Dr. Manny Alvarez
If the number of appointments scheduled in my own labor and delivery is any indication, I predict that most obstetrical wards in the United States will be quite busy tomorrow, thanks to its unique date.
After all, if you’ve paid any attention to the calendar, you may have realized by now that tomorrow’s date will be a perfect same-numbered palindrome: 11/11/11. This kind of occurrence only happens once in every 100 years.
The last time it happened, November 11, 1911, temperatures in the U.S. fell a jaw-dropping 60 degrees over the course of a single day, causing blizzards and tornadoes. For some people, it was a special day.
Many parents-to-be see this date as a mystical sign, and – much like 7/7/07 – are planning their cesarean sections and inductions accordingly.
I’m not sure myself what an 11/11/11 birthday can do for a child, but some spiritualists speculated in the Daily Mail that 11/11 is the symbol of “Spirit Guardians,” a group of 1,111 celestial beings who look after mortals and manifest themselves in mid-morning.
Because 11/11 is a palindrome, others, such as psychic Uri Gellar, believe it is a “balanced number and a key to the mysteries of the universe and beyond.”
Now, I love all these mystical ideas but at the same time, it drives me a little nuts.
I will probably be up all night tomorrow trying to fit in requests from patients to deliver babies just in time for an 11/11/11 birth date.
Just remember, any baby, born on any day, is precious and a miracle. They don’t need a specific birth date to prove it.
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