18 weeks and kickin'

I have felt the baby move, or you at least think to yourself, 'What was that? I felt a little bubbly something. That was different. That must be it!" But yesterday morning, Sunday, as I lazily laid in bed (on my back no less. Yes-yes, stop scoulding me, you are not supposed to lay down on your back past 16 weeks... but it was really a brief roll-over in preparation to get up and out of bed) I felt a definitive kick. I had my hand on my belly and felt it both internally AND externally. First thought, 'what the?' Then, 'Rob should have been here!' Quickly followed by, 'do it again!'
I felt the baby wriggle in the morning and again after eating. It wriggled rather wildly when I went to bed. No need to lay on my stomach waiting for it anymore. I now notice it a lot more often! I'm wondering when it will turn from cute to driving-me-crazy. I hear they can kick-kick-kick when you try to lay down and to go to sleep. Or they stomp on your bladder sending you running for the toilet. Rather unfriendly!
Like my friend A wrote in an email (and I have heard this before, so you are not crazy A!), there does come a time when you get used to the cycles of movement and it becomes a part of your routine. Then there's the stage when it hardly moves due to space limitations and it can make you a wee bit frantically worried. And then finally - the separation anxiety after you have the baby. I can definitely see that later stage affecting me when I go off to work again after the baby arrives. I know I'll be a bit of a cryer when that time comes.
I still can't believe this is all happening. Having a baby. I know that may sound a bit stupid - but its all such a crazy ride. You get used to the stages of pregnancy and you begin to forget what it was like to wear pants with a zippered fly or that you used to sleep through the night without peeing or what it was like to stay up late without crashing at 10PM. Feeling the baby move is making this all seem a bit more real. But I also have to admit, its also making me a bit more selfish, too - I want more! ;-)