Bridget's Pregnancy Blog

I get asked this question quite a lot lately. And though I know it is different for all mothers, and indeed for all pregnancies, I thought I would share my own experiences thus far.

I felt my first baby flutters at about 16 or 17 weeks pregnant. Many women don’t feel it quite this early, and I was a little doubtful as to whether that was really what I was feeling. After feeling the baby movements get stronger over time, I’m now pretty sure that I was one of the lucky early ones.

In the beginning, I had heard others describe their babies’ first movements as feeling like popcorn popping or butterflies or a goldfish swimming. I didn’t know what to think! What the heck does popcorn popping FEEL like? When I finally felt my little one, I described it like ripples in water. And yes, I know that makes as little sense as all the other descriptions to someone who hasn’t felt it yet, so anyone in early pregnancy reading this will just have to take my word for it that you will know it when you feel it!

By the time I was at 20 weeks pregnant, I could feel little light thumps- baby kicks or punches, but I could still only feel them when I was lying very still in bed. By 22 weeks pregnant, it was strong enough that I could feel it sometimes when I was sitting on the couch or standing. Justin had begun to be able to feel them from the outside, too, as long as he was patient.  At first, he kept giving up too soon, putting his hand on my belly for a minute or so and then announcing “I can’t feel anything!” Once I convinced him to leave his hand there for ten minutes or so, he felt a light kick.

About this time, at the 22 week mark, I started feeling much more squirming, too. My baby didn’t spend a lot of time kicking me, but he sure felt like he was swimming and twirling around in there!

At week 24, his movements were consistent and clustered enough that I could start letting friends feel it. I could tell if he kicked in one spot that I would probably feel it again in the same spot a few more times before he quit, so I would call over my friends to come feel.

Just before my 24 week ultrasound, two different movements occurred. The first was fetal hiccups- which is, in my opinion, the cutest thing ever! This felt like little rhythmic jumps down low by my pelvis. They weren’t very strong, but very jerky and rhythmically spaced apart. They only lasted a few minutes, but they were incredibly cute! I just started giggling when I realized what he was doing- I couldn’t help myself!

The other thing that happened about that time was two days before my appointment, I felt the baby become extremely squirmy, more so than I had ever felt up until then. I felt like all of my internal organs were getting rearranged in there, like his whole little body was twisting and turning. In fact, that was exactly what he was doing! At the 24 week ultrasound, we found that he had completely changed position, from his 20-week orientation head-down and facing forward to now being in a head-up facing backward position. No wonder I’d felt so much movement! It was hard work for him to completely spin around!

Since that point, the movement of my baby has only gotten stronger. I’m now just a few days from my 28 week appointment and I’ve just begun to actually see his motion on the surface of my belly. It’s a bit weird to see a bump pop up where he kicks or see a ripple across my skin, but it’s also kind of cool.  I’m also starting to be able to distinguish different movements, like kicks or turns or stretches. And he’s seemed to develop a preference for kicking certain spots over and over again. My friends joke that I should paint a target on the lower right quadrant of my belly.

Friends who have already been through a pregnancy tell me the movements will continue to get stronger, more recognizable and more visible over the next couple of months. Meanwhile, I continue to learn about what it feels like firsthand. Or should that be “firstbelly”?