Monsoon Baby

OK, I'm not feeling at all guilty about moving our surrogate to the clinic after reading about the monsoon rains. This photo is from some hotel lobby earlier this month. There are many many warnings online (why didn't I look before I booked tickets) about the potential for the most serious flooding Mumbai has ever experienced for July 24 and 25, two days before we arrive. Sounds like fun, no?

Monsoon
Warning: Avoid Travel to Mumbai Around July 24
Thursday May 21,
2009

Mumbai received its first pre-monsoon shower last night. According
to the Meteorological Department, the monsoon is due to arrive in the city
around June 8, 2009. It's very difficult to give an accurate prediction
though.
As usual, Mumbai is hopelessly unprepared for the monsoon rains.
What's even more concerning is that the Department has predicted that city will
have the highest tide in 100 years -- 5.05 meters -- on July 24.
Mumbai's municipal council has admitted that it isn't equipped to handle more than 25 millimeters of rain per hour, coupled with a high tide of more than 4.5 meters.
The consequences could be disastrous. In the case of high rainfall,
widespread flooding will result and the city could be brought to a standstill
for days. A similar thing happened on July 26, 2005 - and the tide was only 4.48
meters high!
The municipal council has advised visitors to stay away from
Mumbai on or around July 24, 2009. There's no guarantee that the adverse weather
conditions will eventuate. However, with the monsoon being so unpredictable, it
sounds like a good idea.

Although it is purely a coincidence, the girl's name we've chosen, Maya, is related in Hebrew to the word for water. Our original choice for a middle name for a boy was River, but we recently decided to switch to the more conventional, less water-related middle name "Gabriel." Giving a boy the middle name River would have made his initials MRS, which we decided was cruel (yes, hold your comments on whether River would have been cruel in and of itself.....)