Another n00b question here. I'm 17 weeks and sometimes I feel something kind of like a tiny muscle spasm in my abdominal area. Usually (pre-pregnancy) when I feel something happening in my abdomen, I assume it's gas. I've also heard that people in their first pregnancies don't feel fetal movements as early because they don't know what they feel like. What should I be looking for? Or will I just know when it happens?
Anyone been feeling movements yet?
. I can feel baby all the time (when baby is awake at least) and I'm almost 18 weeks- 2nd babe tho.
This is baby #4 for us, and I THINK I've felt movements since about week 14, though it would just be one little movement every few days and then nothing. Now, at 17 weeks, it's usually at least once a day and sometimes more one or two movements at a time (and only when I'm sitting/lying still). To me at this stage, it feels sort of like a quick flutter, sot of like a bubble bumping into another bubble (that made more sense in my head than writing it out!).
If you have a good sense of where your uterus is, it should help you focus in on where you should be sensing movement -- at 17 weeks, the top of your uterus is probably a couple of finger breadths below your belly button, and you should be able to feel the sides, especially when you're lying down. Movement above the uterus might be gastro-intestinal; movement on the sides might be muscles/ligament stretching.
In a few weeks, you should be able to know for sure whether what you're feeling now is baby movements -- I remember with my first looking back and realizing THAT'S what that was!
Another n00b question here. I'm 17 weeks and sometimes I feel something kind of like a tiny muscle spasm in my abdominal area. Usually (pre-pregnancy) when I feel something happening in my abdomen, I assume it's gas. I've also heard that people in their first pregnancies don't feel fetal movements as early because they don't know what they feel like. What should I be looking for? Or will I just know when it happens?
Anyone been feeling movements yet?
I am 17 1/2 weeks that that is exactly how it feels to me too. My first also. It's like when my colon twitches (I have Crohns) but it's along my lower abdomen. I first felt these at week 12 when I was flat on my back and sick. I've been feeling it more often and stronger, the other day it was accompanied by a little kick first, then it swam to the other side. I'm sure that was the baby saying hi mom. :) So nice, but I know from the US this is a wiggler, so I'm going to have to figure out how to settle him down to let me sleep. Lol My mom learned with her 5th that she could rub his back (or whatever was close) and he would go to sleep. He's a BIG TIME massage hog to this day. Lol She tried that with #6 and he would move away. Lol I hope this babe is like me and his uncle and likes the rubs. :)
I'm 17 weeks tomorrow, with my third, and I have felt nothing at all. I'm actually feeling concerned about it since I felt my 2nd at 14 weeks. I'm really hoping for those first flutters soon.
Interesting...I'm almost 15w5d and I've been occasionally feeling little muscle spasms for maybe a week or two. I just assumed it was digestion and it seems too high up to be the baby, but...maybe? It's my first, so I don't know what I'm looking for!
Ah- the dreaded anterior placenta! I've been wondering if this is what is going on for me. Is there any way to know for sure other than an ultrasound? When should I expect to feel the baby if my placenta is anterior?
I'm just so impatient- I REALLY want to feel this baby. This pregnancy is not feeling real yet. I'm so jealous of all you mamas who feel your LOs already.
Ah- the dreaded anterior placenta! I've been wondering if this is what is going on for me. Is there any way to know for sure other than an ultrasound? When should I expect to feel the baby if my placenta is anterior?
I'm just so impatient- I REALLY want to feel this baby. This pregnancy is not feeling real yet. I'm so jealous of all you mamas who feel your LOs already.
This really sucks. I have had it twice and didn't feel those babies until around 21 weeks. :( So if you are doing an ultrasound, you might possibly find out that you do indeed have anterior placenta before you even feel the baby kick.
But don't be jealous, the real fun movements aren't until after that anyway. It's nice to know baby is alright by the twitches, but there is also a lot of uncertainty with that "is it the baby? is it gas?" whereas when the are bigger, you feel the rolls and the feet being drug across your belly. It's so much fun!! Keep your head up mama, soon, so soon you will be feeling things.
I'm 16.5 wks and I've felt very little movement. I remember it being the same with my 6th baby too. I'm not sure if it was an anterior placenta or if there's just so much room now. I know I'm measuring about 4 weeks ahead, so the baby probably has enough room to room w/o me feeling alot.
