Many pregnant women wonder when they will feel their baby kick for the first time. Feeling your baby kick for the first time is an important milestone for any expectant mother, particularly when it’s your first pregnancy. It can be extremely exciting to have that spark of life inside of you confirmed, although it can also be somewhat difficult to understand what kind of sensation to expect, and when!
Most women in their first pregnancies will start to feel the baby move around 20 weeks. But don’t worry if you hit the 20-week milestone and don’t feel anything in your abdomen. A smaller percentage of parents will feel kicks earlier or later than that time frame. Babies begin moving very early on in pregnancy, but when you actually feel those movements depends on different factors, like whether this is your first pregnancy, the position of your ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇɴᴛᴀ, and your ability to recognize what you feel as the baby’s movement.
The baby is likely to respond to external stimuli by kicking in response to some changes in the surrounding environment. Any external stimuli, such as the food you eat or different noises, can make the baby move or kick.
During the 20th week, the ꜰᴇᴛᴜs begins to hear low-pitched sounds and gradually begins to hear high-pitched sounds as the pregnancy proceeds. These movements can indicate the normal growth of the baby.
The food that the mother eats during pregnancy introduces the baby to various flavors through the ᴀᴍɴɪᴏᴛɪᴄ ꜰʟᴜɪᴅ that surrounds the baby inside the ᴡᴏᴍʙ. These flavors can make the baby move if they like or dislike them.
There is no set number of movements that you should look out for. In the beginning, baby kicks will be erratic, so don’t sweat it if you go for long stretches without remembering there’s a little person doing flips inside. But around the beginning of your third trimester, your baby’s movements will become more regular.
And this will be different for everyone, so it’s all about taking note of the movements and getting to know what’s normal for your baby. The best way to identify these kicks and wriggles is when you’re lying down, so try to put your feet up for a while so that you can really take notice of what you’re feeling. If your baby’s movement pattern changes suddenly and you’re concerned, again, ask your doctor or midwife doctor to take a closer look.
When you felt movement for the first time, it felt like little bubbles popping or tiny muscle twitches in your lower abdomen. Others describe first baby kicks as feeling like flutters, gas bubbles, tumbling, a light tickle, a painless zapping feeling, a light flicker, or a gentle thud or tap.
As the baby grows, the movements will become much more pronounced and you will feel them more frequently. Instead of tiny pops, you’ll feel jabs, punches, rolls, and pokes. As for feeling movement on the outside, you’ll likely have to wait until late in the second trimester or early to mid-third trimester.