Baby on the Move!!

We had our 16 week appointment on Dec. 29th. We were both eager to find out more about our baby and were pretty excited about it all day. The doctor informed us that I should soon be able to feel the baby move and described how it might feel. He also said that although sonograms show that babies are almost constantly in motion, most first time mothers cannot detect movement until around week 19 since they don't know what to expect. I said that I'm almost 100% certain I've already felt something faintly brushing across the inside of my abdomen. I think he thought I was challenging him because he said that he didn't want to argue and didn't doubt me since baby's are prone to such movement and everyone's different.

He started running the little doppler machine across my belly to try to hear the baby's heartbeat like he's done before. We were prepared for the usual long search for the pulse, but we got a new surprise. Everytime the heartbeat started to sound, it was followed with a little jolt through the amplifier reminiscent of quickly scratching a needle across an album. The doctor's expression looked slightly irritated and amused as he changed positioning and homed in on the heartbeat. A little jolt came again, and the doctor explained that we were actually hearing the baby's movement. He said we have "a very active baby," as it took him 3 or 4 tries before the baby would hold still long enough to hear the normal, rapid, sustained heartbeat.

We had really hoped that he would do a sonogram so we could discover our baby's gender, and initiate a pink or blue shopping spree, but we will have to wait until January 19 during the 19th week. Never the less, we did learn a little more about our baby. We know that no matter how you look at it, he or she is already exhibiting the personality of one or both parents. You could say he actively moves around like the maternal family travels the globe, or you could say he's a contrarian like his father, and doesn't like people invading his space, pressing crazy instruments against him or telling him to sit still. You be the judge.