An Overheard Moment

On Saturday night, as I was heading back into the living room where our friends were hanging out with my man J, I heard this conversation:

J's best friend (and current father of a 1-year old): Yeah, pregnancy can be pretty nervewracking.

J: You're telling me. If you had any idea the thoughts that go through my head every time I see [Babychaser's] name come up on the caller ID. . . .

I caught myself blinking back tears. J's awesome, and hilarious, and sarcastic, and I adore him. But he doesn't often talk about how he's feeling, and sometimes it's hard to have a serious conversation with him about this pregnancy. I had no idea he was as scared as I am. And knowing that he's as deep into this as I am really touched me.

My Babies Are Rock Stars

There are definite upsides to this whole pregnancy thing. This week I started feeling the babies kick. It’s not prominent enough to feel with my hand, so J hasn’t been able to feel it yet, but it’s definitely real. Such a cool feeling. Most people describe the early movements as a fluttering feeling, or like bubbles. I think if I felt that stuff I totally disregarded it. After all, there’s been an awful lot going on in my belly, what with muscles stretching and twitching, ligaments shifting, and my entire digestive system being bent out of shape (literally). These movements aren't fluttery; they actually feel like tiny fists punching out from the inside. I’m sure it will get annoying in a while, but for now it’s just so satisfying. On Wednesday I spent the day at a seminar at the Supreme Court—first we heard the arguments for that day (the property case on Florida’s beach restoration program, a fascinating case involving property law, constitutional law, and whether the Court should recognize a “judicial takings” doctrine), then we had several panel discussions with various experts on Supreme Court practice. (Coolest CLE ever.) I ended up totally spacing out about 10 minutes of one of these panels—on a really cool topic—because Baby A was kicking and I was entranced. So yeah, there’s definitely some falling in love going on.

Also, J and I had our 21-week sono today, and our babies are total rock stars. They’re big for their age—both are measuring at about 22 weeks, and both have strong heartbeats. (Watching a live heartbeat on a sono is incredibly cool—you can see all 4 chambers at work. Really amazing.) As usual, Baby A was vying for all the attention, waving his/her little fists around and wiggling all over the place. But J and I thought Baby B stole the show this time. I think it was the shot we got of the bottoms of his/her little feet, with all the tiny toes. And Baby B had the hiccups, which we could see, and then hear when we were listening to the heartbeat. Again, I’m sure this will annoy me when the babies are big enough for me to feel their hiccups, but at this point it was incredibly cute.

So while I’m definitely still suffering (add back/hip pain to the nighttime mix—sometimes it’s a relief when morning comes because trying to sleep is such a struggle), at least I know my babies are content, well-fed, and comfortable. Narcissistic little monsters.