Quickening

quick·en (kwkn)
v. quick·ened, quick·en·ing, quick·ens
v.tr.
1. To make more rapid; accelerate.
2. To make alive; vitalize.
3. To excite and stimulate; stir: Such stories quicken the imagination.
4. To make steeper.
v.intr.
1. To become more rapid. See Synonyms at speed.
2. To come or return to life: "And the weak spirit quickens" (T.S. Eliot).
3. To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move.

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Ahh... quickening - those first fluttery moments when you are aware that there is life inside you. I had already seen her twice on the ultrasound, but it was so reassuring to feel her - like a butterfly or a bird lightly flapping its wings and tapping at the walls of its confinement.

The doctor said it was too early to feel anything. She was wrong. I felt the same movements under the same types of conditions and same time of day for weeks 14 to 20.

But now, the little one is growing stronger. Sometimes still a bird, but more often it feels like little popcorn kicks - pop, pop! pop, pop!

I am sure that there will be times when it is uncomfortable and painful, so for now, I'm just enjoying the knowledge that she is there, growing steadily.