The Excited Grandparents...

Sunday, Linda and I met my dad and Shirley out for lunch at O'Dowds on the Plaza. My dad is very excited for his next grandchild...it's been 13 years since my niece was a baby, so he's going baby crazy! Linda & I walked into the door at O'Dowds, and in my dad's early timeliness, he & Shirley were waiting for us. They probably had been for about 10 minutes, even though my dad called to say he would probably be 5 minutes late. (Is 5 minutes really considered late?) Anyhow, they had two gift bags for us...gifts for McNugget! So McNugget has their first 4 outfits already! Since we don't know the gender yet, they bought gender neutral a Carter's newborn Duck's Pant Set and a Carter's 3 months old Duck Cardigan & Pants Set. Very cool!

On Sunday, we entered our 10th week of pregnancy! Hurray for double digits! We are inching ever so close to completing our first trimester... Only about 2 more weeks to go before that big milestone! This week McNugget is about the size of a kumquat. I have no idea what a kumquat is... According to Wikipedia, it is a citrus fruit that resembles an orange. Hmmm, who knew that, really? Or you could also say that the baby is about the size of a plum. I know what that is... Basically the baby is a little over an inch long and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. So tiny.

Anyhow, this week, McNugget is no longer considered an embryo and has now graduated to fetus status, and will keep that status until birth, in medical terms. This generally means that all the parts are now in place, and this week is the beginning of a period when tissues and organs start to grow at a quick pace. McNugget is now swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking up a storm (although it's still too early for Linda to feel any of those kicks). The liver is now able to produce it's own red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac. Tiny finger- and toenails are now forming. The toes no longer have any webbing between the digits. A peach-fuzz layer of hair has started to grow too over the little body. McNugget can now bend their limbs. The hands can flex at the wrist and meet over the heart. The feet may be long enough to meet in front of the body too. The skin is still translucent and the outline of the spine is visible through the back. Spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from McNugget's spinal cord. McNugget's forehead temporarily bulges with the developing brain and sits very high on the head, which measures half the length of the body. From crown to rump (butt), the baby would be about 1¼ inch long. In the coming weeks, McNugget will double in size to nearly 3 inches!

We are still indecisive about names. I think Linda & I will battle about this over the next coming months. It's tougher than you can imagine, really. You have to think of the long run. Of when McNugget is an adult and has a career. You don't want to name them something too trendy or cutesy. In 2008, the most popular names were Emma and Aiden, which I like (but not enough to name McNugget either of those). In 1890, amongst the top ten popular names were Harry and Bertha. So, essentially, Harry and Bertha were like today's Aiden and Emma. Who, today, has named their kids Harry or Bertha? I chuckle to myself if I see the name Bertha now. You don't want to give your kid a name like those that will be a joke 50 years from now. It's a daunting and stressful task. My early favorites include: Amelia, Scarlett or Delaney for a girl. (Delaney was one of my great grandfather's name, actually...but sounds better as a girl's name, I think.) Evan, Kyler and Rylan for a boy. Linda pretty much hates all my choices... We still have months to figure it out.

Linda's 2nd doctors appointment is tomorrow afternoon at 3:45. It'll be mostly womanly stuff (e.g. PAP Smear, etc)...but I'm gonna be there. Well, not for the actual PAP, but I'll be waiting in the waiting room. Keep us in your prayers all goes well!