Sweet Baby Movements

The other day I was thinking about how little actual time in a woman's lifetime that she is pregnant and able to feel the little baby moving inside of her.  I thought wow, I don't know how many times I will get to feel this and I want to document as much as I can of how special and unique this feeling is.  Sure, some people say they feel like there is an alien in there or that they don't like the feeling of something other than their own body moving around in there.  But I really enjoy the movements. 

Of course mostly I enjoy them because they are reassuring me that the baby is okay and doing well!  I often say, "There you are little girl.  Thanks for letting your mama know that you are in there."  There were a couple periods during 25, 27 and 29 weeks when I didn't feel many movements for a few days and would get really nervous that something was wrong.  Everything I read said to start kick counts after 28 weeks since movements are not very consistent or reliable before then, but I had been feeling fairly strong movements and kicks towards the outside, so when it changed I didn't know if it was normal or not.  I actually called the midwife one time and she said to lie down and count 10 movements.  If it takes longer than 2 hours to feel 10 movements then come in to get checked out.  Of course, whenever I did this I would feel at least 15-20 movements in 1 hour and usually now I feel 10 movements within 10 minutes!  So I've just tried to stop worrying about it, which is easy to do when I feel her move fairly consistently.  Babies go through growth spurts where they move less and then they get into a more defined sleep pattern and can sleep 20-40 minutes at a time.  So it's just getting used to what normal is for your baby.  And I think she was facing inside or down in a way that I couldn't feel her as much.

In any case, the first few weeks of feeling movements seemed a lot like a muscle twitch, like you get in your arm or your leg occasionally.  I thought, "Did I used to get muscle twitches in my stomach before?"  I would only feel them down in the lower part of my abdomen, kind of like gas bubbles moving through intestines.  And eventually it is like, "That was definitely not me."

And then they got stronger as the weeks went by.  Mostly on the sides of my stomach and lower part I would feel little pokes and taps, like, "Hey, I'm in here."  I would have Neil hold his hand where I was feeling it and for a long time he couldn't feel anything from the outside.  Usually I would feel her moving when I first woke up in the morning lying in bed or in the evening after I ate dinner and if I was sitting or lying still on the couch.  This is when Neil first was able to feel her from the outside as well.  A lot of times when I woke up in the night I would feel her as well.  If I didn't, I would wake up completely and even get a bite of something to eat or drink until I felt her move to make sure she was okay.

The movements got even stronger and then sometimes felt like jumps in my belly.  Sometimes I would feel pressure on one side or the other and look down to see a bulge, usually to the right of my belly button where her back or butt or something must have been pressing out.  At my 28 week appointment she was transverse, lying in there sideways, which was why I was feeling more of a bump and movements on the sides of my stomach.  At my 30 week appointment she was head down with her back and butt curved up on the right side of my belly, which is how she has been most of the time, I think.  Her butt pokes out on the right upper part and I feel lots of kicks and pokes in the upper right quadrant, which I think are feet or heels.

Occasionally I feel kicks deep inside, like right on top of my bladder.  And other times they are poking out and the skin on my belly bumps out or even ripples, like the foot is dragging across the inside of my belly.  What is amazing is that it doesn't hurt, it just feels like slight pressure and a gentle poke from the inside.  A lot of times I will feel movements in the lower left and top right at the same time...does that mean she has good coordination?  Like a punch and kick at the same time, hi-ya!  

Most movements these days bump out my skin and even make my hand move if it is resting on my belly.  It's fun to have friends put their hands there and look shocked when they feel her bumping around.  Neil and I were swimming yesterday and she had the hiccups at the same time as kicking in the upper right, so he had both hands on my belly, one lower left and one uppper right.  The hiccups I determined a couple weeks ago because it was like a softer kick, but a steady rhythmic bumping that would continue for a while.  Most all hiccups I've felt are in the lower left or lower right part of my belly, which is also why I think she must still be somewhat head down.  The hiccups are faster than I would have expected, definitely faster than mine, but I guess that makes sense since she is only around 3 lbs right now!

Now I only have between 6 and up to 10 more weeks of feeling her from the inside before she joins us on the outside!  I can't wait to see those little feet and heels that my fingers have been playing with!  Here is my belly as I've been typing this and watching the little bumps and jumps.