Feeling The Movement

The first time I felt the baby move I was in bed. It was late, S was already sleeping I was just settling down.

Blip. Like a gas bubble deep in my abdomen. A butterfly flapping its wings. A sparkle. An echo. So gentle, but so definite. There you are. Hello.

I didn’t feel it again for weeks. Life on a tour bus leaves little room for stillness, as most every sleeping moment is accompanied by engine vibrations and bumpy roads. I, of course, turned this into gentle worry. I should be feeling movement. Something’s wrong.

Blip Bloop. There you were again.

From those early echoes, through the first time S laid his hands on my belly and felt something more definite, laying on the couch during The Daily Show and watching occasional flutters by my tummy button, to now… I know that lump by my (wonderfully still ‘inny’) belly button is your bum. I know that it’s your head that squeezes my bladder the minute I shift positions. I know when there’s a big thump up by my diaphragm, you’re kicking.

As I write you’re making yourself known. Arms and knees I think. The occasional foot making the fabric of my shirt twitch up by my ribs. I know it’s getting tight in there… there’ll be plenty of time for stretching in a few weeks.

I already know I’m going to miss this intimately alien connection. It is, without a doubt, the most magical thing about pregnancy, and I am so very glad I got to experience it.