Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes

WEEK 23
The old adage: "if the shoe fits, wear it!" definitely does NOT apply to pregnant women. All of my shoes fit, they're just too damn uncomfortable!! Literally, every pair of shoes or boots I own, become unwearable after a couple hours. Even my sneakers can only hold out for about 4!!???!!

I read that a pregger woman's feet start to spread during pregnancy and can even grow a whole shoe size...permanently!

Feeling too dependent on my husband's footrubs for relief, I went out and bought the most comfortable (read, most expensive) shoes I could find. Eureka!..I am a brand new person. SoftWalk shoes rock! I wear the shoes all day because, with their magical "massaging footbed," they're more comfortable than going barefoot.

I'm Feelin' You, Baby!

WEEK 22
Last night, Raegan thought I might be able to feel the baby, on account of it had "the hiccups." I placed my hand on her belly and did feel a couple of slight bumps in my hand. Maybe it was a psychological thing and I was just feeling my own pulse. It kind of felt like there was maybe a hamster in there. Or maybe as though Raegan had eaten a lot of Mexican. Or one little Mexican. In any case, it was a very alien-ish experience, though an emotional one. I'm thinking when I kept pushing on it, the kid was probably getting annoyed and was just kicking to get dad out of its womb.

It must be pretty bored in there, right? So beyond playing with the umbilical cord, kicking and flailing around is about all it's got in the way of entertainment. I offered to slip a couple Scrabble© tiles up in there, just to give the baby something to do, you know? Maybe help it learn to read, even. But for whatever reason, Raegan wasn't so hot on the idea. Women. What can you do?

Reading is Fun or Mental?

WEEK 21
Raegan read that it's never too early to start reading to the baby. While I would be happy to read Al Franken's latest to get the little one started on the right path, Raegan insists I read children's books, exclusively. According to her, the baby will enjoy hearing my voice.

Do you?
Do I what?
Enjoy hearing my voice.
Well, no. Not really.
That's what I'm saying. The less exposure to my voice, the better off the baby will be.
What's the matter with you?
Hold on. How does the baby even know what a voice is?
What do you mean?
Well, has it ever seen anybody talking?
But the book says...
Has the baby ever talked?
I don't think you're taking the right approach...
So how is it supposed to know that when a human being moves his or her mouth around that it makes a sound comes out that communicates meaning to other people?
Somehow, I don't think that's the issue here.
It doesn't even know what other people are! As far as it knows, the world is a dark, cramped place with only room for one.
Not unlike mine, Steve. Not unlike mine.

Flutter Bys

WEEK 20
Good news. We are officially halfway through the pregnancy!! Even the baby commemorated the joyous event with a spirited squirm in my mid-region. Only this time I was sure it was the baby. For weeks, what I had believed to be the baby's wriggling, turned out just to be gas. Despite rolling around inside me during the entire ultrasound, our over-active bundle hadn't rustled a single nerve inside me.

At this point, I'm not experiencing any pattern in the movement, just moves big enough to let me know this is, in fact, my baby. Here are some highlights from the last few days:

During pregnancy, it's recommended that you sleep on your side. This is more essential in the latter months of pregnancy because apparently the baby can squash the inferior vena cava. Though my doctor said I didn't need to worry, I've now mastered switching from side to side in preparation. And each time I switch sides, the baby does a quick about-face (literally) and repositions him/herself.

The baby also seems to get active when Steve and I jam in the morning. This is a good sign, since Steve expects his son or daughter to be the essential member of The Brykman Family Singers.