…but this really creeps me out. I’m sorry, it does.

MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge

Especially that end bit – pledging first and foremost to be a “servant to our President” – WHUT?

Creepy.

Hat-tip to The Inconvenience, who is clearly trying to send his wife into postpartum depression.

Oh, and for the record, he pledges to go to the range at least twice a month. I don’t know that I’ll be able to make it that much, at least not until the Girl Child fits into some baby Peltors, but I pledge to keep our powder dry all the same.

The Inconvenience and I are proud to announce the birth of the world’s newest rabble-rouser…

Abigail Wyoming

January 10, 2009 (Her due date)
9:42 pm
6lbs, 14oz – 20 inches long

I had the first contractions at about 2:30 am on the 10th. I was able to get a little bit of sleep, but by about 10:00 am things were unmistakably on the move. My midwives arrived about an hour later. Everything progressed evenly from then on out – there were a couple of plateaus, but as soon as I’d change to a new position I’d make progress again immediately. I pushed for 59 minutes at the end, and she came out in one big one – immediately pink, breathing perfectly, and otherwise healthy as a horse.

A.W. was born just as we intended – at home without any drugs or interventions. Her heart rate during the entire labor stayed between 120s and 140s. She was born alert, calm, and with some of the strongest head and neck control my midwife has ever seen – when laying on my chest, she already picks her head up and looks around. She has a very intelligent gaze and is already curious about the world around her.

Needless to say, we’re very proud! It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I am very, very happy to have chosen a homebirth. There is something very powerful about bringing your child into the world that free. Fitting for a girl named after revolutionaries, no?

Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot one detail… We’d just finished watching Terminator 3 when the contractions started. Keep that in mind when A.W. shows up someday and tells you to come with her if you want to live…

Mike just tipped me off to this story:

Boy stops pit bull attack with jujitsu choke hold

A 9-year-old Bakersfield boy is being called a hero after he saved a girl and her dog from a pit bull attack.

Drew Heredia said he and a friend were walking a small dog Dec. 30 when a pit bull jumped on the dog. The unidentified 12-year-old girl reportedly tried to save her dog, prompting the pit bull to turn on her.

Heredia said he jumped on the pit bull and applied a choke hold that he learned while taking classes at a Brazilian jujitsu studio in southwest Bakersfield.

“It was kind of a heart-pounding moment,” Heredia said. “It was very scary.”

He said he held the dog for 20 minutes until an animal control officer arrived.

“At first, I wanted to kick it, but then I thought it’s not a good idea, because it could get my leg,” Heredia said.

The girl was taken to Mercy Southwest Hospital where she was treated for puncture wounds.

The pit bull was quarantined at the animal control office, where it will be euthanized after 10 days. No one has claimed the dog.

The girl’s dog was injured, but it’s expected to survive. The dog ran away during the attack but returned home Friday afternoon.

Wow. Drew is way more of a man than many much older males I’ve encountered. He sounds like a smart cookie with some major huevos, and good instincts too. I propose Dana White go ahead and write up Drew’s six-figure UFC contract now, to go into effect upon his 18th birthday. :)

(P.S. No offspring for me yet, in case that wasn’t obvious.)

Today is my 23rd birthday.

It does not appear it will be my child’s day of birth.

Carry on.

So. My due date – at 40 weeks gestation – is January 10th. White, western, first-time mothers tend to average eight days past their due date – which would put us at January 18th. A “normal” pregnancy will usually last between 37 and 42 weeks – which means a range up to January 24th. A full week post-term (43 weeks) would put us at January 31st.

My point? I am almost certainly giving birth sometime this month. If I’m still pregnant come February 1st… Well, you won’t have to visit PGB to know it – the wailing and gnashing of teeth will likely be audible from sea to shining sea.

Anyway, a January birth is almost certain, and that means January posts on PGB are going to be scarce. I’m not terribly busy right now, but I am trying to sleep as much as possible, discover that “nesting” instict people keep swearing I should have, and come to terms with the fact there’s now a flipping carseat in my vehicle. I definitely intend to announce the birth whenever it happens, but I’ll probably be very scarce for a little while after that. I just wanted to address this so y’all didn’t worry/take me off your blogrolls/send hate mail.

Now, for some fun: I think you should all comment with your birth predictions. You know – date, time, sex (nope, we didn’t find out), weight, length… and anything else you feel like adding.

Warning: The smartass who thinks it’s funny to predict a 12lb/23in baby born on February 10th after 42 hours of labor will be hunted down and killed.