The Baby Whisperer

I told my wife this morning that I would like to feel the baby kicking in her belly at least once during this pregnancy.  I have seen it in movies, and I have heard her talking about it; and I want to experience the movement firsthand.  So, this afternoon, she was relaxing on the couch, and she told me to come sit next to her.  She said the baby was flailing all over the place, so this was the perfect time to feel him.

I plopped down on the couch next to her and put my hand in the spot she told me his feet were, and...nothing.  Not a single movement from inside her.  I stayed like that for half an hour until my arm started to hurt, while she dozed away on the couch.  The moment I removed my hand, he apparently started to kick again, so much so that he actually woke her up.  I immediately put my hand on her stomach, and...nothing.  Not even a flutter.  We tried several times, and he would never move while my hand was on her.

So, we have decided that I'm the baby whisperer.  It's like he knows it's my hand and calms down.  I can hear him now saying to himself, "Oh no, mom really means business this time.  She brought in the big guns.  That's dad out there, so I need to behave."  While I'm missing out on the kicking now, it's not without its merits later on.  My wife said that I have a gift, and I'm going to get him every single time that he's fussy, so I can calm him down.

That funny thing is that this isn't the first time that this "gift" has manifested itself.  When I was visiting CC in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, I did the same thing with his new baby.  He was screaming bloody murder while his mom was holding him.  The moment I picked him up, he completely stopped crying.  He just lay in my arms looking at me with curiosity until I finally rocked him to sleep.  Eventually, I put him back in his little bed, and he started to cry and squirm almost immediately.  I just laid my hand on his little chest, and he calmed down.  The moment I removed it, he'd start fussing again.  So, I just gently stroked his head and face until he went into a deep sleep.

Maybe it is a gift after all.  Who knew I had this in me all these years?