Pregnancy

As I was talking to one woman she suddenly commented, "You know, being pregnant is something that only a woman can do." Oh, the obvious under the nose! I couldn't believe no one else had said this. And this particular woman had no children of her own yet.

I've thought about it so much since. The minute the baby is born, the father has the opportunity to share in every moment. But for nine months before that, she only can feel the nausea, the first flutter of movement, the kicks and punches, and the head butts to the bladder. Not all of it is fun and games, but every moment is a private one.

I was an undergrad during my first pregnancy and whenever class got boring I would simply zone in on my baby, moving inside me, and pay attention to every movement, every hiccup, every kick. "He's mine," I would think, "all mine." And until he was born, he was.

As with playing dress-ups and make-up, playing house with a baby is the beginning of life for most young girls. Is it nature or nurture? Even in our most primitive state we instinctively know how to care for our young. How we continue to care for them over the years seems to be more learned. Our young little friend is lucky to be observing the tender moment of an expectant mother as she herself practices loving a young baby.