As a specialized farmer, I can liken Baby's first movements to a Monarch's wings fluttering on a June day, the rattle of a Himalayan Poppy's seed pod, and sometimes with a powerful kick from a foot the size of a guitar pick, a freshly popped corn kernel comes to mind. Right now, the movements occur mostly at night when I'm falling a sleep after a busy day of growing (me and the baby!). They are erratic, always a pleasure and seem to be increasing in frequency. Baby also seems more active when listening to music and shows a preference for Nino Rota and Rush. While this shows that the baby's musical delights will cover a spectrum so vast, like Doris Day to Marlilyn Manson, It was only plausible, that if anyone could penetrate the walls of a thickening uterus and an amniotic sac, it would be Geddy Lee.
We are now 19 weeks along( 20 Wks = 5 Mo), which puts us nearly half way through the 40 weeks of pregnancy and the baby at around 6 inches long from tail to top. Our little grapefruit is pictured at 18 weeks above, and the Life cover from 1965 shows a model fetus at 18 weeks on the far above right. The latest ultrasound revealed a perfect little baby who's gender is only known by a doctor and a sonographer and who is currently overloaded with nascent sensory ability as the brain divvies responsibilities between vision, olfaction, audition, and touch. Thus, I've been taking the time to rub my belly often and read T.S. Elliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. I wonder what the cat names Mr. Mistoffelees and Rumpleteazer sound like in rhyming stanzas as they pass through to the baby; I imagine like Andre the Giant's voice, which is awesome. Baby's kidneys are now producing urine, which the baby excretes into his environment. Simultaneously, Baby is practicing his (or her?) swallowing by drinking the amniotic fluid. Breast milk will certainly be an upgrade. Besides reading, playing music, and listening to Baby's little heart often, we have begun our nesting phase. Adam is currently staining old furniture, and I've spent the morning cleaning. Over Saturday afternoon we learned about car seats, strollers, cribs, breast pumps (electric, dual pumping, and hands free = $250 WOW!!), bouncy things and bottles, joggers and bed side sleepers. We are developing an entirely new lexicon, saying the word "cute" often, and embarking on a new field of knowledge. It's very exciting but also very intimidating and some may even say stressful, as we venture upon this profound realization: Babies ain't cheap yo! Thank goodness for Craigslist, friends and family, who have already been so generous. And yes, that's me, in the muumuu, although I prefer the term "house dress."
