Things are Quickening

Carrie's been feeling kicks/flutters for a week now. She said that at first they felt like the bun was lightly and intermittently tickling her from the inside.

The pokes have gotten more frequent and more vigorous, so Carrie is concerned they could eventually feel like karate chops to her abdomen.

On Wednesday, our midwife Moon (that's really her name; I am not making this up) told us that the moment a pregnant woman feels a flutter is known as the "Quickening."

The occasional kicks are reassuring, of course, given our history. If their presence is comforting, though, their absence can be a bit frightening.

Fortunately they never leave for long.

One night I asked Carrie to let me know every time she felt a flutter. Eventually, Carrie was saying "kick" so often, I felt I had been adequately brought up to speed.

Last night, I finally felt a couple of these kicks myself. Twice in succession, my hand could discerned a slight but present pulsing inside Carrie's belly.

I've decided to name the first time a dad feels a flutter the "Hastening." It's less romantic than the "Quickening" but that somehow seems appropriate.

We fathers-to-be are at a slight but tangible distance from the biological magic churning inside our wives' tummies. It's like riding inside a Toyota Camry in the adjacent lane of the Electric Mayhem Bus.

Movin' right along ...