A Research Question For Parents

[browngirl]

So. When can a pregnant woman first start to feel the child moving, and when can others first start to feel the child kicking if they put their hand on her abdomen?

Yes, I'm asking for book research, and yes, there's a reason I'm not looking this up online; I want *your* impressions and memories.

:D

Comments

[moonstaff.livejournal.com]

I recall feeling the first tiny twitches during the fourth month of pregnancy. That would be sometime after three months but before I was actually four months pregnant. I think that movement could be detected from the outside at about five months.

First felt him move

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

I first felt Baby Thor move when I was about 20 weeks along. We were at Disney World and seeing the Electric Light parade. I felt a fluttery feeling. The thing that really struck me was that he was clearly responding to the music.

I would say it was a few weeks later when greendalek could feel him. It was early in the morning, and I remember he did not want to go to work. He wanted to stay home and play with the baby.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

The preggers books say it's possible as early as 18 weeks. First time mothers may not feel it until much later, like even as late as week 25.

I felt possible movements, v. sporadically, from about week 20, but I didn't feel anything *definite* until about week 25. Now (end of week 29, middle of week 30), it's kicking and punching hard enough to make my belly jump. Boy has been able to feel it squiggling around for the last 2-3 weeks.

I got *very* irritated with people asking me if I'd felt the baby move yet, or was it moving regularly, etc., before I had started to feel it. Especially when they went on to say "Oh, you're feeling it, you just don't know that's what it is." Grrrr.

Turns out I have a boatload of amniotic fluid, so the baby has a ton of room, and isn't actually running into me all that often. More now, but not v. much at all a few weeks back.

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Couldn't honestly tell you, though what others have said seems right, in a really fuzzy kind of way. See, with the baby comes all kinds of special magix that make you forget anything unpleasant - like the hurling for 9 months straight, the being gouged by tiny elbows from the inside out, the re-curvature of one's spine into something resembling what chairs would look like if our knees bent backwards. I know that by 6 months, I could watch elbows and knees and a behind travel across my belly from left to right, whcih was cool in a really creepy Alien-poppping-out-of-the-guys-stomach kind of way.

Being pregnant is wierd. And vaguely disturbing. And yes, I know, most mom's don't feel that way. But I did, and still do. -H...

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Being pregnant is wierd. And vaguely disturbing. And yes, I know, most mom's don't feel that way. But I did, and still do. -H...


I'm with you. But then again, I was deathly sick (including emergency rooom visits and hospitalizations for dehydration) with all three.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

What other people says seems about right -- I can't remember clearly, though.

What I do remember is that it was much later along for the first baby than the others -- quite possibly becaue I knew what I was feeling with the second and third.

[bethr.livejournal.com]

With Sonia (my first) I felt her at somewhere between 3-4 months.

With the twins, I felt them at about *10 weeks*, which is freakish, because they're not big enough to cause any impact at that size. Perhaps because there were two of them (and I distinctly felt two different kinds of flutters) and because they were (and are) so freakishly physically active. Also, because I'd been pregnant before, I knew what to look for.

There does seem to be correlation between fetal activity and baby activity, if that helps.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I'm told that it's a little later for first pregnancies than for subsequent ones. My own recent experience was that I first felt it at around 19 weeks, first knew for sure that it was actual movement and not my imagination about a week later, and first felt it with my hand through the skin and could let other people feel it about two weeks after that.

[ailbhe]

I felt movement at 17 weeks. It was only because I could tell that the movement was coming from within the new lump in my abdomen that I could tell what it was, though. I felt something, knew what it was, and then started telling myself it couldn't have been, because everyone says first babies can't be felt until 18 weeks, but everyone lies.

It was like an excited stomach-swoop feeling, only quite obviously not in my stomach. It fluttered and bubbled. It lasted almost a whole second, and hasn't recurred since, but then, I haven't been that awake and that still and that relaxed since.

[ailbhe]

I forgot - we heard the heartbeat and a kick at 12weeks 6days. I definitely couldn't feel that kick, though.

[kitsunegeek.livejournal.com]

Urgh... That depends. You want to feel it so much, that you think everything is the baby moving with the first one. I think, usually at the end of the first trimester is when you can really feel the little flutters, but it's usually a couple more months before a very patient loved one can sit there with their hand on your belly for a half-hour or so, and feel a little kick or roll.

I think it was the fourth month or so before I really felt Galen kicking and moving (Gods, I can't remember already, he'll be one tomorrow...).

[ame-chan.livejournal.com]

With my first child, I felt her moving around 20 weeks. It was like coke bubbles inside. At least, that was the first time that I felt something and didn't think "gas" but it was recognizably "OMIGOD, BABY!!" Then, a few weeks later, WOW, she did somersaults or something and stuck her foot out and you could see her moving under my skin. Was a v. alien moment!! ;-) Iirc, other people could feel her moving around 25 weeks or so.

With the second, I felt her moving around 16 weeks - I think because with my second child I knew what I was actuall feeling, but other ppl couldn't feel her moving until about the 25th week still.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

The first time I felt Weegirl moving was at about 16 weeks. I'd fallen asleep on my front, and she kicked me so hard I woke up and turned over. :)

As for feeling from the outside, I'm afraid I really don't remember.

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

I felt the baby inside as caterpillar-wiggles at about 18 weeks. Bard was able to undeniably feel a kick fromthe outside at 22 weeks.

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

I can't remember how far along I was but I remember it was quite a while before someone could feel the baby move externally. When they could it was just SO cool! It really was alien to watch when you could SEE the baby make ripples. FWIW I think that being a large woman when I was pregnant affected this, there was more padding between the baby and the outside world you know?

I sore I was going to make a t-shirt to wear at cons when I was pregnant that had the three dimensional alien bursting out that they've had on t-shirts but re-positioned to the obvious place. Hee. I never did get one but wouldn't it have been perfect? I also threatened to do one of the death star over the tummy that said "that's no moon, that's a space ship!" (or whatever the quote is).

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I felt Zorinth wake up at an Isaac Guillory concert when he was 16 weeks along, and carandol started being able to feel him, and being kicked by him, about a month after that. He always used to wake up when we went to bed, so quite often, we'd lie down curled up and Carandol would feel him kicking quite hard.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

About fourteen weeks with both kids (although I wasn't certain with the first until the seventeen-week mark). Tim couldn't feel them till 22 weeks or later, though.

Pre-natal soccer players....

[flabosib.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly, I could feel Meg MOVING at about 4.5 months. For about a month before that, I could feel a kind of fluttering, like a butterfly was flapping his wings (very rapidly) on my tummy. I think other people could feel Meg at about 6 months.

Hope this helps the research.

Mary Anne