"AND THE GOLD MEDAL GOES TO...."

(... do they even announce the Olympic Gold Medal winners like they do at the Oscars? After almost 16 full days of watching the 2010 Winter Games, and 10 Canadian Gold medals, you'd think I would have noticed.) ;p


Every parent thinks that their child is destined for great things, so it will come as no big surprise when I say-- I SWEAR this little girl inside my belly is going to be an Olympic champion. "How can I tell", you ask? Well, from morning 'til night, she's punching and kicking, doing stomach crunches, leg raises, bicep curls...with all the moving around she's doing, she's bound to be one fit little baby!!

According to my Pregnancy Calendar, after 28 weeks I'm supposed to check in with my belly every morning and evening and count 'baby movements'. If I don't feel about 10 movements in an hour, I'm supposed to drink juice or eat a sugary snack and try again... If THAT fails, then I'm to contact my practitioner to get a checkup and make sure everything is alright. (Yet another way these books and doctors try to freak out expectant mothers...)

However, what they DON'T give advice on, is how to function when you're being karate-chopped from the inside 24/7! "10 movements in an hour" Pregnancy Calendar?? How about 10 movements every 10 seconds! Especially at bedtime.


They say that the average woman starts feeling baby move between 18-22 weeks. If you've had a baby before, or you're really skinny, you'll feel movement around 18 weeks... well at 21 1/2 weeks when i STILL hadn't felt anything, I was getting a little anxious. "Umm.. how do you know if your baby's still alive?" I would ask my husband. And his face would go pale.

Then one day at work when I was around 22 weeks I felt it. Was it just paranoia setting in? Or maybe just gas bubbles after lunch? Nope. Within a few hours I felt it again, and then again later that night after dinner. Like little fingers rapping along the inside of my belly. I consulted my Urban Encyclopedia (aka 'Facebook') and all sources were agreed--- that was baby moving. Whew! Thanks Facebook doctors. She was alive and well, and I fell into that 18-22 week statistic. (Sometimes it's really OK just to be average.)

And now at 29 weeks, I realize it's been an Olympic party in there ever since! Maybe it's because now I know what it feels like so I am more aware? Maybe baby's getting bigger and stronger and simply moving around more in there? Maybe it's a combination of both, but either way, it's comforting to know that whenever I feel any movement -- it's good movement... even if that means she punches my bladder at 4am and makes me pee 7 times a night.


So, like I said... if there's going to be a future Olympic Gold Medal winner, it's my little girl. After all, she'll be born in 2010, so that has to bless her with all things athletic. :)

(By the way... is being a "Ninja" an Olympic Sport yet? If not, it should be... hmmm... maybe little Veronica here will put it on the map.)