Have a Routan baby with a loved one or a person you hardly even know.� Just find the right mate, and make a baby so adorable you just can't help but love.

I took the liberty of making a Routan baby with James to determine what Baby Lump might look like.� It should be interesting to see if our real baby bears a resemblance to his/her Routan baby counterpart, which looks to be a boy.� (And I'm hoping we'll find out fairly soon ...)

[caption id="attachment_516" align="aligncenter" width="712" caption="Click the picture to check out a more animated version of Baby Lump-Routan."][/caption]

Oven Timer: 38 weeks, 4 days