Hiccups

I was talking with a friend the other day (I won't mention her name or else she will kill me) and told her about the Octopus Alien (the Octopus Alien post is under the September file). She said, "Huh! I wonder if he is trying to say something?"

I said, "I know, right? But I don't think he even knows he is IN somebody. He probably hears my voice and think I am very talkative God or something." She said, "Hum. Then maybe he kicks to get you to shut up?"

:o/

All I know is that sometimes his movements get caught up in a rhythm and stick to it for a good minute, almost to the tempo of "Billy Jean."

I did a little research and I think I figured out the mystery. Turns out baby is not dancing to Michael Jackson or talking Morse code. Baby is hiccuping.

Why do babies hiccup?

First, baby needs a brain and a functioning nervous system. So that's good news. If a fetus is hiccuping, that means things are growing according to plan. Second, baby needs to open his big, little mouth and yawn (yes, fetuses yawn) or swallow (just for the heck of it) amniotic fluid. Third, his lungs have to react to the presence of the fluid by causing his tiny diaphragm to contract (another sign that things are responding well) and that's how fetus' hiccups are made.

As a little girl, whenever I got the hiccups, my brother would sneak behind me and scare the crap out of me with a loud "BOO!" It never worked; my hiccups continued, and I was now pissed, but it's an old wives tale that scaring someone with hiccups causes them to suck the air in rapidly, which stops the rhythm of the hiccups.

No, I'm not going to say "BOO!" to my belly (I tried. It doesn't work).

Btw, I dare you to get "Billy Jean" out of your head now.