Ain’t that a kick in the head?

If you haven’t seen the movie, Away We Go, I highly recommend it. It stars Maya Rudolph and John Krasinki as Verona and Burt - an expectant couple, searching for the perfect city in which to raise their baby. It’s filled with memorable, funny, and sweet moments, some of which revolve around Burt trying to get the baby’s heart rate up. Verona is concerned that the baby is too calm, and she wants it to be more lively. To accomplish this, Verona suggests that she and Burt fight more, and then listen to the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler. So, at inopportune moments, the viewer witnesses Burt jumping out, screaming obscenities at a surprised Verona, and then giddily placing the Doppler on her belly to listen to the heart-racing result.

Which gave me an idea...

I recently read that the baby’s heartbeat is now strong enough to be heard without a Doppler. We decided to try it last night. We turned off the fan, muted the TV, and Ben put his ear to my belly. About three seconds later – BAM! Lil Miss kicked him right in the temple. In her defense, she has a limited means of communication right now. How do we know it wasn’t a friendly fetus fist pump and not a karate kick? I’m thinking it was more a gesture of “Hello Daddy”, not “Back off dude”. Ben wasn’t sure if he heard her heartbeat, but he definitely heard the beginning of her individuality.