Could be good news... could be bad.

With most first pregnancies professionals say mom's start feeling the baby move around 18 weeks or so, and earlier with subsequent children. With Kael, I felt him move at 16 weeks. I was a pretty skinny person to begin with so that wasn't surprising. With Malia, I started to feel her around 15 weeks because I knew what to look for. "Feel the baby move" at this point means feeling a flutter-like sensation in your tummy. Or maybe gas bubbles. Just something there that's not normal.

Last week (that would make me 15 weeks) I started feeling something on the upper right side of my tummy, near my rib cage. It wasn't a fluttering feeling, it wasn't gas bubbles. It was more like a twitching. I figured I was getting small muscle spasms or something weird like that since I was getting all the wacky pregnancy symptoms this time around that I didn't get with the first 2 and didn't think much of it. I'd get it on and off all week so I brushed it off. Last night it started up again (or more appropriately, I paid more attention to it since I was sitting at the computer), but this time the spasms were much stronger and for longer periods of time. "What the heck is going on?!" I thought, and "Boy, being pregnant while considered 'Advanced Maternal Age' really sucks -- my body's all broken down!" So I sat there massaging the twitch when it dawned on me: it was the baby.

Today, Blub's been twitching pretty regularly. (I'm calling it Blub since we're not finding out the sex until its birthday in September.) I have to say it's been kind of neat since #3's movements are completely different from Kael's and Malia's. At lunchtime, Blub was twitching pretty hard and I happened to look down. I knew I wouldn't see anything since it's way too early. Imagine my surprise when I actually saw movement: Blub make a ding in my belly that I could see through my shirt, like that scene out of the Exorcist where Linda Blair's stomach was written on from the inside (OK, bad comparison, but that's the best I can think of). I couldn't believe it. I told G'ma to look and she saw it too. I was floored. And yes, more than a little worried about the coming months until D-Day in September.

The good news: this baby's apparently really strong and maybe, just maybe, I'll have a 6+ pound baby this time around (Kael was 5lbs, 14oz and Malia was 5lbs, 6oz). It will be nice not having to say repeatedly: "No, s/he's not a preemie; s/he's a full term baby, just a small one."

The bad news: if Blub is already kicking this hard this early, the rest of the pregnancy is going to be hell. Imagine trying to sleep with a barrel of monkeys goofing off in your tummy at night. Plus, both Kael and Malia were very active babies in the womb -- and look at them now. Kael's aways ALWAYS got to have some body part moving, whether it's a leg twitching or an arm swinging wildly. And Malia, well, Dad doesn't call her Godzilla for nothing. The third child is supposed to be the calm and mellow one. Already this one is proving that theory wrong.

Great. Luckily for you, I'm sure I'll have plenty of blog-worthy material.