I felt E move at about 22 weeks–hideously late. And I felt her move on the outside before I could feel her inside. R was a totally different story; I felt her at 12 weeks and it seems like we could feel her outside around 18 or so. So I thought, oh, first baby, feel late, how normal.
Then I didn’t feel L until this week. Again, outside first. It was so late! (About 18 weeks, 20 by the earlier due date.) Which was a little worrisome, because I kept wondering if he was moving or not!
Finally I felt these little blips, those tiny pokings that make me feel like Kane on Alien. And a small sigh of relief: now I can know he’s all right. And a feeling of responsibility: now I have to pay attention to make sure he’s still all right, tomorrow, next week, next month. And now we’re connected: biding our time with the most rudimentary communication of bumps and punches until, Lord willing, they’re replaced by cries and gurgles and lullabies.
It’s so very odd to have a little human inside.
Yay for kicks from L! That was my favorite part of being pregnant! In my few days in the hospital after she was born I would feel something in my belly (probably everything just going back to "normal") and my instinct was to think "Lorelei is kicking!" How odd it was for me to glance over and see her right there, outside me! And then within weeks, I forgot what it felt like to feel my baby kick. I miss it.