Kicking me

So, this child, Tadpole, has decided to make today the First Day of Serious Kicking! I've had movement for the last few weeks, and felt kicks internally for a little while. Thursday I felt a kick with my hand (during class) and last night during a movie we watched there were a few more. But today has been completely different. I was taking a break from homework this morning, sitting in a chair and reading a book (Birth: The surprising history of how we are born by Tina Cassidy, more on this later) and Tadpole just starting moving and kicking or elbowing or whatever. It's just a strange sensation. I couldn't understand it before it happened, and I find it difficult to explain just how it feels. This whole process is a very surreal and strange.

Which I guess is my segway to Birth. I picked this up at the library yesterday along with a few other baby/pregnancy/birthing books. It's an interesting look at the history of human birth, from Lucy to modern times. Cassidy discusses how human birth differs from other mammels and describes how birthing practices have changed of the centuries (and even the last decade). While it's certainly not the book for the squeamish (she unflinchingly describes horrific events and procedures), it's very interesting to hear how we've ended up using the tools and techiques we now rely on. It's also fascinating to consider how quickly things have changed since WW2. I wish I could talk with my grandmother (who, although living, wouldn't be able to have a conversation like this if she even remembers it) about what it was like to have my dad and aunts in the 40s and 50s. I never thought to ask about this before. Now that I'm pregnant, an entirely new area of conversation is available - topics that I was never interested in nor even thought about before now.