Counting down to an unknown liftoff

No, this isn’t a Shuttle follow-up. It’s a post about baby news. Or the lack thereof.

The final days before a baby’s arrival — Baby Girl Loy #3, a.k.a. “Loyabelle,” was “due” on Friday, and is most likely coming out no later than Tuesday — are so strange. A huge amount of your attention is devoted to a countdown to an event whose timing is unknown. You’re acutely aware that everything could change at any given moment. Every outing, every meal, every bedtime could be our last as a family of four. Or it might not.

On Saturday, knowing that it might be our final day as a foursome, we decided to venture out for a family outing to the zoo. We had fun! Then, as Grandma & Grandpa babysat, Becky and I went on a midday “date” to see Super 8 (which was really good!), figuring it might be our last opportunity for “couple time” before a newborn massively complicates such things for at least a few months.

A bit later, we sat down for dinner — maybe our last one as a family of four. Or maybe we’ll have another tomorrow! We don’t know! Finally, when we put the girls to bed, we told them that if the baby decides to be born tonight, Grandma & Grandpa might wake them up in the morning. But if not, then we’ll still be there.

It’s a strange feeling. What is it Dr. Suess’s “Oh The Places You’ll Go” calls it? The waiting place…Everyone is just waiting.

Anyway, the date/time portion of the Baby Pool is down to 6 7 contestants. [UPDATE/CORRECTION: I got a little ahead of myself. David’s day is tomorrow. Roger Mendieta wins if the baby is born today (before 10:06 PM).]

Roger Mendieta: 7/10/11 12:00 PM (window: now to 7/10/11 10:05 PM)
David K.: 7/11/11 8:11 AM (victory window: 7/10/11 10:06 PM to to 7/11/11 8:17 PM)
Larry Caplin: 7/12/11 8:23 AM (victory window: 7/11/11 8:17 PM to 7/12/11 10:56 AM)
Alasdair: 7/12/11 1:30 PM (victory window: 7/12/11, 10:57 AM to 2:22 PM)
Keri Hyles: 7/12/11 3:15 PM (victory window: 7/12/11, 2:23 PM to 3:21 PM)
Evana Young: 7/12/11 3:27 PM (victory window: 7/12/11 3:21 PM to 7/13/11 2:59 PM)
Casey Zak: 7/14/11 2:31 PM (victory window: anytime after 7/13/11 2:59 PM)

On another note, for posterity’s sake, I wanted to copy & paste some of the baby-related tweets that Becky and I (and a couple of other folks) have posted in the last couple of days. The timestamps are in UTC, so subtract 6 hours for Mountain Time.