Getting stressed about movements

[Yaty]

Hey just after some advise really as I've read leaflets, google etc and I am getting myself stressed and confused about movements.

I'm FTM, 21+4 and been feeling daily movements for about 3 weeks now. The reason I'm stressed is that some days movements feel big and regular, other days really quiet. I read it should be more and more each day but things seem more random with some busy days so quiet. So on quieter days I'm then worrying myself!

I'm reading conflicting things on whether to be concerned, I know I'm still early and baby is small. When should I worry about patterns, when I'm more like 25+ weeks? I'm just finding this whole monitoring of movements thing very confusing and worrying atm!

There’s no need to stress (easier said than done I know!)
At the moment your baby is still pretty small so there’s a lot of room for it to move around so depending on their position (and the position of your placenta) movements will feel pretty erratic for a while yet; some will feel like real noticeable jabs, others (if he’s further back in your womb for example) will just feel like a bit of dull rolling.
It took me until 23 weeks to feel any movement at all and then 30 weeks ish to notice a real pattern and even then my boy still has busy and then quiet days.
Once you’re at 25 weeks you should feel movement every day, and by the time you’re 28 weeks you should be noticing a pattern; but if you’re ever concerned, don’t hesitate to contact your midwife. She will be able to reassure you what is normal. And they really don’t mind how many times you call. X

Oh and one thing I have noticed is that movements quite often depend on what I’m doing... if I’ve spent 8hrs at my desk working, then he’s really sluggish until the night time! Or if I’ve been doing housework/gardening all day, then I don’t even notice if I’ve had movement. He’s been far more active if I sit with my feet up watching tv and eating ice cream! Good excuse me thinks! 😂

@pineapplebaby thanks so much for replying that all makes sense. I think I know that logically. I feel like the movements thing is understandably being drummed into people but the guidance on when to start monitoring etc is vague. Thanks again, I'll try and relax!

Absolutely! You find yourself questioning everything all the time! I’m 37 weeks on Friday (FTM) and have stressed so many times; only feel like I’m getting the hang of it now! Lol

Oh OP movements made me so anxious. I was on high alert for any small movement/change in movement. Which is actually a good thing to some extent.
I think my movements started to have a little pattern at about 25 weeks ish. But I do remember some kicks being faint some more hard but the baby is always moving as they have a lot of room in there still at the moment.
But if you're ever concerned contact your midwife and trust your instincts. Never second guess yourself or think you're wasting people's time.

OP I am exactly the same!! 23 weeks today, last week I had a mega panic because on Monday baby was really active and then Tuesday I barely felt her. On Wednesday she was wriggling about ‘as normal’ again and by Friday she was kicking so hard I could feel her from the outside for the first time. I believe it is totally normal at this stage for babies to have ‘quieter’ days and I keep telling myself that if I were at work and busy as normal I probably wouldn’t be feeling as many of her movements anyway. I’m sure I’ve read that 28 weeks is when to really start tracking a pattern, so we’re a bit off from that still

Appreciate this is an older post, but just wanted to see how everyone was getting on as 21 weeks and I just feel so paranoid about the movements, yesterday baby was really active but today a lot quieter and I don't know if I should panic or not or if I'm just being over cautious!