# 35 1/2 months pregnant? Time to induce? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552 "2010-06-09T16:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/21 "2010-06-10T14:28:16Z")
I have a story I like to tell about a woman I used to know who was pregnant for far longer than she would have liked. She and her boyfriend were desperate for ways to induce labor. So I usually say something like “And she was in, like, month 11 of the pregnancy…” My friends who are hyperbole impaired usually go off on me at that point. They sputter “Eleven months?!? You know that’s not possible, right? Don’t you know ANYTHING about pregnancy, do you?!?” It’s at this point that I have to explain the concept of exaggerating for effect for, like, the millionth time to these people. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/22 "2010-06-10T15:13:34Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I have a story I like to tell about a woman I used to know who was pregnant for far longer than she would have liked. She and her boyfriend were desperate for ways to induce labor. > > So I usually say something like “And she was in, like, month 11 of the pregnancy…” My friends who are hyperbole impaired usually go off on me at that point. They sputter “Eleven months?!? You know that’s not possible, right? Don’t you know ANYTHING about pregnancy, do you?!?” > > It’s at this point that I have to explain the concept of exaggerating for effect for, like, the millionth time to these people. It’s not even that much hyperbole! A normal pregnancy can go for up to 38 to 42 weeks - your “due date” is based on 40 weeks, though 2 weeks either way is normal. Counting by months, 42 weeks is 10.5 months pregnant. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/23 "2010-06-10T15:16:46Z")
Fine, then. Next time I tell the story I’ll say she was in her 13th month. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/24 "2010-06-10T15:26:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Fine, then. Next time I tell the story I’ll say she was in her 13th month. 😉 Don’t you know anything about pregnancy! That’s impossible! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/25 "2010-06-10T17:14:09Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Fine, then. Next time I tell the story I’ll say she was in her 13th month. 😉 I used to have this problem, but have now become like your friends - annoyed by hyperbole. It does become distracting. You can maintain your desire to exaggerate by doing one thing: “She was so far along in the pregnancy, she FELT like she was in her 13th month.” Exaggeration in place, hyperbole abandoned in that gas station restroom 10 miles back. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/26 "2010-06-10T17:36:08Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I have a story I like to tell about a woman I used to know who was pregnant for far longer than she would have liked. She and her boyfriend were desperate for ways to induce labor. > > So I usually say something like “And she was in, like, month 11 of the pregnancy…” Was her last name Bluth by chance? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/27 "2010-06-10T17:57:49Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Was her last name Bluth by chance? I think it was Funke. I knew this couple because I worked at the video store where they were customers. They had heard that laughter can induce labor, so they were in every night renting comedies. They kept this up until the woman was in maybe her 17th month. Then they stopped coming in. We didn’t see them for several more months. We waived their late fees. ---
**Author:** ![Silmandil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Silmandil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silmandil)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/28 "2010-06-10T19:49:19Z")
> [@badbadrubberpiggy](#): > > It’s not even that much hyperbole! > > A normal pregnancy can go for up to 38 to 42 weeks - your “due date” is based on 40 weeks, though 2 weeks either way is normal. > > Counting by months, 42 weeks is 10.5 months pregnant. 😃 And counting by months, 52 weeks is 13 months! 😛 Its gonna be a long year. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/29 "2010-06-10T19:52:05Z")
Maybe they meant 351/2 weeks. That works out to 175.5 weeks or about forty months. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/30 "2010-06-10T21:03:45Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > Did feel bad; yesterday somebody was “mudered” on the CNN website. [![](https://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/pc/cnn_shuttle.jpg) ](https://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/pc/cnn_shuttle.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552.md?page=1)