A previous ORD Chief Pilot used to tell pilots to bid for vacation at the due date, then use FMLA whenever they wanted within the first year of birth. He recommended using it at Christmas (this company has changed a lot). Anyway, if you can get vacation without FMLA for the first few weeks after the birth, you could then save the FMLA for when (if) the wife goes back to work, or any other time.