Checklist for having a baby :: by mama

:: Spend several months in denial about the necessity for a checklist such as this one. Then,
:: Purchase plane tickets to travel to Bangkok.
:: Rent an apartment for two months in Bangkok.
:: Obtain medical visa for Thailand, good until February 2010. Think, "Holy moly. I had better not need to be there until February 2010."
:: Convince insurance company that it is medically necessary to travel to a different country to birth a baby following a normal and uncomplicated pregnancy.
:: Prepare paperwork for passport and visa applications for the new baby, including an original marriage certificate, work permit, and letter from employer.
:: Borrow a crib from a very generous friend.
:: Realize that the baby cannot sleep in the crib without being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
:: Call the tailor to order a custom-made mosquito net for the crib.
:: Ask the tailor to finish the flannel baby wipes that were apparently too much for the sewing machine to handle, necessitating three trips to the Singer repair shop and still being unfinished.
:: Pack the few maternity clothes that are big enough to still fit, the post-partum clothes that may or may not fit, and the baby clothes that seem too tiny to fit anyone.
:: Fill the refrigerator, freezer, and all cabinet shelves with all the food and supplies necessary to sustain a husband and 4-year-old boy for the next two weeks.
:: Fly to Bangkok by 36 weeks gestation, in order to comply with airline rules, and prepare to spend a month waiting for baby.
:: Hope that the baby actually takes that long to arrive, or at the very least waits until his father and big brother get to Bangkok to witness his debut.

All but the next-to-last item have been taken care of. We are off tomorrow...