19 weeks- "The Quickening"

Jamba got a wonderful birthday present today (Monday, April 21st) when I was in bed trying to fall asleep after the inevitable 4am trip to the bathroom (my bladder shrinking in direct proportion to the enlargment of my boobs, which incidentally are becoming frightfully planet-like in both heft and gravity), and I was lying on my back (trying to savor the last moments in which I will apparently be able to enjoy this wonderful position) and I was starting to dream about either pancakes or being chased by a swollen mongoose when.... I felt the baby move inside my belly! It felt like my stomach was a little bay or inlet and there was a smallish rowboat gently and faintly knocking against a pier. It didn't feel like fluttering or like gas, which is what they tell you it is going to feel like. It felt like a small watercraft in a bit of wake.

When Jamba woke up at 9 am (his bladder is still apparently quite up to the challenge of sleeping through the night) I got to tell him the good news and he put his hand on my belly for awhile and actually felt it kick a couple of times from the outside! Which I think made him feel pretty happy and was a nice birthday present, and very thoughtful of the (now) 8 oz heirloom tomato, who thus was the first person to be able to give Jamba a present this year.

Incidentally for the moment we have decided to name the child, if it be a boy, Oslo Elliot Dunn, and if a girl, Sava Talullah Dunn. By "decide" I mean these are the selections of the moment, and are subject to fluctuation and of course to meeting the child, who might have a name already figured out for itself and will tell us upon birth. My midwife tells us that we might want to choose a "belly name", meaning a gender-neutral nickname for the baby- and so far it has been "carrot" and "turnip" and "grublet" and so on, but we are still casting about for the perfect temporary moniker. Does anybody have any ideas? Cast your vote!!