Your unborn baby will begin moving around 12 weeks of pregnancy, but you probably won't feel it yet. If you've been pregnant before, you may sense quickening by about 16 weeks in pregnancy. However, if this is your first baby, it's common not to feel movement until 20 weeks.
Some moms can feel their baby move as early as 13-16 weeks from the start of their last period. These first fetal movements are called quickening and are often described as flutters. It may be difficult to determine whether this feeling is gas or your baby's movements, but soon you will begin to notice a pattern.
Early fetal movement typically starts around 12 weeks. Although your baby will likely be moving inside your uterus by then, they're probably too small for you to feel anything yet. As our article details, there's a typical time range when it's more common to feel your baby move.
However, even in a second pregnancy, people don't usually feel their baby's movements until 16 to 18 weeks at the earliest. Second-time parents may feel their babies move sooner, but every pregnancy is different. Parents who feel the baby early in the pregnancy tend to report similar characteristics.
The first fetal movements are often described as a “fluttering.” It is often such a subtle movement that you have to be still and pay close attention to notice it. Some women can feel their baby move as early as 15 weeks, while others don't notice it until closer to 20 to 22 weeks.
Of course, just because it won't hurt baby, doesn't mean she can't feel you poking — in fact, baby will probably feel you move and poke before you can start to feel her, which is usually at around 18 to 20 weeks. And when baby's big enough, she might even poke back!
At 15 weeks of pregnancy, you are in your second trimester and will start to notice big changes. However, according to some researchers, it isn't until about 21 weeks of pregnancy that your baby may begin to feel sensations when you rub your belly.
Quickening is when a pregnant person starts to feel their baby's movement in their uterus (womb). It feels like flutters, bubbles or tiny pulses.
However, big changes happen in the second trimester, which allows your little one to feel touch and respond to it. Researchers have discovered babies as early as 21 weeks gestation show a response to their mother's touch from the outside.
A woman who is pregnant for the first time may not feel anything until around 25 weeks, whereas a woman who has had previous pregnancies may recognize baby flutters as early as week 13.
Abdominal or tummy pain is common during pregnancy. In the first trimester (weeks 0 to 12) it is common to feel mild pains in the lower tummy area. These are caused by hormonal changes and by your growing womb.
You might be able to see that you're looking a little rounder in the middle, but your new shape might not be noticeable to others just yet. If you've had nausea and it is starting to subside, you may find your appetite increases and you'll start to gain more weight. That bump will start to show in no time.
Many women choose to delay announcing a pregnancy at least until the end of the first trimester (12 weeks into their pregnancy). This is usually because of concerns about the risk of miscarriage (pregnancy loss) during this time.
The hormone progesterone, relaxes the smooth muscle of the intestine, as well as other muscles, to allow the uterus to expand. Gas can be allowed to build up, therefore the bloating. Your tummy may also make gurgling and popping noises/sensations and some occasional cramps.
At the end of the third trimester, the baby settles, or drops lower, into the mother's pelvis. This is known as dropping or lightening. Dropping is not a good predictor of when labour will begin. In first-time mothers, dropping usually occurs 2 to 4 weeks before delivery, but it can happen earlier.
Depending on your stage of pregnancy, your body type, and even the time of day, sometimes your belly will feel soft and other times it will feel tight and hard. The reality is, there's no normal to compare yourself with. Pregnant bellies come in all shapes, sizes, and firmness.
For some moms-to-be, constantly touching, patting, rubbing and holding their belly can be soothing. For others, it's a way to feel close to the baby inside.
Even in your third trimester of pregnancy, bending is still considered safe for your baby. You'll probably find it becomes increasingly difficult for you, though, if not impossible. Apart from your extra body weight, the size of your belly is increasing.
Research has shown that, during pregnancy, your baby feels what you feel—and with the same intensity. That means if you're crying, your baby feels the same emotion, as if it's their own. During the gestational period, your baby is preparing themselves for life in the outside world.
Highlights at 14 Weeks Pregnant
Your baby is moving their arms and legs and is developing their senses of smell and taste. Your little one is beginning to look more and more like the person you'll meet after birth. You may have increased energy and more lustrous hair during this trimester.
Though you can't feel those tiny punches and kicks yet, your baby is quite active and has flexible hands and feet.
Researchers in Scotland compared fetal responses when pregnant women spoke to their babies or rubbed their bellies. "Overall results suggest that maternal touch of the abdomen was a powerful stimulus, producing a range of fetal behavioural responses," the researchers write.
4 months into your pregnancy, your baby will also feel it when you stroke the skin of your tummy: rub your hand against your stomach, gently push and stroke it… and soon your baby will start responding with little kicks, or by curling up into your palm!
Background. Many physicians advise pregnant women to sleep on their left side. Previous studies have linked back and right-side sleeping with a higher risk of stillbirth, reduced fetal growth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that affects the mother.