Pregnancy has given the popular 1980’s Whodini song “The Freaks Come Out at Night” a whole new meaning for me. At 24 weeks pregnant, it is obvious that my son, Gabriel, is a mover and a shaker and a mommy waker.

When I first began to feel him kick, it was phenomenal. Most online information predicts that a woman who is having her first child will begin to feel movement in the form of flutters around 17 to 20 weeks. Well, I was only 15 weeks pregnant at the time and my son’s movements felt more like tiny thumps against my belly. It was a feeling that I could never have imagined.  Now, I can imagine him being the next karate kid or Muhammad Ali because those tiny thumps have turned into jostling jabs and startling kicks against the punching bag of my abdomen. The funny thing is, he seems to wait until the wee hours of the morning when all is quiet and still in “outer womb land” to get all this action going. He still moves periodically throughout the day, but nothing like when the lights go out. Maybe it’s because there’s no other outside stimulation going on to entertain him, so he entertains himself.

Here’s how I know he prefers the dark to light. I was sleeping ever so soundly one night (well as soundly as an achy pregnant woman can), when I was awakened by Gabriel’s aerobic activities. I felt whole body rolls and back-to-back kick and punch combos going on. I put my hand on my stomach in an effort to get him to settle down. But I decided I also wanted to see with my eyes what all this movement looked like from the outside, so I turned on the light. And what do you know?! The little rascal’s kicks stopped almost instantaneously. He still moved around slowly, but there was definitely a noticeable change in his behavior. Maybe the light startled him or maybe he paused to sense what I’m about to do, I thought. Perhaps it was a combination of both because as soon as I turned the light off and laid back down, his rigorous kicking continued.    

Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled to have an active, healthy baby growing inside me, but sometimes I say to him, “Take it easy on mommy’s tummy, Gabe!” Maybe he is taking it easy on me when he wiggles at night since I’m not as aware of it’s intensity as I would be if I were wide awake. Or maybe he just feels like the night time is the right time to kick the one you love. 🙂