Bill Clinton drops grandchild due date hint

(CNN) -- Nine months could be winding down to the last nine days.

In an interview that aired Sunday, former President Bill Clinton gave the closest clue yet as to when to expect the former first family's first grandchild.

"I hope by the first of October, I'll be a grandfather," Clinton told Fareed Zakaria on CNN's "Global Public Square."

To date, the Clintons have been tight-lipped about news regarding the pregnancy of their daughter Chelsea Clinton, but they haven't been shy about sharing their excitement.

"I can't wait," Clinton told Zakaria. "We're on watch now."

His wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, says she's been thinking a lot about the upcoming new addition to her family.

"Now I've been thinking a lot about family because you know I'm on 'grandbaby watch' and I think a lot about this new member of our family and what he or she can look forward to," Clinton said at a women's event Friday.

"And I am well aware that we will do everything possible to prepare this child, to protect this child. But I want that for everybody's child and everybody's grandchild. I want every one of our children to feel that they are inheriting the best of America, that they have the chance to do what I believed was possible for me and what my husband believed was possible for him and what we instilled in our daughter that really this country is on your side.

"This country will give you the fighting chance, the fair show you deserve to have. This country will give you the level playing field. So whether you're the grandchild of a president, or the grandchild of a janitor, whether you're born in a city or in a small rural village -- No matter who you are, you have the right to inherit the American dream."

Asked whether he cared if the baby was a boy or a girl, Clinton gave a hard "no."

Neither he nor the baby's parents know the baby's gender, he says.

"I don't know," Clinton said. "My daughter and son-in-law decided not to know. They want to be surprised."

Chelsea Clinton announced her pregnancy at an event alongside her mother on April 17. Assuming that she made the traditional three-months-along announcement, the birth is expected to occur sometime this month.