Dream Baby

After seven months of pregnancy, I finally reached an important milestone: I had my first dream about being pregnant/the baby.

I had heard from many other new moms who said they dreamed about their babies early in their pregnancies and that's how they "just knew" they were having a girl (or whatever).

My dream gave me no clues about the gender. And I know exactly why I had it.

Yesterday, Cletus the Fetus had a dance party in my belly all day long. It was the most motion I had felt, ever. And this kid moves a lot in general. BD couldn't believe it when he put his hand on my belly. It really, really felt like kidlet was trying frantically trying to find an escape route through my belly button. It was a scene for Alien.

Anywho, that was reality.

In the dream, Cletus was moving around a bunch and I looked down and saw the first visible imprint of a body part. It was a little tiny hand, just above my belly button. I got excited so I start tickling around the hand. It then pushed back a little harder until a little belly skin-covered hand lifted up and grabbed my tickling finger (just like a little baby does, because of the palmar reflex). It was cool, and didn't freak me out at all.

Then, for the rest of my dream, I was really excited and started telling everyone about how I finally had a dream about the baby.

Weird.

Analyses? Other pregnancy or baby dreams people want to share?

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

I had been ignoring Cletus the Fetus for a while (see previous posts), and so, by popular demand, this post is all about baby.

Kidlet, by all counts, is doing just fine. It's flipping and kicking a bunch. The doctor (who we visited on Friday) seems to be happy with the progress--size, heart rate, movement, etc. Since we're at 29 weeks now, we'll start doing doctor visits every two weeks instead of four. The baby demands a steady stream of baked goods and chocolate, but the scale and iron test suggest I replace some of the cookies and brownies with spinach and high-fiber muffins or something. We'll see who wins.

Other than the new-to-us car, I haven't personally bought anything yet for the baby. But, as I've mentioned, the supplies are flooding in! And we're all really looking forward to two upcoming baby showers (in Florida on February 10 and in DC on March 3). After the showers, I'll have a much better idea of what, if anything, kidlet still needs.

We have our childbirth education class lined up for March 11. I'll keep practicing "breath for birth" from yoga classes until then.

Unkey Matt spotted some interesting articles on breast-feeding: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16773635/ and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16773617/. Enjoy!

Oh, and one more thing...you know how I know that I'll be having a baby sooner rather than later? Because people are starting to show up at my doctor's office and yoga class talking about their July and August due dates. Weird.

Joy of Motion

By popular demand, this is a blog posting on what it's like to feel the baby moving. I was reminded to write this by Cletus the Fetus, who is currently staging an intense gymnastic routine in my gut right now.

I have long heard about how expecting moms can feel their babies kick and I've even seen it before. And yet, I was totally unprepared for how often and how intense the feeling is. It's not the occasional kick. It's a nonstop spin cycle once it gets going.

I mostly love this feeling, because it something that reminds me what's going on and it's something I can share with other people who have a stake in this child (BD, for example). I can't share the acid reflux, but he can certainly feel it when the little kidlet kicks him in the head.

I haven't yet noticed a pattern in the movement, except that I generally feel it more when I rest or relax (which is common). But I'm busy today, running around the office, writing documents and fielding phone calls--and I'm very aware of how much the baby is moving. Maybe it's happy about the chocolate toffee cheesecake I fed it for lunch. I know I am.