pregnancy

Stomach Staring…Not Creepy At All

One of the best parts of the second trimester is this activity I like to call Watching The Baby Move, also known as Let’s See Who Can Stare At My Pregnant Belly The Longest.

I do that a lot these days, because Finn seems to be having a party inside all the time. And also because it’s fun on so many levels – I get to lie down and do absolutely nothing except stare at my stomach. Even when he’s not moving, it’s extremely therapeutic and when he does move, it’s like “woah chill out in there, little guy” but also “that’s unbelievably cool” all at the same time.

Having done this twice before, it still fascinates me whenever the baby kicks or moves or flips a somersault. You know that chest-bursting scene in Alien where the alien thing struggles to pop out of the dude’s chest? Like that, except far less creepy and actually kind of sweet.

Well, ok, the husband says it’s nothing like that scene at all but I’ll qualify that by saying that I’ve never actually watched the full scene, only the first 3 seconds where there’s visible movement in the guy’s abdominal region before I end up closing my eyes and stuffing my fingers in my ears while singing “I Will Survive” loud enough to drown out the sound.

Anyhow, I like to get everyone engaged in this stomach-watching activity because it’s great for family bonding and all that. So every night before bed, I’ll make the husband and kids gather to stare at my belly.

The husband would pretend to be interested while fiddling with his iPad but at least the kids would stare intently, waiting for any sign of movement. But then Finn would get a bout of performance anxiety and refuse to move. 30 seconds in, they’ll be like “this is so boring why is he not moving?” and I’ll be all “you guys need to be patient, just wait for it.” After another 5 seconds, they’ll realize that they have better things to do with their time and run off, which is usually the point Finn starts to move. Then I’ll yell at them to come back because they’re missing out on witnessing a potentially life-changing event. But obviously by the time they get back, the moving would have stopped and Kirsten be all exasperated, like “I come back but baby Finn never move what. BABY FINNNNN!! Are you there? I think he cannot hear me.”

Till this day, they think that I’m making this up so I’m going to make one of those time-lapse videos of me lying down for 24 hours just so I can prove it to them.

Now if only I can find 24 hours to lie down without moving.

It’s totally for research, you guys. Or science. Or art. One of those.

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21 Comments

  • Reply Adorra May 16, 2012 at 11:55 am

    Hey Daph!

    I saw this http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2012/05/11/hello-kitty-x-vans-spring-summer-2012-collection/ (nope, no spam!) and I thought of your little girl! :D

    • Reply Daphne May 17, 2012 at 11:05 am

      So cute! Soon she can start selling all her Hello Kitty merch..

  • Reply Susan May 16, 2012 at 11:57 am

    Have you tried tapping on your tummy to get Finn to response? I videoed Sophie’s movements when I was expecting and it did looked freaky but at the same miraculous
    Susan´s last post ..Choose Happiness

    • Reply Daphne May 17, 2012 at 11:06 am

      Yeah we tried the tapping, talking, rubbing, but he seems to only do it when he feels like it. He does seem to occasionally respond to the husband’s voice but not mine though. I’ll have to rectify that when he’s born.

  • Reply claire May 16, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    i love tummy watching too! my own of course. and erm, with a baby inside haha. used to do it while hubby watched TV – he never understood why i’d rather watch the baby surf in the tummy instead ;)

    • Reply Daphne May 17, 2012 at 11:11 am

      It’s probably a maternal thing. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t be very keen to stare at someone else’s stomach for long periods either heh.

  • Reply Sherlyn May 16, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    I did a video on the tummy moving too, but not for 24 hours :) hehe
    Sherlyn´s last post ..5 Ways to Rock this Summer!

    • Reply Daphne May 17, 2012 at 11:11 am

      Cool! Did you manage to get some vigorous movements?

      • Reply Sherlyn May 18, 2012 at 1:53 pm

        Yes, I did! Though I think it was in the third trimester. Saw stuff protruding out, which was pretty amazing. :)

  • Reply qiu xian May 16, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    I love tummy watching too! And its always the case of the little guy moving like mad whilst the husband is not looking, or just when he took his hands away, then the baby moved!

    • Reply Daphne May 17, 2012 at 11:13 am

      Same here! It takes a lot of patience to catch the moving in action, but the feeling is quite something when you experience it. I remember when I was pregnant with Kirsten, she kicked so hard once we could see the shape of her tiny foot on my stomach. Freaky and so cute at the same time!

  • Reply Candice May 16, 2012 at 6:29 pm

    i do that too!! i make the husb stare at my tummy too since the son is still too young to understand. but same lor, when there’s an audience, the performance halts. second pregnancy already..so the excitement of watching and touching a moving tummy not quite there anymore. the husb just entertains me awhile and asks if he can go back to sleep. -_- poor #2s and #3s!

    • Reply Daphne May 17, 2012 at 11:14 am

      LOL at least your hubby will ask you before he goes back to sleep. :)

  • Reply Gigi May 17, 2012 at 10:26 am

    Hi Daphne, I certainly can relate what you are going through :) It took me a lot of tries everyday till I got it. I did a video here – http://littlechuck.blogspot.com/2011/11/little-chuck-practising-his-kungfu.html

  • Reply Ai Sakura May 17, 2012 at 1:18 pm

    I miss those feelings of the baby kicking and moving inside too. :) Enjoy while u can and try to get a video! Pretty bummed I didn’t take any. Maybe the next one? Haha
    Ai Sakura´s last post ..ハローキティ|Hello Kitty: McDonald’s x Hello Kitty Collectible Plushies

    • Reply Daphne May 18, 2012 at 4:28 pm

      Haha reason to have another one soon!

  • Reply Abby May 17, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    I think it is a unique sensation every mother enjoys – feeling and looking at your baby moves inside your body. No matter how many times you have been pregnant.

  • Reply Guillaume May 18, 2012 at 12:09 am

    nice bonding moments ;-) I would be the kind of Dad ” pretending to be interested while fiddling with his iPad”

    • Reply Daphne May 18, 2012 at 4:29 pm

      LOL points for pretending to be interested at least.

  • Reply Justpassingby May 21, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    I used to be able to get the movements by simply placing things on top of my tummy… like a half bottle of calcium pills… haha.. my kids hated weight on them, even though I didn’t think a half bottle of pills would be terribly heavy. hurhur. ahhh, how i miss those heavy-with-baby days. these days, i’m just heavy. fullstop. :P

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