Playing with Baby: An Expectant Mum's First Kicks

After weeks and weeks of feeling absolutely nothing when it comes to the child growing within me it was heaven on Earth to have my first real interaction with my precious little baby. Friends have told me how wonderful it would be when I first felt my baby kick, terms like wonder, magic, and unbelievable were bandied about. But my first interaction with my baby did not bring wonder or awe but instead brought laughter. I could not stop laughing at the little kicks and thumps I felt each time I poked my abdomen. With every little prod I gave a little kick was given in return. I felt giddy with relief that I could suddenly feel this little being inside of me reacting to something I did. Suddenly my baby was not just this image on an ultrasound or a sound in the doctors office. Suddenly my baby was a real life little person and I couldn't wait to have the chance to play with my precious little baby in person without a womb standing between us.

As the weeks are going by faster and faster I find myself imagining the face of my little angel. Will the baby look like me, like my husband, or one of our family members? Will the baby have a little of us all? What characteristics will my baby show in those early days after birth. I remember watching my niece after she was born two months early. She spent the beginning of her life in the NICU, buy her strength was apparent immediately. Whenever a nurse came to check her or take blood she would kick those little froggy looking legs and flail those arms and cry as loud as her one stable lung would allow. Despite a chest tube and a hole in her left lung she was prepared to fight for her little life. Will my baby have that same spark? My mother tells stories of my willfulness as a baby and toddler. Will my child have that same willfulness? While some would say it is too early to tell I think I know for certain. With a strong heartbeat, and a love to kick, my baby has already shown one large personality, and I cannot wait to see how big it gets over the years.