Short Version: another no-news/good-news appointment, and then I talk about baby kicks. And don't forget the IIFF!
I had another no-news appointment this morning. I am now at the same weight I reached at the peak of my OHSS. I thoroughly recommend that anyone who wants to stack on over a dozen kilos does so over a few trimesters, rather than a few days. Also, I love my exercise ball! I am back to not feeling achey and stiff, although I do still have to be careful about moving around, stretching and changing positions.
--
When I returned from my latest "IVF Holiday", back in August last year, I decided to watch Saturday Night Fever on the plane. They say babies start learning things long before birth. The Foetus seems to have picked up some disco moves. "Ah, ah, ow, ooh... staying alive." I'm telling you, he's been simultaneously jabbing me in the upper right rib and the lower left pelvis, just like Johnny T on the dance floor.
I've been meaning to describe how it feels for a while now. For some reason, I kind of expected the kicking to be a pleasant sensation, and, well, it is and it's not. I mean, fundamentally, it is. It is because it tells me he's still alive. Heck, it is because it reminds me he's in there at all. I like thinking about his little hands and feet as they pummel against my insides. "That was a foot," I think, and I get a wonderfully giddy sensation just thinking about these feet.
On the other hand, I am surprised (even though I shouldn't be, now I come to think about it) to find that the physical sensation itself is not really what you'd call pleasant. Put it this way: if I didn't know it was being caused by a baby, I'd probably say it was irritating. So did I, in the throes of our battle with infertility, spend one too many days thinking how great it would be to feel a baby in my belly, and not quite enough being logical about the whole thing? I was pretty sure I hadn't done that. I was pretty sure I had things in perspective, and not in some idealised, rose-coloured view. Luckily, I still feel I would have done it anyway. It's one of those "hurts so good" things.
"What does it feel like, exactly?" asked Mr Bea.
I tilted my head to the side and considered. "It feels like..." Bubbles? Pops? Gas? "It feels like..." Dancing? Mini earthquakes in the belly? Shocks? "It feels like a small creature moving around inside my abdomen."
"Illuminating."
"But not just any creature. Not, for example, like a large mouse with scratchy, tickly nails or anything like that. More like..."
"A pre-term human baby?"
"Right!"
It might be more comfortable if I could teach the little Disco Monkey in there to moonwalk, but I think Staying Alive is a much better theme than Thriller.
Posts
15 Comments
I actually really enjoyed the movement inside - it may be that being wide-boned helps... In any case, the reassurance that the baby's OK in there is definitely pretty amazing.
Don't get me wrong - on balance, I like it. That's clear, right?
Bea
I can't help but laugh at the Stayin' Alive image. How appropriate.
I enjoyed the little flutters, but when I reached the moving stage that you are describing- yes, I have to admit I often wanted to whisper "stop it!" (though not really wanting it to stop...)
Now that I am past-due the baby's movements are like giant blobby masses that poke up and out in an incredibly uncomfortable manner. I'm glad to know he's there, but it is decidedly unfun.
I think that feeling the baby move is one of the big fantasies that we allow ourselves to indulge in during our IF treatment, and thus don't permit oourselves to complain about once we are down the road of a pregnancy that seems like it might yeild a real live baby.
Don't worry, Bea, your liking of the kicks for the life they represent is certainly clear enough!
Honestly? when he's kicking me in the ribs? Not so fun. I do like the fact he's moving though.
It generally doesn't bother me, with the exception of sticking himself in my ribs, or punching my cervix. It is starting to get more weird now that he is big enough to move my entire abdomen- kind of like the movie Alien.
I am so glad that your baby is moving a lot. There is nothing more reassuring!
Yay for another uneventful appointment
When is you due date again???
oh yeah, when the oodle twins started their "routine" it was uncomfortable, but nice in a "oh my gawd, what was that" kind of way. in the end I am glad I felt them as much as I did, "staying alive" for sure.
so glad that things are going well and that the Disco Monkey is moving on the dance floor. VERY COOL...wait until he "struts"
(hug)
"Satyin' Alive" hahahahaha!! I LOVE IT!
I didn't mind the movement, either. Not that Ethan moved much ever. Heck, for our 3D u/s we had to beat the poor kid to get him to go anywhere, and I was sore for days!
And he still barely moved. The kid was laaaaazy!
I'm glad you're getting the movement, though. Always a good thing, of course. :)
i like the movement in exactly the way you describe. i like the reassurance, and the thoughts of actually seeing those feet that they bring on. otherwise, it is often uncomfortable and sometimes even painful, even making me gasp awkardly in the middle of dinner. baby has a favourite spot that i call the Alien spot, for surely that is where s/he is trying to get out from!
I had a student once look at my stomach moving with revulsions and ask, "does it feel just like an alien inside trying to get out?" And it does...except it's a friendly alien, one who wants to be your friend rather than one who wants to tear you open...
I enjoy it some of the time, but he always seems to get particularly active when I am stressing about getting something done at work and I'm trying to concentrate and there he is jab-jab-jabbing and distracting me and I just want to tell him to chill until I get this done!
But in essence, it is a nice reminder that he's still kicking (literally and figuratively).
You crack me up!
Ahh, the friendly alien...yeah, it IS reassuring, but ever so creepy.
So far it only really hurts when he digs his little toes or fingers into my cervix. Seriously ouch.
The bigger kicks are coming and when they do I know this little guy is going to knock me off my feet. I'll be rewriting this post for my own blog then!
It's still new enough to me to make me stop what I'm doing. It's wierd having something move, when I didn't tell it to. Very weird. But nice, although it may get less nice as the babies get stronger in the punch and kick departments,
J
Wonderful and strange at the same time. I too found it impossible to really describe. It's a 'good' feeling because you know what it is, and how wonderful know that is. But yeah, if you didn't know - it would freak the heck out of you!
Post a Comment