
Over the last few weeks and months I have ingested many apps and blogs and articles and message boards, led to each after Googling something like ‘IS BABY OKAY?’ or ‘NORMAL TO FEEL LIKE BABY IS PUSHING BLADDER OUT OF BELLY BUTTON?’ or IS BABY IN DISTRESS SO IT’S PULLING ON ITS UMBILICAL CORD TO TELL ME THAT IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE IT DOESN’T HAVE WORDS YET?’ I can’t remember where I’ve read it, but my FAVORITE thing I’ve learned about babies in utero is that they practice crying in the womb. The practice crying is a.) soundless and b.) unrelated to actual emotion. They are literally just practicing what it will look and feel like when they scream at 2 AM because who knows why. They are studying, practicing, they are in grad school for their first real job, they are rehearsing for a life of big Feels. It makes me a.) love humans even more and b.) KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I SPENT MY ENTIRE 9-10 MONTHS IN RIGOROUS CRYING PRACTICE.