11w, 6d: Falling down

Ouch. I slipped down the stairs on Saturday morning, effectively waking everyone up with my loud crash and crying. Thankfully, I think the baby is okay - I've had no bleeding or cramping at all since then, and I fell on my back, not my stomach at all - although I am still a bit sore at the spot on my back where I hit.

Today we get to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! Thankfully, my symptoms have done some major increasing over the past week, so I am extremely optimistic for this appointment, and only about 10% worried. But then again, I am such a worrywart that it would be odd for me to not be worried, especially after taking a spill. Ugh, why am I such a klutz?!

Tomorrow marks the 12 week mark, which I am so thankful for! Two more weeks of the first trimester, and then onto the easy (I hope?) second trimester! Tomorrow is also our first ultrasound of the baby, and this should be a very detailed picture, as they are going to be measuring the nasal translucency and looking for possible chromosomal defects. You can pray that everything looks beautiful and perfect, and that our baby is healthy and whole. Tomorrow also marks when we are going to start telling everyone about Baby Burnham! It will be so much fun to have everyone in on the secret!

I will try to update later after the heartbeat appointment, which is at 4 pm!

UPDATE:
T-I-double gah-RRRRR: We couldn't find the heartbeat! Not to worry, my friends, the midwife warned us before starting that she might not be able to find it. It seems that the baby is still cushioned low in my pelvic cavity, and combined with the old Doppler system they had, it just wasn't strong enough to find the wee heartbeat. They did, however, find my heartbeat through the placenta, so everything is progressing just fine and she wasn't worried one bit. She said they should have an easier time finding the heartbeat at the 16 week appointment on January 5, and that, of course, we should be able to see it tomorrow on the ultrasound. I also got my flu shot at the appointment. I didn't get it earlier because I was worried that it might affect the development, but I was more worried now about getting a bad case of the flu since everyone's passing it around at work.

Tomorrow is our first ultrasound! Please pray for my appointment, that everything would go smoothly and that our beautiful baby boy or girl will be healthy! With my luck, they probably won't even be able to find the baby! "Uhh, I'm sorry, ma'am, but your uterus just isn't where it should be..."

11w, 3d: Only 200 days to go!

Man, did I have a rough night last night. Sorry to Jamie, Brian and Debra for looking like I hadn't showered for weeks (don't worry, I had actually bathed less than 24 hours before!) and to poor, poor Jonny for having to deal with me yelling at him approximately every 5 seconds (that's not much of an exaggeration, either). But, to make myself look a little less evil, he was sitting on the couch doing coding for a final project, while I ran around the apartment cleaning and packing for our trip tonight. It did bother me a *little* that he could claim to be working while sitting on his butt all evening watching Seinfeld and movies.

Ahhh, Christmas. Luckily, my wonderful mother has absolved me of buying her and my father presents, and I have managed to figure out something for Matt, Naomi, and Jonathan's brother Drew, so I only have four more immediate family members to shop for. I love online shopping! It is my favorite invention EVER.

I'm so excited to start getting baby things! Since I assume I will never actually have a baby shower (my peeps are too scattered now to have much of a significant shower, unless I travel to where our families are), I think the most things he/she will get will probably come for Christmas, a very convenient present time. To give you a peek on our registry, here is the pattern I picked out for the stroller, high chair and pack 'n play.


We will be moving states away right after the baby is born, so we're going to stick with not many big ticket items that we will have to move! I'm so excited to get little baby things. Jamie and I already went out before Baby Burnham was conceived and bought two little outfits that I just love looking at. Babies are so precious.

11w, 2d: I'm so hungry I could eat a...

Horse, cow, pig, etc. You name it, I could eat it. My appetite has DOUBLED over the past two days. Why? Who knows, maybe the placenta-making? I blame everything on that now-a-days. It's a very convenient excuse for, say, not getting the cat a scoop of food until the next morning. Anyhow, we're ordering Papa John's for dinner tonight (WOOHOO) and I am so excited I could burst! Yummy pizza!

Tomorrow we are heading to New Hampshire with our life group (read: Bible study) for a nice, relaxing weekend away. No Sunday school! It'll be nice to relax with everyone and NOT go hiking when they go. Yay for excuses to stay inside! I love you, Baby!

