FTM - when did you first start feeling flutters? Also anxiety before the 20W scan.

[KarinaWhyte]

Hey girls,

First time mothers – when did you feel your baby’s flutter in your stomach? I’m 17+2 and swear I felt baby on the weekend!! It felt more like a muscle twitch in the lower part of my belly but not 100%. I’m sure it will get more noticeable as time goes on…

Also I’m pregnant after a loss (MMC @ 7W) and I’m still worrying incase I miscarry :/ Last scan was 2 weeks ago and the ultrasound tech measured the heart, brain, seen all her/his little organs etc and she said everything is perfect and she’s happy.. so nothing to worry about. I have no signs to believe I’m going to miscarry BUT I keep seeing a lot of posts on Tiktok and Facebook of woman who have unexpectedly lost their baby before their 20W scan and it’s giving me major panic attacks.. is it normal to feel so anxious… I’m at that stage in pregnancy where I have less symptoms being in second trimester && can’t feel kicks haha. My next scan is 16 days away!!

Try not to watch anything that will increase your anxiety!
Ds I was 27 weeks before I felt anything at all!
Dd was about 19 weeks.

What does DS and DD mean sorry? Yes it triggers me so bad ffs :(

DD - Dear Daughter DS - Dear Son

Have you spoken to the midwife about your anxiety, they over support for pre natal anxiety in my area, one via a local website service and another via the peri natal mental health team. They should be able to help break down your worries and talk through them step by step with measures to manage them.

Knowing my own triggers I avoid things that I know will set off my anxiety, because otherwise I'm just feeding it and making it worse.

Hope the next 16 days goes a little quicker for you

The way you’re explaining the flutters really resonates with me and brings me back! It was exactly like little muscle twitches or spasms in my tummy! I probably felt them first around the same stage as you too. I also had ferocious anxiety leading up to the 20 week scan for my first as I had bleeding at the beginning of my pregnancy that went on for 5 weeks.

Try to focus on the facts and give Facebook, tiktock and the rest of it a skip as they will always focus in on stories with bad outcomes and if you read those stories then the algorithms are going to show you more of the same kind of stuff and this will make it seem super common when it isn’t….Statistics show that the risk of miscarriage after 12 weeks is very very small and gets smaller with every week that passes ( one website says risk is less than 1% after 14 wks).

Also a fact, you had a scan a couple of weeks ago and they said it all looked good and you are showing no signs of miscarriage…this is brilliant and focus on that! I have to say @annlee3817 gives you great advice, mention your anxiety to your doctor and also keep an eye on it after the baby is born too.

Congratulations on your pregnancy and enjoy this beautiful time xx