kicky mc kickpants

i have a very active and growing baby...

how do i know this?

it could be from the ultrasounds we've had taken, the doctors visits where i'm told that i am doing very well - exactly as hoped, it could be the general ease of this pregnancy... OR it could be the fact that my insides are getting pummelled regularly.

wiggly aka kicky mc kickpants - is making him/herself known, and seems to have a rather regular routine.

i'll get my first few thuds around 5 - 6 am. i take this as my 'good morning' from the baby, and depending on the level of exhaustion i'm feeling i can either get out of bed and get ready for the gym - or go back to sleep. (i've learned how to sleep through most of the thuds, all except the really big kicks.) i'll get a light breakfast before the gym, and then eat something more after i've worked out - usually fruit or a granola type bar. this spike in blood sugar usually wakes kickypants up and i get my 9 - 10 am dance festival. i like to think of this as the 'thanks for the food, and i hope you have a good day at work' message. the next major movement is usually around noon. if i haven't eaten early enough i get a thud or two (usually placed on my grumbling stomach) to remind me that it's time to eat. after lunch, and the spike in blood sugar, i get another dance performance - so while i am ready for my post lunch nap, wiggly is quite happy and goes for the post lunch dance. the hours between 3 - 7 have some intermittent movement. a kick here and there, but no activity for an extended period of time. we cook dinner, clean up, get things ready for work the next day - and finally settle in bed. this is when the dancing picks up again. most entertaining to me is that whenever kickypants hears craig's voice for an extended period of time, there is a lot of activity. if we're having a conversation i've come to expect that 10 - 15 minutes in i'll start getting thudded. wiggly seems to move towards whatever side it can hear craig on, so the kicks will rotate from right to left, depending on craig's proximity and location.

another trick wiggly has learned is that when he/she kicks in one spot a few times in a row, i'll put my hand there. if i put light pressure, i tend to get more kicks in that spot than when i don't. i haven't figured out if this is a case of the baby learning, or simply training me. (i suspect more of the 2nd than the first.)

...

in other news, this past weekend we went to our local babies r us and attended one of their free seminars - this one on breastfeeding. i won't get into all that was covered, except the name of one of the possible positions for feeding - the football hold. this entertained craig and i every time it was mentioned in the class, and we (of course) made a few off color jokes about how the football hold is reserved for sunday, and monday nights... and that we must remember not to spike, or punt the baby. it didn't take us long to go from the 'football hold' to the 'heisman trophy hold' in our conversation. luckily there was just craig, myself, and another woman expecting in november so our side conversation wasn't distracting to anyone but the instructor - who i suspect was wondering what all the laughter was about.

we wandered around the clothing section picking out possible outfits for our little boy or girl. the little teeny shoes always solicited a 'awwww, so tiny' from me, and craig seemed to enjoy the itty bitty hats. i picked out a 'going home' outfit - but i suspect it will be vetoed by craig... a lobster costume. what could be more unisex than a crustacean?



it's hard to believe we're already this far along, and that in just a couple months there will be 3 to our little chaotic family. while i am well aware of what is happening to me, it still feels surreal to think it's really happening to me. maybe things will seem more real once wiggly makes his/her appearance. (i suspect the crying will help with that.)