Twas a dark and stormy night...

I was awakened by a thunderstorm VERRRYYYYY early this morning and then (as often happens to me these days) couldn't go back to sleep. My abdomen was very uncomfortable (that also often happens these days...I think it's from stretching and organs being displaced from their usual abode) so I was holding it with my hands with some pressure (helps...don't ask me why). All of a sudden, I felt something kind of "roll" under my hand! And that, dear friends, is the first time I have consciously touched my baby. :-)
Now, I have been palpating down there for a few weeks now, hoping to feel something (I can feel my uterus, but hoping to feel the baby). And I have felt things, but not the baby (did you know that you have a pulse in your abdomen? I don't know if that's always the case or if it's stronger right now because of increased blood flow to my uterus, but it's definitely there!). It made it a little harder that I wasn't quite sure what exactly I was feeling for. When you read about quickening, it almost always says "It is hard to describe" and then follows it with some rather unhelpful comparisons (butterfly wings, goldfish...yeah, like I know what a goldfish fluttering in my stomach would feel like!). I admit I was kind of skeptical...I mean, women have been feeling this for centuries, so can't they come up with a more definitive description?
Now I kind of understand. I'm sure it feels different for everyone, like many things with the human body. For me, it did not feel like butterflies or goldfish...it felt like I imagine a blanket would feel if someone poked their fist up through it and then dragged it along for a bit before dropping back down. That might be because I was feeling it with my hand (I've felt it twice today, and both times it was with my hand, not my belly...guessing the baby needs to be bigger/kick harder for me to feel it from inside my tummy).
So I lay there in the dark, listening to the thunder and feeling my baby swim and move and play. It was so beautiful...I look forward to feeling it more. :-)