Watch out for the step that isn't there
One conversation the other night with our pregnant neighbor surprised me. I had asked how many months along she was, and she said eight months. I looked at her profile and commented that she didn't seem big enough. Then I asked when the baby was due -- and she said mid or late October.
I counted on my mental fingers, and then did it again, and said, "Wait, don't you mean you're seven months pregnant?" She shook her head, then smiled.
"Oh, that's right. I heard that Americans count it differently. Traditionally, Japan says it takes ten months and ten days to have a baby. So I'm eight months pregnant, and have about two more months to go."
She agrees that it is really about 9 months for a pregnancy, but apparently the traditional count is 10 months. We speculated that perhaps this was due to counting lunar months, although neither of us was very sure about that. After all, 9 thirty-day months is about 270 days, while 10 twenty-eight day months is 280 -- pretty close?
So I learned that it's better to ask when the baby is due. I wonder if other countries estimate the length of pregnancy differently.
I counted on my mental fingers, and then did it again, and said, "Wait, don't you mean you're seven months pregnant?" She shook her head, then smiled.
"Oh, that's right. I heard that Americans count it differently. Traditionally, Japan says it takes ten months and ten days to have a baby. So I'm eight months pregnant, and have about two more months to go."
She agrees that it is really about 9 months for a pregnancy, but apparently the traditional count is 10 months. We speculated that perhaps this was due to counting lunar months, although neither of us was very sure about that. After all, 9 thirty-day months is about 270 days, while 10 twenty-eight day months is 280 -- pretty close?
So I learned that it's better to ask when the baby is due. I wonder if other countries estimate the length of pregnancy differently.