11w, 1d: First morning sickness episode

I actually don't know if that title is correct, but today was my first experience with actually losing my breakfast during this pregnancy (not just being nauseous). Brushing my teeth has made my gag reflex jump a few times, but today I actually couldn't keep my poor oatmeal down. Sigh. I'm hungry now.

11w, 0d: We think it's a....

Boy! Wow, almost EVERYONE guessed girl (6 to 1). Who guessed boy? Just wondering... Now don't get me wrong, I would love to have a girl first, but somehow I just think the baby is a boy (as does Jonathan)!

This week, our baby is about the size of a fig (1.5 inches long). His or her hands are going to be able to close soon, and his or her bones are getting harder. There are also tooth buds forming under his or her gums! He or she is stretching and kicking, and may even be hiccuping, due to his or her forming diaphragm. The placenta is now forming, which explains how exhausted I am currently (making a baby and a placenta!), and will be forming for the next few weeks.

I think I am mostly done with nausea (not that it was really that bad ever) and although my breasts are still growing, they aren't really painful or sensitive right now. I do need more sleep, though - I took a two hour nap last night and then got 7 hours of sleep and am still exhausted. I will be so happy when Jonathan's class is over and we can both sleep better!

Rebel for a Cause raffle

My blog friend, MckMama (okay, so I don't really know her, but I was praying so long for her new baby that I feel like I know her!), is having a Raffle to raise support for String of Pearls, which is a ministry that supports families who are facing a fatal prenatal diagnosis, and two adoption grant organizations, No Hands But Ours and The Elison Project. You can click on the below link (or the link in my sidebar) to bring you to MckMama's site, where you will find the ChipIn! link at the top of her page. Raffle tickets are $10 each, so if you donate $50, you will have five entries, etc. Just donate through ChipIn and you will be automatically entered for a chance to win this awesome package, plus knowing that you are donating to a GREAT cause! The Rebel package includes a Canon Rebel 12.2 megapixel Digital SLR camera with an EF-S 18-55 f/3.5/5.6 IS lens, Canon's 75-300mm zoom lens, a 2GB ATP ProMax professional series super high speed SD card, a Jill.E camera bag, a long, adjustable, custom-made camera strap from VM Jess, a 16 x 20 canvas print from iPrintCanvas, and a complete blog makeover from Uptown Design Studio! WOW! Go enter now! The contest is running until December 14!

10w, 6d: Weight and Waiting

Well, I'm steadily gaining weight! I was up to 88 lbs. at my 8-week appointment, and am already up to 91.5 with another week to go before my 12 weeks appointment! Yeah, I know that you're not supposed to gain weight in your first trimester, usually, but I'm happy to know that I'm getting closer to a normal weight. Underweight mothers make underweight babies, and I would like a nice 8 pounder, so I'm just going to keep gaining weight, hopefully! It'd be nice to be closer to 95 or 100 lbs. by the beginning of the second trimester, so that I can be more on track for gaining the normal pregnancy weight after that. That's my goal!

I'm so excited to be able to tell EVERYONE in eight days!!! I feel so AWFUL about withholding information this important from some of my bestest friends... Aparna, Sarah, Rashida, Debra, Katelyn, Karlen, Jennifer, Molly, Chris, and everyone else: I'm so sorry that we haven't told you all yet! Just eight more days and you will all know, I promise! (As long as there is a wiggly baby with a beautiful heartbeat on that ultrasound next Tuesday...) I cannot wait, that will be SUCH a relief to my mind. For everyone who doesn't know why we were not telling (most) people, I had some bleeding from weeks 6-9 that was very worrisome (50% of people who bleed in early pregnancy have healthy babies... wait, those odds aren't very good!). At this point, the baby could still have died and not miscarried properly (we haven't heard or seen a heartbeat yet), but we are praying and hoping for a beautiful, strong heartbeat at our regular Ob/Gyn appointment on Monday and a precious wiggly baby on the ultrasound next Tuesday!

Remember to keep voting in the gender poll, and I may reveal our thoughts tomorrow!