Singing it from the Rooftops

Now that we are finally "official" and are spreading the word to friends and family, it seemed like starting a blog would be a great way to keep everyone up-to-date regarding Orange Seed's progress. The nice thing about blogs is that you only have to look at them when you choose, so you can decide whether you care to hear about whether or not Orange Seed has fingers, toes, and eyelashes this week or whether you would rather just stay blissfully unaware of all the little developments that keep a parent-to-be fascinated morning, noon, and night (and all the hours in between, if we're being honest).

For those of you who do care...this week Orange Seed is about the size of a woman's clenched fist. Hair is starting to sprout on its little head. Its vocal chords are already beginning to develop (uh oh!). The baby now has individual fingers and toes and based on the last ultrasound, finally looks like a baby, not just like a crustacean, a la 9 week ultrasound.

9 Weeks!

12 Weeks!

Oh! And the moniker...the story of the Orange...so way back in Week 5 when C and I first found out about Orange Seed's existence, I immediately bought us all the Must Have baby books so that we would know what the heck we were getting ourselves into to. If you haven't seen any of these books, they are absolutely fabulous and try to make this little creature, whose existence feels completely surreal for oh so long, at least a little more tangible for you. One way they do that is to describe your child as various fruits and veggies in an attempt to make those "This week your baby is 3.5cm long!" announcements a little easier to grasp. The week we found out that we would be parents come next April, our baby was the size of an orange seed. The title has stuck. Even now, 9 weeks later, when Orange Seed is actually the size of a peach, we're still referring to him/her by his/her original name.

So, 14 weeks down and 26 to go. Amazing how something can feel so real and surreal all at the same time. There's no real belly yet, no outward signs. The ultrasound where we saw him/her swing its little arms and legs was really the most "real" moment we've had. That said, we kiss Orange Seed goodnight (well, Chris does. Little hard for me.), we talk to him/her and we love him/her more than is really reasonable or comprehensible at this point. It's the most amazing experience...we're enjoying every moment.