You know all my
ticklish spots. If I forget, you remind
me.
Ever since I was a
little girl, I loathed to be tickled.
This stemmed primarily from a friend of my parents who would continue
tickling me, at the most inopportune moments when I was not allowed to run away
(for example, the dinner table), even when I begged to stop. Once in college, I threatened to slap a young
man who insisted on tickling me (flirting I’m sure). One day I had enough and slapped him on the
cheek. He was a friend, so everyone
around was shocked. I said simply, “I
warned you,” (we remained friends sans tickling).
Your Daddy has
always been disappointed that I never allow him to tickle me. Apparently some people enjoy it. He does!
In small doses, and I always stop quickly, usually before he even asks.
But you. You bump in the most ticklish parts of my
belly and sides. You woke me once in the
middle of the night. My body jerked
instinctively, my reflex to your strong movement in one of my most ticklish
places. Last night as I was falling
asleep, I had to shift positions to the other side of my body, hoping you would
move away from the side of my belly you were repeatedly tickling. During the day, sometimes I can push and prod
you enough to scoot you away. Other
times, I press my hand against my belly, giving counter pressure that eases the
tickle.
I am convinced you
are determined to teach me to like it.
One morning this
week, I woke up to feel you high in my belly, almost “floating” to the
top. You felt almost exactly the size of
the yellow squash in last week’s photo.
I could press my hands around you, and feel the size and shape of your
body. You were laying horizontally
(transverse) just under my belly button.
The “feet end” of you bumped and kicked against my stomach to the
right. The “head end” of you was round
and firm to my left.
When I pushed with my
left hand against your head, your body slid to my right; when I pushed with my
right hand against your feet, your body slid to my left, like a seesaw. I lay there, pushing you back and forth,
trying to believe I was really feeling your entire body inside me. Eventually, you moved away from my prodding,
lower in your house where my hands are not skilled enough to find you.
Your Daddy keeps
asking if I am hurting you when I press to find you in my belly. So I emailed our dear midwife explaining what
I felt and did. She reassured me you are
well protected, and said kindly, “You are learning to play with your
baby!” She said, as I experienced, that
you will move away when you are done playing.
Last night, your
Daddy played a game he has been teaching you for a couple weeks now. He counts slowly to three, then says “Poke,
poke!” and pokes down into my belly where we last felt you move. At least half the time, you push back against
his poke!
We also think we
felt your hand. Your feet were bumping
strongly against my right side, and in the center of my stomach, just below my
belly button, we could feel a tiny round firm spot that would press back
against one of our fingers when we pushed down.
We can play with
you Beta, and you’re not even earthside yet!
It makes me want to meet you even more.
But I can be at peace, because you are safe. Safe in the most perfectly designed place for
you to grow and thrive.
This week, you are
the size of a sweet potato. Your head is
about two inches long, and your body from head to heel is a bit over ten inches
in length!
You are swallowing
more amniotic fluid, and your small intestine can now absorb a small amount of
sugars from the fluid. Your tongue is
fully formed, and aids in swallowing.
As fat deposits
increase under your skin, your skin is gradually losing its transparency. Since your heart is experiencing a spurt in
development, your overall growth in weight and length will slow a bit, allowing
your body to focus on strengthening the heart.
Blood cells have
previously been made in your liver and spleen, but now your bone marrow is
taking over that job. Leukocytes, white
blood cells, are being produced in your bone marrow. They are a key part of your immune system.
Your wake and sleep
periods will theoretically become more consistent, as you increasingly respond
to light and darkness, and lack of motion when I am sleeping.
As your muscles
grow stronger, so do your movements! In
a few months, you will gradually run out of space to move as much, so for now,
you are making good use of your strength and freedom.
Best of all, you
have been hearing long enough where you can recognize my voice, and other
important voices that speak to you often, such as your Daddy (and most likely
my co-workers!).
Since we will not
find out your gender before birth, I decided to search the internet to
speculate!
According to an
ancient Chinese lunar calendar, which predicts gender by comparing the mother’s
age at conception and the baby’s month of conception, you will be a girl.
According to my
answers to old wives’ tales, you will be a girl.
Here are the
questions of the various old wives’ tales:
-Is the
mother carrying high or low?
-Does
the mother crave sweet or salty?
-Is the
baby’s heart rate above or below 140 beats per minute?
-Is the
color of the mother’s urine bright or dull yellow?
-Does
the mother’s pillow face south or north?
-Was the
month of conception even or odd?
-Are the
mother’s feet colder than before?
-Is the
hair on the mother’s legs growing faster than before?
-Has the
mother’s breast development been dramatic?
-Does
the mother like to eat the heel of a loaf of bread?
Since there is a
lot of proven wisdom and effectiveness in ancient Chinese medicine, I tend to
believe their lunar calendar chart. The
old wives’ tales are a bit odd. A friend
thinks women pregnant with girls have bellies that are more “forward and round”,
and women pregnant with boys have bellies that are more “sideways and
wide.” Another friend’s mother, who had
five boys and one girl, says carrying a girl makes the mom’s behind wider!
Last night, your
Daddy read you verses from a book called, “God’s Promises.” It was a recent gift from his Grandma Marie,
his mother’s mother, your Great Grandmother.
The book is a little thing, full of beautiful promises from Scripture,
sorted and categorized. He read you a
few classic verses about children and families.
“These are just for you, Beta,” he began.
“Honor
your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 5:16 and Exodus 20:12)
As a side note,
your cousins Isabel and Aidan pray for you each night when they go to bed. Of his own volition, Aidan’s prayer has been
that you would obey your Mommy and Daddy!
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.
Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.” (Psalm 127:3-5)
