Place your bets

Hayley's colleagues are apparently running a sweepstake on what date and time the baby will be born. 50 pence a go. I've been given the job of recording the "official" time. Let's hope I don't forget. Or faint. Or cry. Or all of the above.

With just over a month to go I'm starting to feel a bit more nervous now. Several people have uttered the words "it could be any time really". I think the fact Hayley is still working (until tomorrow anyway) has meant that there's still a feeling of "life as usual" even though logically I know the big change is imminent.

We don't know the baby's gender but we have almost settled on names. We are pretty much set on our choice of girl's name but we are still not 100% sure of a boy's name. We have steadfastly avoided discussing names with anyone as we don't want to offend anyone who pushes a particular name or be faced with a negative reaction to a name we are keen on. So everyone will find out after the birth. I think that's the best way anyway. It adds to the surprise.

And the other part of the surprise will obviously be which name we need to use. (Actually there's something quite sad about the name that doesn't get used. It's a bit like the losing team's ribbons on Cup Final day that never get put on the cup.) Personally I feel pretty sure that we are having a girl. I've felt that way for the majority of the pregnancy. I can't say why exactly. I heard that first pregnancies of "older" parents are often girls. I'm not sure why that might be. I also read that sperm that result in girls are slower swimmers but stronger, as opposed to the "male" sperm that can sprint but have no stamina. I've always been a stayer rather than a sprinter so maybe there's something in that. It's no less logical a theory than most of the old wives tales I've heard!