Kickin' It

I began feeling the baby move around nineteen weeks. I thought it would begin more gradually than it did, but instead found myself awake at about 4 am one day giggling at a decidedly new sensation. It has gotten stronger and more regular over the last two weeks, and Sergio has been able to feel her moving around about three times now which he is thrilled about, of course.

I wish I could be more romantic about this process and write poetically about all the new things the baby does. For the life of me, though, I can't find a better description of the movement than, "it feels a lot like gas bubbles." I come by this honestly since the first thing my mother asked when I said I thought I was feeling her was, "it feels a lot like gas, doesn't it?" We are a sentimental family.

I am enjoying the moving. Every little while I get a quick moment of connection and reassurance that everything seems to be going along okay. Sometimes she fills up a boring moment. I was standing in class the other day waiting for something to do when she went nuts right up around my belly button. This is much higher than I normally feel her. I pushed on my stomach where I had felt her and she stopped moving. As soon as I let go I received a mighty kick. We did this two more times. It was most likely entirely involuntary, but it made me feel like she had accomplished something cognitive. And it made me laugh.

The only downside to this whole thing is that she seems to think my bladder is a toy. I don't really mind that too much, I guess, since it in no way affects what I eat. I love food.