Tummy Time

I have recently been reading about the importance of "Tummy Time" for infants preparing to crawl. I had never heard of it before, but apparently babies getting ready to crawl should spend some time on their bellies every day to begin to develop the muscles they will eventually use to crawl.

For now, Baby C and I have our own little version of "Tummy Time". It is my favorite time of the day. It is when I take a nice warm bath in the evening. Not only does it soak away the aches and pains of the day, but I have the best view of my own belly. I could lay there for hours just watching my belly and talking to the him. He really seems to enjoy it as well because he always starts to move around and kick those reassuring little kicks during bath time. In fact, the first time I felt him move, I was in the bath.

Well, several weeks ago while in the bath, I actually saw the baby kick for the first time. I was lying there staring at my belly button amazed at how shallow it had become when BAM, the side of my belly quickly and violently changed shape for a second and the water pooled in my ever shrinking belly button shook like the glass of water in that scene from Jurassic Park! I laughed at the Jurassic Park image and the thought of being chased by a giant prehistoric beast. It was very cool, even if somewhat startling. It was as if he was saying, "Um, hello out there! I think you have more important things to think about than your own belly button!" He's right, I thought.........we have to finish the nursery.........I am thinking a woodland/animal theme. Then two more sharp jabs from inside brought me back the the present. Well, I guess there are even more important things to think about than the nursery, I thought. My mind began to drift to the big stuff: money, IRA'a, 401K's, college funds, life insurance plans. Suddenly I found myself panicking, thinking it would actually be less stressful to be chased down by a dinosaur!

Just in time to prevent a full blown panic attack I felt a few soft pokes from within. It was like he was saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. You can think about the nursery. You have time for all that other stuff". What a sweet baby already!

It's funny how before they are even born, babies have a way of putting things in perspective. I may just have to add some dinosaurs to the nursery motif.