11 Weeks

Baby Bird is now 11 weeks old! This week had milestones. Our little travel bug made the 18 hour, all night drive to Atlanta and back for a good friends wedding. Brian was a groomsman, and I wasn't about to miss seeing him all handsome in his tux. So we drove in a 15 passenger van with 9 other people (all boys) down to Atlanta. We stayed there for about 30 hours, and then made the long drive back! Lets just say that the wedding was awesome, the drive was awful! I discovered that Sea Bands are amazing, McDonald's breakfast is not, and cold water and ice cubes are still my best friends. I think that Brian, me and baby bird are all still recovering from the hectic weekend. This has involved lots of napping for us both and nausea for me. I had my first morning sickness right of passage (puking) this week as well. I figured I would at some point and have honestly been surprised that it took me this long. The unfortunate part was that I ended up throwing out my back in the process which was already sore from the road trip. I spend yesterday hobbling around and sleeping even more than usual (three hour nap AND twelve hours at night). Tomorrow our little travel bug heads out on another adventure. This time, we are headed to Kenosha, WI to shoot the wedding of a good friend. I hope that all my rest has allowed my back to calm down enough for a busy weekend!

Another milestone that baby bird has reached is that we were able to hear the heartbeat! It was amazing! I mean, I knew there was a baby in there, but to be able to hear the heart beating??? Fantastic! It has made it so much more real. Brian recorded it, so there is a video at the end of the post. I have only listened to baby birds heart like a million times a day so far. I just love it. I love our little baby bird!!!! We are so thankful that the Lord is knitting our baby together in my womb.

Milestone number three... Brian and I have decided NOT to find out the gender of baby bird. In the words of a friend, "God has given us a gift. Why spoil the surprise?" Because of this, we have chosen one girls name and one boys name and we are 90-95% sure these names will not change! We're still keeping the names a secret for a bit... maybe even the whole time. But we are excited to say the least!

Milestone number four... the secret is out! While we told family and other Campus Outreach staff about baby bird, we were trying to keep the secret until we had heard the heartbeat. Now that we have, we're shouting our joy from the rooftops!!! We want everyone to know and share our joy that, Lord willing, we will have a baby in April 2012! Yay!

Baby bird is the size of a small lime! This is in length, not weight or roundness. According to Baby Center, "our baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a lime, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden. She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming." Pretty neat, huh?