Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt

[PastryGoddess]

Pardon my stupidity here, but if full term pregnancies are 40 weeks, doesn't that make babies come in 10 months not 9 months?  So it's not so far off to think that there could be 10 1/2 and 11 month babies, no?

FTR, I don't have kids and have never been pregnant

[MandiC76]

Not quite an exchange but something I heard on the TV this morning. 

Thhe local weatherman was listing Columbus Day celebrations. he mentioned that there would be replicas of the three ships.  He called then the Nina, the PINEDA, and the Santa Maria. 

Let me guess - you're in the NYC metro area?? I couldn't believe I heard that!

[CakeBeret]

Pardon my stupidity here, but if full term pregnancies are 40 weeks, doesn't that make babies come in 10 months not 9 months?  So it's not so far off to think that there could be 10 1/2 and 11 month babies, no?

FTR, I don't have kids and have never been pregnant

This is, somehow, a hotly debated topic.

In the 40 week pregnancy model, the 40 weeks actually begin 2 weeks before conception. [That in itself makes my brain hurt!] So at the moment of conception you are already 2 weeks pregnant. That brings the weeks in actual pregnancy down to 38, and since most months have more than 28 days in them, that brings the total pregnancy to about nine months.

[MommyPenguin]

What CakeBeret said.  And even if you count those two weeks as part of the pregnancy, it really works out to about 9 months 1 week, so it's still pretty much 9 months.  They date it as they do because using the LMP, which is usually about 2 weeks before conception, is more accurate than most other methods they can do easily to pinpoint the baby's due date (early ultrasounds work fairly well, but not every woman knows she's pregnant early enough to get an early ultrasound, and the later they are the less accurate they are for dating purposes).

[stkatie00]

Pardon my stupidity here, but if full term pregnancies are 40 weeks, doesn't that make babies come in 10 months not 9 months?  So it's not so far off to think that there could be 10 1/2 and 11 month babies, no?

FTR, I don't have kids and have never been pregnant

It's not a stupid question, but no, actually. You're assuming all months have exactly 4 weeks in them, when in reality, only non-Leap Year February has exactly 4 weeks. Because of the added 2 or 3 days in each month, 40 weeks=9 months. It's the reason why, while my twins were born 8 weeks, 5 days early, it worked out to exactly 2 months (due date January 26, born November 26).

Or what CakeBeret and MommyPenguin said.

[Barney girl]

This wasn't a discussion, but my brain hurt when I read it.

A friend mentioned yesterday the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate and I decided to look it up. I was idly going down the page of information which I had found and saw details of how to get their by air, which said...

"By Aeroplane
 Willing attendees can take flights to the:
1.T ri-Cities Regional Airport
,or 2. McGhee Tyson Airport,and arrive directly at the Harrogate International Center"

I do hope the "Willing attendees" (and even the unwilling ones) do not follow this advice, as this show is being held in Harrogate, North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom.

[PastryGoddess]

Pardon my stupidity here, but if full term pregnancies are 40 weeks, doesn't that make babies come in 10 months not 9 months?  So it's not so far off to think that there could be 10 1/2 and 11 month babies, no?

FTR, I don't have kids and have never been pregnant

It's not a stupid question, but no, actually. You're assuming all months have exactly 4 weeks in them, when in reality, only non-Leap Year February has exactly 4 weeks. Because of the added 2 or 3 days in each month, 40 weeks=9 months. It's the reason why, while my twins were born 8 weeks, 5 days early, it worked out to exactly 2 months (due date January 26, born November 26).

Or what CakeBeret and MommyPenguin said.

Ah I see,  Thanks for everyone clearing that up   I'll end my hijack and carryon with the thread

[White Dragon]

Late (a month or more) babies very much do happen.
My brother was born 4 weeks after his due date (1974).

My brother was mom's 7th pregnancy (3 m/c) and she was an RN - she knew when same was due.
Mom suffered a condition called 'incompetant cervix' and needed intervention early in the pregnancy to carry us to term.

Mom argued with the doc about her due date but the doctor's will prevailed. Part of the reasoning was the small size of the baby. Well, mom smoked and drank through all her pregnancies (no one knew the risks back then) and her first was 6 1/2 lbs and each baby was smaller than the one before.

When born, bro had started to lose weight and the placenta had partly failed. He had skin peeling and is officially listed as 'severely post-mature'.
His initial APGAR (newborn neurological test) was 0. At five minutes it was 3.

The doctors told my parents he was disabled and 'not to expect anything from this baby.'

A year and a half later, my dad - who has a Masters in Psychology and taught child development at the college - said "You know what? There's not a darn thing wrong with that kid."
And there isn't.

