Baby twitches quite a bit

[anatoliy24]

Let me preface this by saying that my baby moves often: kicks, rolls, punches, cartwheels, all the wonderful movements that remind me that there's a baby in my belly.

Now, it's going to be funny me asking this since only 3 months ago I was dying to feel the baby move *at all*, but how normal is it for the baby to "twitch" or "spasm"? I feel the baby do that quite a bit too (several times per day). I don't think it's necessarily abnormal, but I'm curious if you feel it too? It could be just the moro reflex, but it doesn't appear to be in response to anything in particular.

[miamommy]

I don't know anything about it, but I feel my baby doing the same thing.

[chasmyn]

I'm not in the June club, so I hope it's okay that I post here.

Are these twitches and spasms - do they remind you of when you get a spasm in your eye or somewhere on your face and there is just this flutter/twitch/spasming? As opposed to say a back spasm where it hurts?

And does it feel sort of like little earthquakes and kind of drive you crazy? But not hurt?

The reason I ask is because I am having that exact thing, only I suspect that it isn't in fact the baby but my uterus, because how on earth could a baby move that fast, you know? I called my midwife and asked her about it but she had never heard of such a thing. And I cannot find a thing about it on the internet.

Hub and I suspect that it is tired muscles sort of spasming/twitching because he works out a lot and when his muscles tire that sometimes happens to him. And also the fact that for me it happens when I sit upright in a particular chair for a long period of time. He thinks maybe it is stressing my uterine muscles or something.

[jillene]

It happens to me a lot. Sort of feels like the baby is having convulsions or something, which I don't think is something that happens in utero. It's definitely a weird feeling though. I like chasmyn's theory about tired muscle spasms though. That would actually make a lot of sense. Oh, and chasmyn, I adore the name Kiernen!

[fabienne]

This is so interesting. I have had the same thing, and I just assumed the baby was really "twitchy" like his dad. Watching my husband sleep, you would swear he'll fall off the bed at any moment. Sometimes I'm convinced it's my uterus, though, so the muscle thing makes a lot of sense. Guess I better start drinking my raspberry leaf tea more regularly! I was reading last night that a woman's uterus gets less toned over time, so if you are pregnant in your 30s, you have less tone than if you were in your 20s.

My midwives had never heard of twitching either, BTW.

[chasmyn]

Well, that makes total sense then. I'm 33. Not as stretchy as I used to be!

And thank you, Jilene!

[swedemom]

oh im so glad you posted this!!!!!
i was getting really worried about it....i woke my partner up the other day and said i was sure the baby had epilepsy...but its as you describe, really fast twitching or spasms.
if anyone finds anything about it let us know..otherwise im asssuming so many have its ok

[anatoliy24]

So either way -- either the baby's just doing that spasm thing (like my dh does too before he falls asleep) or it's the uterine muscles (although it does feel more like the baby to me) -- given that so many of us are experiencing it, I'm going to say it's normal and not worry about it!

[chasmyn]

That's pretty much my thought. Drink lots of raspberry leaf tea and no worries. We don't need anything else to worry about, after all!

[dynamohumm6]

I've got a twitchy baby, too.
I've also got a twitchy fiance, so I guess it makes sense :LOL

[~Nikki~]

Hmm, depending on the type of twitching, it could be hiccups. I got to witness my DD suffering from a case of hiccups on an u/s last time. :LOL

She also did this thing that I nicknamed the "Thumper the Rabbit" spasm. It was more like a vibration type of twitch, that would last for a few seconds up to a few minutes every once in awhile. She turned out completely normal and healthy. But after she was born, she would get a quivery lower lip for no apparant reason every once in awhile. I always wondered if that's what it could have been.

[angel04345]

I'm with the pp I think its hiccups. My DS gets them often and its completely normal. I also remember this with DD. It took her being born and gtetting them for me to put the two together!

[orangebird]

It happens to mine sometimes and I wonder shit is it having seizures? It's my baby, not my uterus. And totally different than the hiccups. I guess it sounds like it's normal since it is happening to so many of us.

[dynamohumm6]

Yeah, very different than hiccups. It's like a little vibration, like someone else said. Although this one gets hiccups ALL the time, it's definitely not the same.

[mrspeeper]

Originally Posted by anatoliy24

Let me preface this by saying that my baby moves often: kicks, rolls, punches, cartwheels, all the wonderful movements that remind me that there's a baby in my belly.

Now, it's going to be funny me asking this since only 3 months ago I was dying to feel the baby move *at all*, but how normal is it for the baby to "twitch" or "spasm"? I feel the baby do that quite a bit too (several times per day). I don't think it's necessarily abnormal, but I'm curious if you feel it too? It could be just the moro reflex, but it doesn't appear to be in response to anything in particular.

My baby did this 3-6 times a day when I was prego, and as a former L& D nurse I felt like an idiot asking my midwife what it was. It was different than hiccups, I know exactly what you mean. When he was born it became obvious to me...he had those normal newborn twitches/spasms so much! I even called the ped. on day 6 because I'd never seen a newborn twitch for 30 sec. straight, I thought he was having some small seizure activity. She said as long as he didn't stop breathing, he was fine. He outgrew it finally around 3 months old. Just an immature nervous system I guess. Glad I didn't drink caffeine or anything! Hope this helps!

[aja-belly]

so glad to read this thred! i was just talking to my mom about this and she remembers it from her pregnancies. i was thinking it felt like the baby was trying to dig it's way out (like when a rodent is digging/burrowing). it could very well be uterine muscle spasms. i have been good about my rrl though!