Ah- the dreaded anterior placenta! I've been wondering if this is what is going on for me. Is there any way to know for sure other than an ultrasound? When should I expect to feel the baby if my placenta is anterior?
I'm just so impatient- I REALLY want to feel this baby. This pregnancy is not feeling real yet. I'm so jealous of all you mamas who feel your LOs already.
So at my last midwife appointment the apprentice mentioned he felt a harder bump on the left side of my uterus. She said it was the baby but the midwife added it could be the placenta. I was pretty amazed they could tell that just by feeling but they said they sometimes can! Maybe ask your OB/midwife?
I'm 17w 2d and I've been feeling tiny movements for a month or so now but they've gotten stronger recently. Last night I was laying on the couch watching a movie with DH and the baby was kicking big time. I could have sworn I felt it with my hand on the outside but that kinda messes with my mind. Am I feeling it inside or outside?!?! 
By the time I got DH's hand on the spot baby had stopped moving. Of course! Can't wait until DH and DS can feel the tiny babe!
This really sucks. I have had it twice and didn't feel those babies until around 21 weeks. :( So if you are doing an ultrasound, you might possibly find out that you do indeed have anterior placenta before you even feel the baby kick.
But don't be jealous, the real fun movements aren't until after that anyway. It's nice to know baby is alright by the twitches, but there is also a lot of uncertainty with that "is it the baby? is it gas?" whereas when the are bigger, you feel the rolls and the feet being drug across your belly. It's so much fun!! Keep your head up mama, soon, so soon you will be feeling things.
Cindy- I was doing a little research on anterior placenta last night and found that it often makes it harder to hear the hb on doppler. Did you find that was the case for you? This doesn't add up for me- I've been able to hear the hb on my cheapy home doppler since exactly 12 weeks. I never have any trouble finding it. The mw was even surprised that I was able to hear it that soon at home. I go in on tuesday and I'm definitely going to talk to her about all this.
Cindy- I was doing a little research on anterior placenta last night and found that it often makes it harder to hear the hb on doppler. Did you find that was the case for you? This doesn't add up for me- I've been able to hear the hb on my cheapy home doppler since exactly 12 weeks. I never have any trouble finding it. The mw was even surprised that I was able to hear it that soon at home. I go in on tuesday and I'm definitely going to talk to her about all this.
Nope, never noticed a difference. Could always hear the heartbeat around the normal times.
Nope, never noticed a difference. Could always hear the heartbeat around the normal times.
thanks- that's comforting to hear! It sounds like I do have anterior placenta- I guess I'll know for sure on the 21st when I go in for my ultrasound.
I think this pregnancy I am just too busy to notice how much and when the baby moves. 
I did notice about a week ago though that if I lean on the counter the baby starts squirming around!
I'm pretty petite too- I'm 5'2" and about 114 not pregnant. I have a shorter torso, so I always show pretty quick (no where for anything to go). But still not feeling this one at 17 weeks.
Hi everyone, OP here, so nice to hear all of your experiences. I think (I think) I am feeling that someone's home in there. This morning right when I woke up I lay still on my back with my hands over my uterus (I can feel where it is--like a hard mass between my navel and pubic bone). I felt those little pops again. It was too low to be my intestines, plus my digestive tract hadn't really woken up yet.
This is exciting! On the belly thread I mentioned that I don't really look pregnant yet--I am tall (5'9"/176cm) and 125-130lbs (57-59kg) pre-pregnancy, and this is my first pregnancy. I have a little gut, and my non-elastic-waist pants don't fit anymore, but people who don't know what I looked like pre-pregnancy wouldn't be able to tell. Now it's seeming a bit more real :)
Hey all, I'm 16 weeks today with baby #2, and I THINK I've been feeling movement since 12 weeks. It's subtle and sporadic-- most days but not every day. Ultrasounds so far have shown that I have an anterior, low-lying placenta. When the doctor tried to find the heartbeat using the doppler at 13 weeks, he couldn't find it. (Or, rather, he said he found it for a few seconds, but I think it was actually mine, as it sounded really slow, and the doppler he used didn't display the bpm.) However, he was really reluctant to try and said that often one can't find the heartbeat that early. Anyway, an ultrasound the following week revealed that everything was still fine. :)
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