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You know how mothers cry out in excitement when they feel their baby move or kick? Well, the kick is part of fetal movement. Fetal movement refers to when you can feel your baby’s presence inside your belly. It is a wonderful and amazing feeling for mommies; it’s a way of communicating with the baby.
If you’re a mommy-to-be who has experienced fetal movement, or are about to, we have all the important information you need here. It will help you understand fetal movements and give you a heads up on what you will go through.
The Basics
Around the 5th month of pregnancy, your baby’s skeleton and muscles develop, which allows the baby to stretch and move around in the amniotic fluid. To be a little science oriented and pedantic, fetal movement occurs when the unborn baby’s limbs bump into the uterine wall. But, relax! Remember that it’s one way to know how the baby is doing!
When Will You Feel Fetal Movement?
As we talked about above, you will typically begin feeling fetal movement around the 5th month (or between 18 to 20 weeks). However, it varies from woman to woman, so don’t freak out if you don’t feel anything! There are other variables that need to be considered such as, subcutaneous fat (belly fat), the amount of amniotic fluid, and the position of the placenta. So, if you don’t feel any fetal movement, there’s no need to worry because one or more of those variables are at play. All you have to do is verify everything through ultrasounds, which is probably on your to-do list in any case.
Here’s a little something pregnant mommies may not know – your baby actually moves well before YOU feel fetal movement. At approximately during the 7th week of pregnancy, your baby’s nerves develop and around the 12th week, the fetus begins to suck its thumb or fingers! Who knew all this movement is going on before you can actually feel it?
What Fetal Movement Feels Like?
When you FIRST start to feel movement, it begins as a tingly feeling passing through your tummy, and can change into a sensation that feels like popping bubbles. When the movement becomes more distinct, that’s when you hear mommy’s saying, “he/she just kicked!” According to sources, you can also feel the baby hiccupping. Here’s the cool, but also weird part – when the movement becomes more intense, you can SEE the baby moving simply my looking at your stomach.
If you don’t feel movement soon after you feel it, don’t panic. Your baby’s probably taking a nap. People say that babies seem to sleep for 60 minutes, stay awake for another 60 minutes, and so on and so forth. However, if you can’t feel anything after the 60 minute sleep time, there’s no harm in checking with your doctor.
Communication Between Mommy And Baby
The very fact that you can feel your baby move means that he or she is doing just fine! At this point, the baby’s nerves are almost fully developed, while their sense of hearing is also developed. The phrase, “Shh! Not in front of the baby!”, is true, because the baby can hear you from inside the womb. You should talk to your baby, sing to him, play music or simply keep touching your belly; babies respond to it!
According to moms, when the baby responds to whatever you are doing, there is nothing like that feeling. In fact, there is even a “kicking game” that helps you communicate with your baby through fetal movement.
We hope our post gave you a good insight into fetal movement, what it is, how it works, and what it means. If you have experienced something similar, or are yet to experience this feeling, leave us a comment below!
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