17 weeks 3 days

Baby's soul apparently arrived sometime in the last week - officially on the 120th day according to certain traditions, including my own. Well, I think so anyway, my mother's not quite sure. I asked her to check with her sisters, but she thought she'd better check with a maulvi. What do maulvis know - they're educated in madrasas with the terrorists. My grandmother, rip, would've known. She had this magical way of knowing lots of things, like how to cook mustard greens so they taste delicious, that no one remembers anymore. My mother's certainly forgotten. Her name was Darukshinda. I have her emerald and pearl earrings, which I inherited after she died 13 years ago.

I was nervous about the descent of the soul - "stay calm and happy," I kept telling myself. Meanwhile I had to pack, move and fight frequently with the husband about things like - why can't you wash the dishes properly? There's no dishwasher in our new pad. We also had our anniversary this week, for which we went out to celebrate at "The Grocery," fine heavy food in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. We were so tired that we almost fell asleep in our plates. We eavesdropped our neighbors conversation more than speaking to each other. We did speak about the New Orleans disaster, the plight of the poor black people of America and the hypocrisy of the white people in power. It seems that the darker you are, the worse off. That's why I married a white guy - to give my offspring a better chance.

We think she is "Olive Sofia Holm" to arrive on February 11, 2006 on a cold sharp day.