He's a Bruiser

This is my first time at this so I don't know what's normal, but our boy seems to be rather active. His favorite thing is to punch the mattress when I'm lying on my side in bed. Whenever I talk about it Jono gets this proud little smirk on his face, and I know what he's thinking: "Just like his dad." Jono is fidgety. Actually we both fidget, so I guess the situation isn't surprising.

My doctor commented on it too. During my check-ups she feels around to see where he is, and I guess she can tell he's squirmy. "I think you're going to have an active little one here," she said. A few check-ups ago he kicked the sonogram machine when she put it on my belly. I think the machine is loud for him, but instead of waiting patiently for her to remove it he got annoyed and gave it two direct hits. Cutie :)

I can feel it now when he gets hiccups. They feel like mild, regular muscle twitches, and I can tell right where his head is when he gets them because of the location of the twitch. (He is often in the head-down position with his legs flailing up around my upper right side.) He usually has them for a few minutes, and it makes me want to pinch his cheeks or squish his leg rolls just picturing him in there hiccuping by himself.

Speaking of pinching, there are times when he sticks his knee or elbow out so far that I can actually grasp part of it between my thumb and index finger. Jono can be across the room and clearly see this or that little body part sticking out under my skin. I give him gentle squeezes, partly because I can't resist, but also because the doctor told me they like the physical contact. Jono used to say, “Don’t hurt him!” when I did things like that, but now that I have a physician’s permission I like to pat and prod him a bit when he’s moving around.

I think my body is just now starting to release the hormones that cause my hip joints to loosen up a bit in preparation for birth. Last week I was bragging to Jono about how spry I was still feeling. One should never brag while pregnant. I think the next day my left hip was wonky. I felt like an old lady when I got up in the morning, limping around for a few minutes like an injured bird until I was limbered up. I also have a hard time standing up straight right away after I've been laying down because my abdominals are so tight.

The hip thing went away after a few days, but I can't wait to find out what lovely side effect will show up next.