"I Felt It" (Movement at 23 Weeks)

I started feeling our little boy moving at 18 weeks.  Since then, his movements have been more frequent and have been getting stronger as our little boy is growing bigger.  Those first couple of weeks, I could only feel him moving when I was sitting really still.  But gradually, I noticed that I began to feel his movement when I was standing still as well.  He is getting so much more active and I love feeling him moving at random times in the day.  And there have started to be patterns to his movement as well.  He typically gets more active when I am hungry (perhaps he is saying "Mommy, feed me!) and there are certain times of the day I can typically count on him to be moving around (for instance, like right now).

Ever since I began to feel movement, I have anxiously awaited the time when he would be kicking hard enough for Derek to get his first feel of the movement.  We have waited so long for this baby - and I know that men handle pregnancy differently than women - but it has almost seemed unfair that I have been the only one to get to experience "feeling" this pregnancy. 

This last couple of weeks, I have sat with my hands on my stomach while he was moving around and thought that I was feeling the movement on the outside as well.  When he would start to get active, I would wait for a few kicks to make sure it wasn't just a one kick movement and call Derek over to see if he could feel.  However, as soon as Derek has laid his hands on my belly, the little guy would stopped moving and Derek never even got a chance to see if he could feel it.  I think this has been very frustrating for both of us.

So, last night, he began moving around.  Instead of waiting to see if he was going to keep going, I went on the fact that it was a typically active time for him and I called Derek over at the first sign of movement.  He placed his hand very lightly on my belly and our little boy nudged from the inside.  He didn't feel it. 

I placed my hand over his and pressed it down a little more firmly.  And our little boy nudged again, this time a little harder.  And Derek looked at me, his eyes shining, smiling from ear to ear and said "I felt something".  And then he felt it again.  We sat there for a few more minutes with his hands on my belly, basking in the miracle that is our son moving inside me.

This afternoon, there was a round of stronger kicks that Derek got to feel as well.  I am so happy that he has finally gotten to feel our son moving!