Babies first movements

[NervousFirstTimeMum888]

Ok so this is probably not an AIBU but gets more traffic..

Long time poster and lurker - changed name as do not want this post associated with previous ones.

I am 16 weeks pregnant with my first baby - yay!

But I have a question. Is it normal (or AIBU to feel..!) to worry about what the baby moving around will feel like?

I genuinely am really anxious about it moving around, will it freak me out? I am an anxious person in general and am probably more worried about this than the birth!

I am worried it will feel like an alien in my stomach and stuff. Hope I am making sense, it's really bothering me!

It will be fine - promise. It’s amazing and later on kicks can suddenly take you by surprise!

It's probably the best thing about being pregnant, congratulations

It starts slowly and gradually so you will get used to it.

No it wont freak you out. The first flutterings in a first pregnancy are so subtle that for a while you will not be sure that they are movements at all. could feel like a little bubble of wind. They gently increase as your babyy grows and feel quite magical. Many peopl feel the first signs of bonding with movements.

I'm just at a stage now when I can't wait to feel something ANYTHING. I'm 22 weeks and still haven't felt a thing due to an anterior placenta - apparently I might feel nothing right through preg :(
Sorry, that's not really helping you OP!

I think I worry that I WON'T bond due to the lack of feeling of movement. Also, I can't monitor movements, so have no idea when the baby might have genuinely stopped moving. It sucks - I'm hoping the placenta will shift (?? First pg...) and I'll get something at least in a month or so..

Flutterings at first, then tupple overs before kicks towards the end. Not alien and having your 20 week scan will help you picture your baby which should ease your worries. Wishing you enjoyment in your pregnancy

YOu'll be fine - first movements feel a bit like bubbles - similar to digestion for me. You'll be used to it before the kicks become bigger.

Thank you everyone, reassures me!

@CassandrasCastle sorry to hear that, must be frustrating! I hope you feel something soon x

The first movements felt for me like a little butterfly flowing around in my belly.
Later when you’re nearly at the end of your pregnancy you might want to go back to these moments when your baby like my DS did, kicks you very hard in the ribs. Ouch !

My movements were really subtle at first, just little tickley/feathery feelings on either side. Then they slowly became proper pokes and now at 27 weeks I can see big kicks and wriggles. It does build up very slowly though so you probably won't wake up one day with feet poking out at you! As PPs have said, it's a really amazing feeling and it helped me feel like I was starting to get to know them as a person rather than an abstract idea.

It's also reassuring but if you do tend to be anxious the flip side is stressing when you don't feel movement. I use the Kicks Count app to count movement sessions, might be one for you to keep in mind for a few weeks time. It counts sessions per day but also shows you the average number over the last 7 or 14 days and what time of day they tend to be. I started tracking movements a few weeks early just so I could get into the habit of it, and at first it's really hard to define what you count as a "session" but you get into the swing of it pretty quickly.

@CassandrasCastle Don't worry - chances are you will. I have an anterior placenta too and it took longer for me to feel the baby at first. I think I was somewhere around 22-24 weeks when I first did (it may have only been a few weeks ago but I can't remember).

I'm now 27 weeks and feel lots. It did start with taps (I think the position meant I skipped the little taps and flutterings), but I get punches down low (baby is head down) and kicks. Baby is long enough that she is kicking up above my belly button so I can feel every single one as they are no longer blocked by the placenta.

For movement, they are mostly hot on your monitoring from 28 weeks, so you have time and you will be surprised when you first start feeling. I was worried as well and then all of a sudden I got kicked and she hasn't stopped since.

I used to love interacting with DS when I was pregnant - he would kick, so I would poke back and so on. It was a little game, just for us. I could also calm him by rubbing a certain area of my belly. It was amazing. I’m sure you will love it too, and congratulations

@CassandrasCastle I had an anterior placenta with my first and definitely felt movement, although admittedly not as much as with my second (much larger!) baby whose placenta was at the top. My first woke me up at night by turning somersaults, so hopefully you'll feel some movement soon!

Honestly it is the best feeling in the world.
Agree they definitely take you by surprise sometimes! 😂

Some of it feels a bit weird, especially in the late stages of the second trimester but it's a really cool and wonderous kind of weird!

I couldn't feel my second at all due to placenta placement and I was really sad about not feeling those kicks again.

For me it was quite alien like in the third trimester- I had a very long and active baby! But it starts off very gently like a little butterfly as a pp said

Well you have put my mind at rest a bit, that's for sure! I feel guilty about worrying about it!

At first it's a little flutter, it's only towards the end it gets more vigorous. The first few you'll wonder if it was just wind or stomach rumbling or a twitching muscle it's that gentle.

Dd1 used to do a stretch when newborn where she pushed her left foot down as far as it could go, and punched her right fist in the air. When she did it, I thought "That's what I could feel inside".
Dd2 used to play what I think she thought was a great game. She would push the end of her little arm (born without a hand) as far into me as possible. You could actually see it like a lump. I'd push it back gently, and she'd wait a moment and do it again in the exact same spot. She's still as determined to do what she wants at 16yo
Ds thought he'd practice his football skills and was definitely kicking away.

But I didn't feel dd1 until about 24/25 weeks. Dd2 was about 18 weeks, and ds much earlier, I think because he was very active-he still is.

It’s the only part of my pregnancy that I miss! As other posters have said, they start off little. Her hiccups were my favourite, she would get annoyed and kick her legs out after a while - exactly what she does now she’s out.

It starts off so small you have ages to get used to it. So by the time you get an actual foot in your ribs you’ve had months of the movements building up and it’s not so weird. Well it’s still a bit weird but nice too. It’s one part of pregnancy I actually miss!

I was never worried about it, but I did think I'd find it strange. I haven't at all - it's lovely.

I didn't really feel flutterings, the first movements I picked up I could only feel if I had my hand in the right place - I seemed to need to feel it with both my belly and my hand, but not any more (28 weeks). It's so reassuring to be able to feel the wee one move about, and it's extra lovely when DP can feel the movements also. We were spooning in bed one morning and DP got kicked in the back - it was hilarious!

Don't worry about it, it'll soon be the most natural feeling in the world.

I felt my first move at 19 weeks and my second (current) at 17 weeks - both times felt like little bubbly water jets and could only be felt when lying really still.

I'm 36+4 weeks now with my second little girl and feeling her wiggle and move and react is the absolute best. ❤ Shes a right hiccupy little thing as well which has been really cute for toddler DD to feel when she puts her hand on my stomach!