Play It Again Mom.
When I was pregnant with my first son I played the piano every day, sometimes for hours. I played out my anxieties and fears as well as my joys and excitement. Our daily recitals were only interrupted when my son, Blaise, was born via C-section. The day we came home from the hospital, my mother was holding him on her chest, walking slowing around the room as he dozed. And while I was still in quite a bit of pain, I hobbled over to the bench and began to softly play a favorite song. My newborn, only days old, lifted his head from his grandmother’s chest, and wide-eyed and searching, turned his head toward the music in what can only be called recognition. We were stunned at the display of strength and focus. I know have four children, and they all take piano lessons—some more enthusiastically than others— but Blaise is the only one who can play by ear. Where everyone else reads music and counts keys, Blaise has the uncanny ability to master a song with just a little exploration. The music simply pours from within him, as steady and familiar as his own heartbeat. —Marlene
Forget the Silver Spoon.
When Grace was born via C-section, there was this quiet moment just before they pulled her out—then everyone in surgery erupted in laughter. “What? What is it?” I asked, “What’s so funny?” Was my baby funny-looking? My doctor said, “It’s a Baby Grace, and she was born with her foot in her mouth.” She was breech with a foot basically beside each ear, and she had taken to sucking her toes while in utero! Thankfully she did not carry on that habit, but she is the most flexible creature I’ve ever seen. We call her our little contortionist. And she has a real knack for expressing herself that we call “foot in mouth” syndrome. —Ame
Kicking Back.
I was working as a teacher when I was pregnant with my son Matt and one day at recess, a kickball came flying out of nowhere and smacked me squarely in the belly. It took a trip to the hospital and an ultrasound to calm me down. Thankfully a pregnant belly provides wonderful cushiony protection and we were both fine. Unlike me, my bump seemed quite excited by his close encounter with the ball and so began a kicking-fest that lasted throughout the rest of my pregnancy. Sometimes I’d worry that he was kicking in defense or trauma but then it would feel like he was simply having fun. We got our answer when our little “Beckham” walked onto the soccer field for the first time. All those months had simply been practice as he seems to have been born a soccer star! —Jennifer
Have A Cookie.
When I was pregnant with my daughter, Jill, I had a very strong craving for an ordinary cookie—a sugar cookie made by a grocery-store brand, Mothers. I’d eat them every chance I got and any time—day or night. Recently Jill called me to say, “Mom, you know what I’m in the mood to eat?” Of course I guessed right—she still loves those cookies nearly 40 years later! I like to think that she was somehow telling me to eat them when she was a baby in my belly. —Karen
Brotherly Love.
When I was pregnant with my twins, Benny and Tomas, they gave me some pretty solid clues to their personalities. Benny was our active kicker, and his poor brother and I were, and continue to be, on the receiving end of his rambunctious legs. He needs about half as much sleep as Tomas, who before birth was, and still is, my peaceful, sleep-loving little man. Benny followed Tomas around in the womb, always cuddling up to him, which gave my bump an interesting, off-kilter shape since Benny kept Tomas cornered on my left side for the entire pregnancy. To this day Benny is lost without his brother. Tomas loves to eat and was significantly bigger than Ben at birth—I swear he was hogging all the food in utero! We craved fruit when I was pregnant, and it’s still their favorite food. —Nancy
Excerpted from “Postcards From the Bump: A Chick’s Guide to Getting to Know the Baby in Your Belly,” by Emily Miles Terry and Ame Beanland.
