That Fluttering Feeling

Any pregnancy book will tell you that if this is your first pregnancy, at fourteen weeks, you won't feel the baby move yet. That usually happens sometime around week 16. However, just as true as showing earlier (my belly stuck out about five minutes after I saw the little plus sign on my pregnancy test), you can feel movement earlier when this is your second or (God help you) subsequent pregnancy. And like clockwork, last night I felt a little gymnastics class in progress.

I am in Winston-Salem at a conference for librarians in North Carolina. During the long sessions yesterday, I had been having some back pain (a fairly constant thing lately, only exacerbated by the chairs designed by the Marquis de Sade that every conference hall buys in bulk) so when I got back to the room after meeting my mom for a delicious steak dinner in Greensboro, I decided to take a bath (also a fairly constant thing for me). As I settled down into the warmish (damn hotels) water, I noticed some fluttering in my belly. Of course, as any good human being would do, I wondered if it was gas. but then, I noticed my belly button kind of jumping a little all on it's own. THIS is a phenomenon I very much remember from pregnancy number one. It was a favorite passtime of mine to lie in the tub and watch my belly jump and shift all on it's lonesome. And yes, I watched this with an equal emotional mix of delight and horror.

Anyway, sure enough, I realized that the butterflies in my stomach were not actually in my stomach. I put two and two together and said hello to the little creature cooking inside me. We had a nice conversation where I asked how he (or she) was doing and he (or she) sort of kicked me in response. At this point, the kicks feel very much like a little tickle from the inside. Really, far more pleasant than the kicks I will get in just a few more weeks that are more like jabs.

Anyway, it's an exciting development in the growth of our newest family member, and I just wanted to share it with you.