18 Years Ago: May 11th--Motion

One thing to do while pregnant is tune into the movements going on inside you. In November (Week 17) I had noted the first sensations: "felt a movement flicker (or gas?) at concert." As the weeks went by, I used more descriptions: "felt bubbles that felt more like fetus than gas!" and "felt little kicking that was NOT gas."

On December 21, 1996: "Markus felt baby thru w. hand!" A boney protrusion crossed my uterus below my naval. If I held Markus' hand in place and we waited, he could feel it, too.

In February I answered questions in the Kitzinger journal about how my baby moved.

At what times does your baby move most? odd times during the day; night-time pee; bedtime; waking up in the morning.

What different moves does your baby make? whacking kicks; undulating, rubbing (more tickling) movements; opposite sides of my uterus simultaneously.

When are your baby's quiet times? early evening

Once, several weeks after Simon's birth, I dozed in a chair and noticed a flutter in my abdomen. I smiled, enjoying the communication from my baby inside. Then I snapped awake: that time it really was just gas. And memory.

May 11, 1997 (a Sunday): "157 lbs; 40 laps" At this point, my notes are in the margins on the journal page. I had traversed 40 weeks, and there was no continuation in the journal for Week 41 and beyond. According to these notations, that was my last time in the pool prenatally.

May 11, 2015 (a Monday): Back in my office as a person with a language business (not merely a blogger), I had one of those days when you do a million things, and it feels like you've done about one. Piddly tasks, really, like calling the doctor 20 times before I got through to cancel Miriam's appointment (doctors' offices here don't use hold music, just a busy signal...). Like updating my cell phone number in various apps. Catching up on email. Printing out a bunch of stuff. Nothing to write a blog about, really.

Resistors

Instead, I'll switch to reporting on my daughter and husband again. After yesterday's run, they've become today's math and physics team. Miriam is preparing for a physics test next week (yes, physics in 9th grade), and she is finishing up a report on the number Pi. Unfortunately, the physics instruction does not involve hands-on testing out of concepts. She's found it hard to grasp the concepts in the abstract. So, Markus went to four shops on his bike ride home today, looking for a basic kit to build an electric motor. The only thing he found was a set of resistors (right). I haven't completely understood what they are for, but I have to wait until they're done debating Pi before I can ask.

Title: Kitchen Motor
Cardboard, pencil lead, actual pencil,
cylindrical hunk of bread, tape,
floral wire

Speaking of resistors, here is the pièce de résistance. To demonstrate the use of magnetism to drive a motor, Markus built this contraption (left). I asked Miriam to explain the mechanism to me. She aligned the two white "batteries" over the rotating cylinder to "power" the device. Then she explained the magnetic polarization at the ends of the broken pencil bit, which can repel like-poled magnets into motion. I know the push and pull of magnets. I can imagine the power of the motion generated. Markus did not get his engineering degree for nothing.

It all makes me wonder what an almost 18-year-old Simon would be interested in. What would he be good at? Would he be the one explaining the fine points of physics and math to his sister? I like to imagine him doing so.