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| From 5 Minutes for Parenting |
By Kelly
I felt the baby move last week.
I was laying in the dark, waiting for sleep to descend, when I felt little flutters way, way, WAY down in my abdomen. I was tempted to chalk it up to gas, and truthfully, I’m never sure about those first baby movements. "Did I just feel what I think I feel? Could it be a muscle twitch? Maybe my liver just quivered?"
But then I remember that I’ve been through this three times before and I’m 37 and at this point in my life, I darn well better be able to tell the difference between a kink in the tubing and a baby.
I lay there in the dark, willing the little sensations to keep going.
They did.
And I grinned back to the angels surrounding my bed.
Fast forward to last Friday. It was my 15-week OB check, and since it was the day after Thanksgiving, I took the whole family with me. (Because nothing says I’ve got my crazy on like taking three small children and your husband to the doctor’s office.)
As she was taking my blood pressure, my nurse asked if I’d felt the baby move yet. I answered a tentative yes.
She helped me up on the table to search for the baby’s heartbeat. It was slow in coming. I wasn’t really worried. Typically, my placentas form in the front, which muffles both sound and movement coming from the baby. So while the nurse listened and moved and listened and moved (and my husband, more alarmed than me, came over to stand at my side), I tried to feel. I tried to shut out all the other sensations in the room and be one with my uterus.
All of a sudden, we heard the heartbeat. The characteristic loud swooshing rang loud from the Doppler’s speakers.
And then it stopped.
“Darn. The baby must have moved,” moaned the nurse.
“Try over here,” I said, pointing to my left side. I thought maybe, just maybe, I had felt a little bubble over there right when the heartbeat stopped.
She moved the Doppler. And the heartbeat came back into range.
Oh yeah. I know what I’m doing.
I can feel the baby move.
Kelly is currently 16 weeks pregnant, although if you see her after she’s eaten dinner, you might think she’s closer to 25. She blogs at Love Well.
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I have the biggest smile on my face. Those moments, nothing can take away how beautiful and intimate those moments were. Thank you for sharing, thanks for reminding me how much I loved being pregnant. :)
ReplyDeleteThose first baby movements! Is anything sweeter? Not much!
ReplyDeleteSo sweet! You made me tear up a little. And NOW I want baby #4! I'll tell Leighton it's all your fault. :)
ReplyDeleteOh man, I remember that feeling. I was a first timer with Boo, and that feeling was wonderful and so scary at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for you!! It is so cool to "live this" with you.
I love that!! It's one of the things you'll always miss about pregnancy...possibly the only thing. ;-)
ReplyDelete