Shy baby

I have heard various stories from my email buddies about how active their babies are. In general, I think their babies seem to be more active than mine. Well, maybe that's not quite the case. Maybe I just have a shy baby.

My baby will kick and dance and seem to be content to continue forever, unless someone tries to feel her. I'm told that if you press on the foot kicking on the tummy, then most babies will withdraw the foot then continue kicking after a moment or two. Not my baby.

It seems that the moment my baby detects any outside involvement, she freezes. This means if she is stretching her foot (or arm - how would I know?) and you apply pressure to it... she stops. The foot isn't withdrawn back into the tummy. It stays right where it is. It's almost as though the baby is thinking "Shhh... If I stay still, they won't notice me."

The advantage of this is that it's relatively easy for me to have someone feel the baby's foot, since it feels like a hard bump inside my tummy. The disadvantage is that it's difficult convincing people that indeed they are feeling a foot and not just a funky hard growth.

I wonder how this trait will show itself after the baby is finally born. How can you tell a shy baby? It's not like they can run and hide behind Mommy's leg like cute little shy children do. Am I going to have a baby that freezes whenever I introduce him to a new person?

"Ah, yes, meet my baby... I swear he's not just a doll!"