Baby Movements
Feeling little baby movements inside you is such a magical feeling. You’ll never forget those little hiccups, those long full body stretches, or the powerful kicks.
You’ll start feeling movements around week 18-20. I think of these first movements as flutters or butterflies because it’s hard to pinpoint what you are actually feeling baby do. The first couple times I felt baby move it reminded me of going on a rollercoaster. Your stomach feels like there are butterflies in it! Now these first movements will not be the large movements that you see in videos. You won’t be able to physically see baby move till around the 20–24-week mark.
I remember sitting at my desk one morning at work and feeling something thud at a steady pace. As I paid more attention to it, I thought I was feeling the baby’s heartbeat! That afternoon I felt it again when my mom came to visit me. I explained how it felt and she said, “honey your baby has hiccups”. LOL that sounds more logical than being able to feel my baby’s heartbeat!!
These small movements help us connect with our babies so early. Dads don’t get to feel this connection like we do so I always made it a point to have my husband place his hand on my stomach for 5-10 minutes before bed so he could feel our little baby. I know it freaked him out a few times, but he enjoyed connecting with our baby in those little time frames. He would not only place his hand on my tummy, but he would talk to the baby and kiss my tummy where the baby was kicking. I loved these little moments, and the crazy part is I think the baby loved them too! Whenever my husband would place a hand on my tummy or talk in his really low voice the baby would move around and kick twice as much.
There was one time further along in my pregnancy where I was lying in bed one night and my husband was beside me. The baby was really active, and I wanted to see what would happen if I placed a cold-water bottle on my tummy. The baby kicked SO HARD! I have a video of the baby kicking the water bottle off my stomach. I’m not one to enjoy cold weather and I guess my baby wasn’t either! If you are looking for a way to interact with your baby while pregnant, this was such a fun experience.
Around the 32 week mark I knew the times when baby would be more active. About 30 minutes after I ate or drank anything, 30 minutes before bed, or anytime I was sitting for longer than 10 minutes baby would be moving. There was one afternoon at work where I was sitting at my desk and just holding my tummy. I was focusing on how crazy it was that I would be meeting this little human in 2 months. It was at that moment the baby started kicking my hands hard, almost as if baby was telling me he was excited to meet me as well. Look for these little moments in pregnancy because as much as they can hurt, you’ll miss this connection when its gone.
Now don’t get me wrong these baby movements are NOT all great. Sometimes you will think the baby is going to start protruding out like a scene from the Alien vs Predator movie. When I was further along with this pregnancy, close to 36 weeks, I started getting really bad “lightning crotch”. This happens when a baby moves down into the pelvis. It seemed like every time the baby would move, I would get this lightning crotch feeling. It is painful and will stop you in your tracks. Luckily with this pregnancy I did not experience any pains in my ribs or back from the baby kicking too much.
Take note of your little one’s movements and do your kick counts once you start feeling baby move more. Your doctor will explain this more, but this theory of kick counts is a way to monitor fetal movements. I used this during both my pregnancies and found that it helped calm my nerves every night.
Enjoy this time and just take a moment to sit and be in the moment with your little baby while they are still kicking inside you.
