2AM. Eyes flash open. Weird dreams again. Oh, and er, time to pee. Hmm, lets see – third juncture of the night I shuffle to the loo. Will I get back to sleep this time? Cautiously shuffle back to bed in the dark with hopes of passing out immediately…
Wait, what now?? Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. What it this? Why is my lower belly playing a tune; a rhythmical pulse; a constant chord…from the inside? How can I almost sense it from the outside? Is it my long suffering bowel alerting me that tonight’s Mexican feast was not appreciated? The mountain of corn tortillas? Perhaps the salsa picante dips or the toothsome refried beans?? Tap tap tap. Again and again…
22 weeks pregnant
That’s not bellyache, Alice. That’s the Seahorse hiccupping!
Well what do you know! The Hartley Seahorse is up and about tonight! And hiccupping no less! I still blame the tortilla chips…
However I do the next day read that little unborn Seahorses breathe amniotic fluid: in and out they swallow the fluid too. And when they do, their little diaphragm spasms and this causes a hiccup. Quite normal in nature they are heartbeat like rhythms and can be felt from outside the stomach. I sure did! This baby’s hiccups have begun now, in the second trimester. Best of what I read is that that fetal hiccups are something to be delighted about, for they indicate growth in the baby.
Our wee critter thrives! Fancy if Seahorse did after all fancy Mexican! Pass the chicken enchiladas; we have one hungry baby on board…
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