Signs of Life

So, its been a while since I've posted. Life has been busy... But, no excuses.

This Monday, Amber and I went in for her monthly checkup with the midwives who will be there when Amber gives birth - you know, the routine - take your blood pressure, take measurements, weight, pee in a cup, and so forth. Fun times. Anyways, they also check the baby's heart rate at these routine check ups. So, the nurse was putting the baby stethoscope up to Amber's belly in search of finding the baby's heart rate. And as soon as she found his heart rate, you could hear this "thump," to which she said, "I think I just got kicked!" So, she goes to find the heart rate again, and again, "thump." She replies, "He's really protesting having his heart rate checked!" Finally, she gets it in the right spot again, and from across the room - no joke - I see the stethoscope pop up in the air! A direct hit! That kids going to be one soccer player! She finally got the heart rate measured (140 beats/min, which is good), and said, "If he's kicking that much we don't really need to have his heart rate measured!"

So yeah, he's kicking all the time. It's really cool to put my hands on Amber's stomach and feel him moving around. I swear, sometimes he does cartwheels in there. I can just see him turning and turning over and over and until suddenly, the umbilical cord is twisted so much that it spins like a pinwheel. Okay, maybe not, but nonetheless, bringing a kid into the world is one weird, scary, mesmerizing, maturing, and amazing thing!

And tomorrow we're off to Lafayette for Thanksgiving with family... should be interesting (isn't it always?). If any of you are in that little corner of the world this weekend, drop me a line.