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This week is my 15th week gestation, the fourth month. As the baby’s head has grown, the ears have moved to their proper places on the sides of the head. The eardrums and the bones of the middle ear are formed.
This means soon my baby will begin to hear and react to the noisy world of my uterus. Of course, the most noise the baby can hear is the rumbling of my stomach, the whoosh of blood through my blood vessels, and the beating of my heart.
This also means it is the right time to start to practice prenatal/fetal education to my baby. According to what I learned about prenatal/fetal education, human personality starts to develop before birth and is directly influenced by the mother’s experiences. Mother’s nutrition and physical well-being, as well as her mood, thoughts, speech and actions, were held to influence the physical, intellectual and moral character of the future child.
Some researchers in the field believe a proper prenatal stimulation might produce, in a sense, a “super-baby”.
However, that is not to say that I am going to make the womb a classroom. In my opinion, the essence of prenatal/fetal education is not to teach facts or impart information, but to make contact with the baby, a head start on the long process of parent-baby bonding, with the mother’s positive experience (mood, thoughts, speech and actions).
The key purpose is to show him/her parents’ positive emotions: unconditional love, deep appreciation, warm welcome and etc.
Therefore, beginning this week, I decide to do the following things for my baby:
1. Strive for tranquility; establish the security and support I need to cultivate the peace of mind. Try to stay away from people and things that make me anxious, angry, depressed, or sad. Try to keep a positive attitude and mindset.
2. Listen to simple, soothing and beautiful music once a day. The music is neither loud nor noisy, and I only listen to it no more than 20 minuets each time.
3. Name my baby a nickname and have loving conversations with my baby. Every day when I get up, brush my teeth, have the breakfast/lunch/supper, or begin to work, I call my baby by this nickname and tell him/her what I am doing.
And I also encourage baby’s daddy to do the same, although his conversation is much simpler. Like “hi, baby, daddy is going to go to work now. Poor daddy…”, or “hi, baby, daddy is back. How are you today?”
Once it was like this: “hi, baby, be good, be happy, be daddy’s baby. We let momy eat leftovers.” (and was stopped by me immediately!)
Every so often, I lay my hand on the stomach, rub my tummy gently and talk to my baby. I tell my baby all the good wishes I have for him/her, how happy and eager I am to bring him/her into the world.
Life becomes a little busier even before the baby is born! But I enjoy it a lot!
