Breeding, possible miscarriage?

Question
Howdy, Karen!  I have a long-haired Syrian hamster, approximately 5 months old.  About 11 or 12 days ago, she mated with my 11 month old short-hair Syrian male.  My husband's convinced that she's pregnant, as he says she feels "plumper" around the middle.  We can also see her nipples now where we couldn't before.  I was just wondering if you could tell me how to tell for sure if she's pregnant?  Also, she was accidentally dropped from a height of approx. four feet yesterday, could that negatively affect her pregnancy?  Finally, we just cleaned her cage and changed her bedding from Critter Care (soft and paper-like) to a mixture of that and some citrus-wood mix called Citramax critter comfort.  Would that in anyway be bad for her if she is pregnant?  She's a real sweetheart, and I know she'd have really beautiful pups, and I've already found homes for five of them in advance.  I just want to make sure that she actually is pregnant, and that she didn't get harmed when she fell.  (She's still acting perfectly normal after the fall, just concerned about a miscarriage or something with her pups.)  Thank you for taking the time to answer my question, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

Answer
Hi Anna,

    It is very possible that she could be pregnant. With Syrian hamsters, the female will get really fat about 10 days into her pregnancy and her teats will become more noticeable. A Syrians gestation period is 16 days, so you can expect the pups in 4-5 days.
    The drop could have an affect on her pregnancy. Some or all of the pups could be born dead or she could have a phantom pregnancy (known to us as a miscarriage). In a phantom pregnancy though the female will not give birth, the pups are just reabsorbed into the blood stream. This does not hurt the female.
    I am not really sure about the Citramax. Some scented bedding like these can cause health problems for hamsters. It would really be best to go back to the Critter Care.
   3 Days before the pups are due, the cage should be cleaned and the wheel should be removed and not placed back into the cage until the pups are separated form their Mom, which is at 3 weeks of age. The female should not be handled after this time.
    If or when she has her pups, you need to start feeding her hard boiled egg and carrots along with her regular hamster food. This will give her the extra protein she needs to help raise her pups.
    When the pups are 2 weeks old, this is when it is safe to handle them for a short period of time and the cage can be cleaned again.
    When the pups are 3 weeks old they will need to be separated form their Mom and each other (boys in one cage, girls in another). When sexing them, the boys will have 2 holes far apart ( .  . ) and the girls will have 2 holes close together ( .. ), it may even appear as if there is only 1 hole.
    At 5-6 weeks of age the pups will be ready to go to their new homes.
    If you have anymore questions, please write again.

Thank you for writing and best of luck!