We're not complaining. We know fully well that you'll come when you're ready, but you'll excuse me if I tell you that today you missed a beautiful day on which to be born. It was a relatively warm winter day, with beautiful bushy clouds scattered throughout the sky, and the air was crystal clear. But believe me, we'll think that whatever day you come on will be a beautiful day.

On the other hand, perhaps I should thank you for not coming. I had lots of work to get done before the weekend, and it would have been a bit uncomfortable for me to not complete it. Don't get me wrong. Without a doubt, you'd take precedence. But perhaps I'd have this nagging feeling in my head that I should be finishing my work. So thanks for letting me finish. If you come in the near future, I'll be able to devote myself fully to the excitement of your arrival.

And we thought that that arrival was definitely upon us. Your mother started feeling contractions last night around midnight and neither of us got very much sleep. By 5:00 we were checking their frequency with a watch and coming to the conclusion that in the morning we'd be off to the hospital. But although these were definitely contractions, they weren't very strong, and once we were up and ready to go we decided that maybe it wasn't necessary. So we stayed at home, wondering all the time what was going to happen next. And we're still expectantly wondering, though once again, we know that you'll set the time.