Due Date

Tomorrow is my baby's due date, according to my calculations; my doctor says the 24th, two days later; and yet another doctor set the 31st as the big day. But all that is beside the point; I never expected Lily (the obviously female belly name of our gender-still-unknown baby -- don't ask!) to arrive on time.

But what continues to surprise me is one obvious cultural difference: North Americans expect Baby's due date to be a surprise, whereas Turkish people seem unusually deadline-oriented on this one matter.

You see, I've been ''about to go into labour any minute now'' for a few weeks, so when I explain that we expected Baby several days ago, they are confused; the idea of a late baby is completely foreign to Turkish people, it seems.

And my theory is this: according to a seemingly reliable website I stumbled across months ago, 90% of middle and upper class births in Turkey are Cesarean. Therefore, 'waiting' for baby's arrival, which we all know could happen anywhere between weeks 38 and 42 without really being considered early or late, is unheard of. If anything, Baby may come early; but that's all the uncertainty the Turkish people I encounter seem willing to accept.

Considering how in almost every other situation, Turks seem so laid back in comparison to my North American big city anal retentiveness, this has come as a total surprise to me!