Twenty One Weeks

Heart throb
"What's that noise—the one that sounds like galloping horses?" Your baby's heartbeat gets stronger and louder every day. Up until a few weeks ago, your doctor needed a special device called a Doppler to hear it. Now all that's needed is a stethoscope.

If you want to hear your baby's heartbeat at home, buy a simple stethoscope at the drugstore. (Dad, siblings, and grandparents may enjoy the chance to listen, too.) Your little one's beat can be difficult to distinguish from your own. Listen for the faster rhythm—a baby's heartbeat is 120 to 160 beats per minute, about twice as fast as your own. Many women think it sounds like galloping horses.

Snooze news
Your baby is already starting to sleep and wake in subtle cycles. Ultrasounds show that unborn babies may even settle into a favorite sleeping position. Yours might tuck her chin into her chest, clasp her hands under her chin, or tilt her head back.

Measuring up
Your baby weighs between 10 and 13 ounces and is around 9 inches long, the length and weight of a banana.

Dawn's Notes:
Chris can feel the baby kick now, and I can't wait to let everyone try the stethoscope!

Kick Me!

Chris felt the baby move last night!!

We were sitting on the couch watching our favorite TV show, Lost, and I felt the baby kicking HARD. I told Chris that I was curious to know if anyone else could feel how much stronger the kicks were becoming or if it was just me? He put his hand on my belly for a couple of minutes, and then the babe starting tapping out Morse code on my belly button. Chris could feel it!

I don't know if it's fair to imply that I'm more excited about this new development than Chris is, but it is honestly exhilarating to be sharing this experience with someone (besides the baby). Sometimes I feel like a little island, isolated by the knowledge that no one around me quite understands what I'm feeling as well as I do.

I've been saddened by the realization that Chris will never know what it feels like to have our little baby that we made living inside him. It's almost like I'm being selfish in keeping that feeling all to myself. I wish he could feel what I feel, but I'm glad that he can at least share this experience with me in this way.

It's also an indescribable feeling to feel my husband's hand outside of my belly and my baby's hand on the inside of my belly. I feel like I am the connecting force between them, and it's a very spiritual experience.