My 'hopeless' little brother is a married father of four great kids, has a Masters degree, is advancing strongly in his career, also runs a successful business and is actively involved in international development. Next year he and his wife fly to Pakistan to work with an immunization program.

[Slartibartfast]

Part of the thing about extra-long pregnancies, too, is that many women's menstrual cycles vary widely.  The due date is figured as 40 weeks from the last period, but that assumes two weeks between period and ovulation - some women go as many as 10 weeks.  So it's possible the timing ends up being off by a month or two because conception wasn't when the mother thought it was.

[Kimblee]

Part of the thing about extra-long pregnancies, too, is that many women's menstrual cycles vary widely.  The due date is figured as 40 weeks from the last period, but that assumes two weeks between period and ovulation - some women go as many as 10 weeks.  So it's possible the timing ends up being off by a month or two because conception wasn't when the mother thought it was.

Yeah, my cousin was supposedly an 11 1/2 month baby. (She's not, I promise.)

Her mother always had VERY long cycles. Like 2-4 months long. Not normal at all. So when she realized she was pregnant the baby was measuring between 3 and 4 months but her LMP was six or seven months, so the doctor insisted on going with that. (Yes, he's an idiot. The whole town thinks so. Not sure why he's still practicing but he's a pretty good GYN, so maybe that explains it.) When he started suggesting induction Aunt ignored him (like, avoided his calls, refused to drive anywhere near the hospital.) and when she went into labor she went to the next town over. Cousin was born 3 months after her "due date" pink and adorable.

Strange Factoid: Aunt's cycle got a lot more normal after that. Not the 28 day "perfect" cycle but more like 30 to 34 days. Bodies are weird things.

[oz diva]

My husband signed up for a course years ago. He was told to go to enrolment at building 8. He didn't know where building 8 was, so he emailed the person back and asked. They told him it was next to building 10.

Helpful!

[dawnfire]

My husband signed up for a course years ago. He was told to go to enrolment at building 8. He didn't know where building 8 was, so he emailed the person back and asked. They told him it was next to building 10.

Helpful!

how come I thought of duck dodgers looking for planet x   

[exitzero]

I made my own head hurt a few days ago.

Some friends and I were discussing a church service, when one of the ladies said, "I have a black minster's robe we can use".

I don't want to tell you how long I sat there pondering (thankfully to myself) what difference it would make whether the minister who owned the robe was black or white, and how could anyone tell the difference?

Finally, it dawned the ROBE was black, not the minister.

[Piratelvr1121]

"Walla" instead of "voilà" is my hot button. Drives me right up a tree.

Walla, persay, say la vee...  Can we just agree that the romance languages are getting butchered?

There's nothing new under the sun: cherished examples from British troops in France in World War I, trying to cope with the French language –

san fairy ann  (ça ne fait rien)

plinketty plonk  (vin blanc)

napoo  (il n’y en a plus)

and the much-loved catch-all expression, tray bong (très bon)

Coma tally view? 

'Wipers'  (Ypres) and so on.

Not French, but I had a twitch when ordering Greek food from a little drive thru in town and the girl said "Here's your gyros!"  Pronounced "Guy-ros" Gah!  I mean I don't know how to pronounce all the items on a Greek menu but really? That's got to be the easiest one!

[WillyNilly]

"Walla" instead of "voilà" is my hot button. Drives me right up a tree.

Walla, persay, say la vee...  Can we just agree that the romance languages are getting butchered?

There's nothing new under the sun: cherished examples from British troops in France in World War I, trying to cope with the French language –

san fairy ann  (ça ne fait rien)

plinketty plonk  (vin blanc)

napoo  (il n’y en a plus)

and the much-loved catch-all expression, tray bong (très bon)

Coma tally view? 

'Wipers'  (Ypres) and so on.

Not French, but I had a twitch when ordering Greek food from a little drive thru in town and the girl said "Here's your gyros!"  Pronounced "Guy-ros" Gah!  I mean I don't know how to pronounce all the items on a Greek menu but really? That's got to be the easiest one!

There are debates on how gyro is pronounced.  I'm guessing you are in the "eeee- ro" camp?  Because everyone I know - Greeks included - say its correct to pronounce it geye-ro, similar to gyroscope or gyrate, and that "eeee-ro" is a valid Greek pronunciation but not more correct, its just different (like Americans saying rat-iator or radiate- or, or cooo-pon vs que-pon).  If you ordered an "eeee-ro" form a NYC street cart or diner I doubt they'd know what you were asking for, but they sell hundreds of thousands of geye-ro's daily.