Today was an exciting day. I had meetings and appointments all day, which would usually qualify as not exciting, but somehow there were these little sparks of light just floating about acting as teeny tiny incendiary devices of pure joy.

One Exciting Thing: I got an email today announcing that the abstract I submitted for a major conference poster presentation was accepted. Not only was it accepted, but it was accepted as a podium presentation! Zoiks! I've never even presented this work to anyone here at school, let alone at a major conference. This work isn't even published! What a rush. I totally feel like Sally Field.

Other Exciting Thing: We had a doctor's appointment. Yes, we. Sweets, lola and (drum roll) the baby. Today I got to hear my baby's heartbeat for the very first time.

Okay, I've been holding out on you people in the listening audience. This is very exciting news, but I didn't want to start telling the world before I was sure myself. I'm eleven weeks pregnant with something that is finally recognizable as a baby. a baby mammel. ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, after all. A certain astute reader already tried to let the cat out of the bag, but I tried to pretend that he hadn't said anything. (ha! larry!) But he was right. nausea, fatigue, grumpy, sleepy me has been pregnant for the past eleven weeks and is really ready for these first trimester symptoms to end.

But you're probably all interested in the heartbeat, right?

So we went to the appointment and she first off tried to find the heartbeat using the doppler thinger. I heard a lot of my own blood whooshing through my lower abdomen, but not that quick little woosh woosh we wanted to hear. So she did the other medical stuff she needed to do today, then tried again. Still no baby woosh. But she kept trying, and there- right there- she found it. the little baby's heart wooshing away in my stomach. (why did I eat the baby?) What a rush! it was pretty amazing.

I told my mom yesterday that we had this appointment today and she made little beeping sounds, like "it will sound like this: beep beep beep." Apparently she thinks I am giving birth to R2D2. Sweets is toying with the idea of having a robot baby. We could name it Tobor.

So we don't know the sex yet, but we do know it is due May 25th, which happens to be the day before my birthday. I'm a little peeved about that. But so what, it's a baby! duh.

So that explains why I only ran the half-marathon last month and why I've been so yucky feeling and also why I haven't been updating. I couldn't think of stuff to write that didn't start with "ug, morning sickness." or "so the baby... blah blah blah." I'm not showing yet, and I've gained a little less than five pounds. right on track. And the midwife says that as long as the baby is less than seven pounds, I should have no problems with delivery.

YAY!

Babies!