The Alien Within

People frequently ask me if I can feel Junior moving yet. The answer, most resoundingly, is "YES!" I am almost 32 weeks pregnant. Junior is estimated to be 3.75 lbs and 16.19 inches long (according to the interactive pregnancy calendar at www.pregnancy.org).

I first sensed movement in late September. Just a hint of a presence, like the brush of a butterfly's wings. I wasn't even sure of what I was feeling until I was on an airplane from London to LA. There was nothing to do but watch movies, groan about the long journey in cramped quarters, go to the bathroom, and ponder the strange taps on the inside of my belly. Then came the distinct brush that clarified what all the tapping was about. But that was back when Junior weighed just ounces and was only 5 inches long. Back when my womb was like a swimming pool to him in which he could turn flips. It's not quite so spacious for him now.

Now I feel little strokes where I think his arms are, persistent nudges where his head is thought to be located, and near my ribcage - where his feet reside - distinct kicks. Several times a day, he gets the hiccups, which resonate through my belly like the drips of a leaky faucet. Endearing, but a bit annoying. Last week was unusually uncomfortable. I kept feeling this persistent but intermittent pressure at the edge of my right lower rib. On the third day of discomfort, I started massaging the area and pressed in toward my abdomen. I felt some initial resistence, then the pressure was relieved, to be followed by two swift kicks to my fingertips. It seems that Junior likes to use my 12th rib as a foot rest and gets very unhappy when I displace him from his resting place. I'm just wondering where my liver is now that Junior's foot rests there.

Ian and I can now see movement across the surface of my belly when Junior really gets moving, which he does right after meals, when I'm playing the bass, and when Ian and I get ready for our evening prayers. I've heard that later in pregnancy you can actually make out distinct body parts. It's all very strange. I kinda wish I didn't watch all those Alien movies in the 80's and 90's. I can just imagine some alien explosively poking its gnarled head through the surface of my abdomen, hissingly announcing its parasitic invasion. And I suppose for now Junior is a bit alien to me. But this is one alien I will welcome to our family. I look forward to greeting a chocolate-haired, hazel-eyed, little man-child face to face, without the dramatic abdominal explosion. And I look forward to having my rib be my rib again instead of his footrest.

Clarice