Feeling the baby's first movements while still inside your belly is one of the most beautiful moments for any mom. It is also one of the first tangible signs of the presence of a new life inside you. Before you feel your baby's first movements or kicks, you probably have formed special images and thought about how your baby is moving. But it is interesting to know that these kicks are flutters in many cases.
At the same time, one of the main signs of having a healthy fetus is feeling his/her movements. Keeping track of his/her movements inside your womb is necessary. As a result, you can predict your baby's movements more accurately because you will become increasingly aware of them. Meanwhile, talk to your doctor or midwife if you see something unusual.
When Will I Feel My Baby Move for the First Time?
When can you feel baby kick? Most moms-to-be feel their baby's first movements between 18 and 24 weeks of their pregnancy. Many pregnant women notice their little one's first movements after 18 weeks of pregnancy. Although there are reports on some expectant moms feeling the first kicks of their babies when between 16 weeks to 22 weeks of pregnancy, too.What is meant by baby's movement here is something like a flutter, which many people may confuse with gas babbles. But there is difference between gas bubbles and baby moving.
If this is your first pregnancy, you probably won't be very good at recognizing the different movements of your baby. While veteran moms identify their baby's first kicks better than other abdominal movements. Of course, your body built also plays a role in this. Thin women identify their babies' kicks more easily.
In general, moms are quicker to feel these movements. Usually, they start feeling the kicks several weeks earlier than fathers can.
What do Baby Kicks Feel Like?
Your baby's first movements are like gentle taps or swishes. These movements continue in the third trimester of pregnancy. You will feel your baby's kicks even before and during childbirth. Therefore, such movements will become stronger as your pregnancy progresses. You will even distinguish activities like your baby's jumping when she hears a loud noise.
Your baby may do rolls, jabs, or kick in the second trimester. Maybe you have seen a pointy elbow or knee in some photos of pregnant women's stomachs. You can be sure your baby hears your voice while talking, reading a story, or even singing. With her wriggles, she is actually announcing her presence to you.
If you are confused and don't know exactly what to expect, you can talk to your doctor or midwife. Ask any questions you might have. As mentioned, after the 20 weeks or 24 weeks of pregnancy, the baby flutters will gradually find a particular pattern.
Contact your health care provider whenever you feel a change in movement pattern or its full stop. Also, if you have passed 24 weeks of pregnancy while there have been no movements (any kind of flatter or kicks by your baby), see a doctor or midwife.
Baby's Kicking Pattern Week by Week
Between the 16 weeks and 19 weeks of pregnancy, a faint and fluttery feeling is felt by most women. This feeling is caused by your baby's movements in your womb. It will mostly happen when lying down or sitting.
During the 20 weeks to 23 weeks of pregnancy, these faint movements turn into gentle kicks and jabs. You will feel them, especially in the evenings when relaxing, lying down, or sitting quietly.
They gradually take on specific patterns of movement. In some pregnant mothers, the fetal movement will increase after meals, especially sweet foods.
The 24 weeks to 28 weeks of pregnancy is when your baby performs acrobatic movements inside your womb. By acrobatic movement, we mean moves from hand and foot shake to whole body movement. These can include somersaults and jerking movements as well.
From the 29 to 31 weeks of pregnancy, your baby's movements usually become sharper and more recognizable. You may even feel shaky moves resulting from shaking a hand, elbow, or shoulder.
As you get closer to the end of your pregnancy and your baby has limited space to move inside your womb, you will notice your baby's movements getting slower but longer.
At weeks 36 to 40 weeks of pregnancy, there is not much news about the somersaults you used to feel. Your baby is in a head-down position, ready to move out of your body. Thus, the kicks underneath your ribs will generally feel harder and stronger.
Should I Make My Baby Kick?
There is no need to do this. You need paying attention that every baby and every pregnancy is a unique case. Therefore, each baby has a different activity pattern inside her mother's womb. Thus, you don't need to compare your baby's movements, intensity, and frequency with your friend's.
It is possible that your baby makes several different movements day and night and does not move the next day. Many kicks and movements of babies inside your belly are not felt because they are slower than you can feel.
As we explained, you can feel your baby's kicks more strongly when in your second trimester. Now, movements are more intense, and they repeat more regularly.
When you are active or busy doing something, you feel fewer movements of your baby. Also, if the placenta is in front of the uterus, it becomes more difficult to feel your baby's movements. In addition, if your baby has his back to your uterus, it is harder to feel kicks by your baby.
However, you should try to understand the pattern of your baby's movements inside your belly. Call your doctor if this pattern changes or you don't feel any movement.
One of the tools you can use for this purpose is home fetal dopplers available on the market. These devices are easy to use and allow you to listen to your baby's heartbeat at home.
What to Do if Your Baby does not Move?
Call your doctor or midwife whenever you feel your baby is not moving. Also, if you have noticed a sharp change in the baby's movement patterns, you should waste no time visiting your doctor.
There is nothing wrong with this, even if you call many times.
If you are in the third trimester of pregnancy and feeling no movement in your belly, it may be a sign of a problem. Do not waste time; call your health care provider as soon as possible.
In such cases, your doctor can ask for a non-stress test to be taken from you. He or she may also arrange for ultrasound measurement of the amniotic fluid. The last thing is asking for a biophysical profile of you.
In high-risk pregnancies, all these tests will usually be taken from you.
You may feel so only due to stress, which is normal. Usually, pregnant women get nervous as the time of delivery approaches. Therefore, a good idea will be to count the number of kicks by your baby. For example, you can count to see if a set number of kicks happen during a particular hour.
In addition, you can try to reduce your stress level by using some stress-reliving methods during pregnancy.
You can also gently encourage your baby to move. More precisely, you can put yourself in positions where you are more likely to feel your baby's movements. For instance, sleeping on your left side makes you feel more of your baby's movements than when you are standing or moving around.
Some other tricks include:
Drinking a cold drink: it will change the temperature inside your body
or,
talking to your baby and addressing her directly.
Another thing you can try is playing a musical instrument. These activities will hopefully wake him up and make him move.
Remember: claims such as babies move less towards the end of pregnancy are completely wrong. You should be able to feel your baby's movement during the entire pregnancy and even before and during labor.
So be sure to contact your doctor if there are any unusual conditions and you cannot check your baby's status. You don't need to wait another 24 hours.
Conclusion
Feeling your baby's movements in your belly is one of the happy moments of pregnancy. If your child moves inside the womb and goes back and forth, it is a sign that he is healthy. You may ask, when will I feel my baby kick?
When babies start kicking? You must feel your child's first movements between 16 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. Usually, movement or kick here means faint flutters to somersaults and kicks.
Each baby's movement pattern inside the mother's body is different.
Still, you should be able to feel the various movements of your baby all the way through your pregnancy until delivery. Suppose you do not feel any sign or a sudden change happens in the movement pattern. Contact your doctor or medical care provider immediately if any of these happen.