This week I am testing the BabyPlus "prenatal education system" -- essentially it's Baby Einstein for my belly. I got the $150 product from my reviewer's job at SwankyMoms about two weeks ago, but I put off starting the regimen until yesterday. I mean, come on ... it's a speaker that you strap to your belly for two hours a day. Isn't that sort of weird? What if all that noise makes The Henry even more neurotic that his genetic predetermination? (And let's be honest ... with us as parents, his odds of not being neurotic are pretty slim.)

So I read the reviews on both Amazon and Babies "R" Us (universally glowing) and ran the safety factor past my doctor friend (a-OK). Yesterday I started the program. You do it twice a day, and the speaker beats a rhythmic pattern (listen to it here) that is supposed to resemble my heartbeat. Every few days the pattern grows more complex. The idea is to build TH's learning capabilities before he is born, so that he is able to more-easily acclimate to life outside the big house. Supposedly, BabyPlus babies are statistically calmer and have an easier time sleeping through the night and hitting their milestones.

Still, I was skeptical. And I still am. But I am now on my fourth usage, and the strangest thing just happened: TH started kicking back. That's right, TH actually kicked in rhythm to the machine for about two minutes straight, until I shouted for Future Papa to come over and disrupted TH's groove with my voice. It's the darndest thing. The speaker pops up on my belly whenever TH kicks. It's pretty friggin' cool.