A Sweet Moment

Last night, B felt our baby move for the first time. It was one of those sweet, precious moments in life that I just had to share today for the sake of remembering it later.

He had been gone for a bit yesterday evening - to a late intramural basketball game with his medical school team - and I decided to stay at home. While he was gone, I got ready for bed, worked on my pregnancy journal for a bit, and then decided to pull out one of the books we bought for baby boy. A treasury of the Curious George stories, to be exact.

At this stage in my pregnancy, our little man is able to hear our voices, and doctors recommend reading aloud, playing music and talking to the baby as often as desired. So, I decided to read baby boy his first story aloud. We started with the first short story in the collection last night. And, judging by the storm of kicking that ensued when the story ended, he loved it - maybe he will be like his mama and have a love of books.

I had planned to read a bit more, but decided to hold off until B got home from his game. Since baby boy was reacting so positively to the story reading, I wanted to wait and let his daddy get in on the excitement. I was so hoping that he would finally be able to feel our little guy moving around. I have been feeling him for several weeks now, but at 23 weeks pregnant, my hubs had still not gotten an opportunity to feel anything. We had been trying - every time I felt a nudge, I would grab his hand and place it on my tummy. But he had felt nothing so far. 

After the game last night, B came in, got ready for bed, and then tucked himself up next to me with the book. He read the second story in the collection. His deeper voice sounded so different than mine - I wondered if baby boy would react to the story this time. As soon as the story ended, I patted my belly and said, "Hey there little boy - what'd you think about that? Did you like it when Daddy read you the story?" And, wonder of all wonders: he started kicking away! I grabbed B's hand and placed it on my belly. I could feel every tiny little bump and thud, but it wasn't until baby boy landed a perfectly placed one directly under his daddy's palm that B jumped, looked at me and said, "Was that him?" I nodded, and almost teared up at the big smiled that stretched across his face and the crinkles that appeared around his eyes. Such a precious moment. He left his hand there for a bit, hoping to feel him again. But little man tired out quick and soon quieted down with the furious little taps, and B wasn't able to feel anything else. I am looking forward to the day when he can really start to feel him well and understand a little better the amazing sensation of having a tiny person moving around inside me. Our son, moving around inside of me. But, for now, I'll take the tiny little jabs. 

Finally.