hiccups

Just as my boys did while they were in utero, this baby gets the hiccups all the time. Like, seriously, four to five times a day. And just as my boys did (and still do) after they were born, I imagine that this baby will continue to frequently come down with a case of the hiccups after his birth. While the rhythmic thumping deep inside me can get a little obnoxious after a while, it is always comforting to know that not only is my baby by all accounts still thriving, his lungs and diaphragm are also apparently developing properly.

Yesterday afternoon, with his hand strategically placed on my belly, Garrett felt the baby's hiccups for the first time. He thought it was both amazing and hilarious. "Mom! I hear it! I hear the baby!" he giggled as he put his ear to my belly, partly convinced that he could actually hear something rather than just feel it.

Later in the evening, when the baby had the hiccups again, I mentioned it to Garrett. Instead of wanting to feel (hear?) them again, he said, "Mom, we need to give the baby a drink of water so he can get his hiccups gone."

"That's a good idea," I said. "But if the baby is still in my tummy, how will we give him a drink of water?"

Garrett thought for a moment before he said, "I know! We give him water in a cup!"

I laughed, and then prodded a little further to see if he'd realize the impossibility of his idea. "But if the baby's still inside my tummy, how can he drink water in a cup that is outside? Should I just pour the water on my tummy?"

This time he laughed. "No, Mom, that's silly! YOU drink the water and the baby's hiccups will go away!"

So not only does Garrett get the hiccups often enough to know how to stop them, but apparently he's also proof that we've had a few belly button/umbilical cord conversations at our house (all of which, I might add, were initiated by Garrett's ever-present curiosity).

He handed me a glass of water. "Here, here you water, Mom. Drink."

And whether or not it was a result of the water I gulped down under Garrett's scrutinizing supervision or simply the passage of time, but after that, the baby's hiccups stopped. Whatever the miracle cure was, it made all of us happy.