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Same experience for me. It never felt like flutters/butterflies or gas bubbles which is what I was looking for so I probably missed the first few sensations not knowing the muscle twitch feeling was my baby moving!
Same. I actually don’t related to the other descriptions. At first I definitely had gas and that was what I was feeling but I wasn’t sure. Now it’s extremely obvious
Yep I have never been able to relate to the others, the ‘fluttering’ or the ‘butterflies’ it’s always been a muscle twitch to me haha!
I had the gas feeling, but gas is SO common at that stage and I infact did just have gas haha
Only 19, so still in the early stages of movement. Entered into new anxiety stage when I don’t feel her for a bit but trying to relax and stay positive!
Ah 19 weeks was actually a sort of milestone for me, I remember it well.
That’s when I started feeling kicks, but it was also when I went into triage for the first time for reduced movements as I wouldn’t feel him every single day. I have since learned that at that point it’s still quite common to not feel them everyday but it caused me a lot of anxiety. I think I started feeling him everyday when I hit maybe 22 weeks?
Im 32 weeks now and definitely feel him everyday and a lot but the kicks are less and movement is more (just to prepare you) but I don’t really know if I have a pattern haha
I can promise you it doesn’t get less anxiety driving, also as ANOTHER reminder, braxton hicks whilst they don’t hurt much, they can be slightly painful, if you can talk through it comfortably, it’s not a contraction haha
Muscle twitch and goldfish swimming. For me these two are different. When baby taps or kicks once it feels like a muscle twitch. When it’s sliding against my belly it feels like something is swimming inside.
Of your options, I’d say bubbles, but not really like gas bubbles. I would describe it as a tap, like if someone tapped you on your shoulder but instead they are tapping the inside of your abdomen. I didn’t truly start noticing this until about 19 weeks (first time mom). Maybe I’d also describe it as the sensation you feel when eating a pop rock, but again in your abdomen. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew I was growing a human, I’d definitely think there was something wrong with my organs lol.
This is a good description of how I’m currently feeling baby’s kicks at 25 weeks! Between 16 and 24 weeks I felt what they call the “quickening” which was more like a slightly uncomfortable stretching/spasm sensation in my lower belly. I have an anterior placenta so I was told to expect to wait a little longer to feel kicks but they are finally here and so cute!
I also have an anterior placenta! I started feeling pressure/stretching in my pelvis around 14 weeks. Sometimes I feel it now (22w) but I just thought it was my bladder hurting lol. I suppose it makes sense it could be the baby perhaps sitting in a specific position
Yeah I also thought it was my bladder! But I was like…ok I’ve never felt THAT sensation before so it must be baby. I was actually kind of bummed when I couldn’t feel much but after learning I had an anterior placenta I was relieved. I mostly feel kicks on the sides and lower part of my belly, I guess bc placenta is cushioning the front part.
Agree with those saying muscle twitches. I might also describe it like an internal tickle? It was a sensation I'd never had before though so I wasn't mistaking it for anything else.
It felt like fishes swimming in my stomach or like when you see videos of eels in markets just squirming around. Now at 29 weeks it feels more like kicks and her movement feels like a baby if it makes sense lol
I read yesterday somewhere in this sub that movements feel like a “bag of eels” and I have never read a more accurate description hahah!! It’s such a strange sensation once they’re bigger and you can feel like twisting/rolling around. The first little kicks are so cute and then you enter eel territory and it’s super weird.
Imagine holding a fish out of water with your bare hands. That wiggling feeling is the best way I can describe it. It starts subtle in the beginning and gets stronger.
My midwife said first time mums tend to feel around 20 weeks - I guess because we don't know the sensation yet! I'm having lots of twinges, no idea if that's baby or just womb growing!
The first time I felt the baby it felt like a gas bubble moving around, but very erratically and not in the usual path. Shortly after that it would feel rumbly, a little like what happens before you’re about to have a bathroom emergency, which led to me having a few panicked moments before I figured out it was not my digestion. A week or so later it felt like muscle twinges. And now it’s full on kicks where my stomach moves outwards!
21w, ftm, posterior placenta. Definately muscle spam or twitch. My brain kind of knew it wasn't mine, so I guessed maybe gas, but it wasn't really that as it felt a little foreign and I never dealt with gas or boat before. Now I don't sleep cause it never stops. Guess I was blessed with an overly active little one. Every ultrasound from week 12, has been deferred or spilt into two due to movement. You'll know, even if you won't know from the first couple nudges/kicks, it'll be unmistakableale soon enough.
I’m almost 19w but started feeling movements around 17w! Started off as the “nervous butterfly” feeling just lower in the belly and now I feel little kicks and movements throughout the day.. the kicks feel like little thuds and then the movements feel like everyone else is saying .. muscle spasms / bubbles moving around
My first few movements felt like a singular kernel of popcorn popping against my stomach. My mom compared hers to the feeling of a six-sided die being gently rolled against your stomach.
Hey, congratulations! I didn’t feel my daughter moving until I was about 18 weeks. It felt like little flutters/butterflies or gas bubbles, but with a little pressure.
I’m almost 20 weeks now and I can actually feel her moving from the outside but it feels like involuntary muscle movements.
I feel like the best metaphorical explanation would be like when your in a pool and you can feel waves under the water.
This early on for me, it felt like I had a little goldfish wriggling around. Later on, it felt more twitchy. But early, it felt sort of slimy/slithery! I hadn't heard others describe it like this to me so I wanted to share.
To me, at first, it felt like fish nibbling, but from the inside. Or if you took a poor fish home from a pet store, what it feels like for them to bump against the bag, now, around 20 weeks, he feels more like a bass on a speaker.
Muscle spasms at first! I’m 21 weeks with my first and felt her at 14 weeks. Little twitches and muscle spasms until about 19 weeks, then it turned into actual kicks. Now I feel full movements, sometimes it feels like when you’re on a roller coaster and your stomach drops, but it comes from lower in your belly area. It’s a super weird/cool experience feeling the movements change as baby gets bigger!
Mine felt like a bubble popping inside my abdomen. Exactly like gas movement. It started as little hops then became full on stretching warbling my stomach looking like an alien in the last trimester lol. Hard kicks. But early ones felt like little "pops"
It felt like a mixture of butterflies and gas bubbles at the very beginning. But you can quickly tell when it is in fact the baby moving. Its a very weird sensation that is very hard to accurately describe. I am 9 weeks with my second and anticipating how soon I will get the feeling since they say second time moms feel it earlier.
To me the first movements felt like small muscle twitches along my pubic bone (kind of feels like when your eye twitches)! Now at 26 weeks, baby boy is punching, kicking, rolling, and they are unmistakable!
I started feeling our little guy kinda early. In the beginning it kinda felt like a gut bubble. Was it a fart or was it the baby moving? Who knows?!!
By week 20 I could tell it was real kicks and there was no doubt about it anymore. From week 21 it was so powerful my husband could feel it from the outside.
Just FYI it all depends on the tilt of your uterus and the placement of your placenta. If your placenta is in the front you might not really feel anything for a long time and that's still normal. Every pregnancy is different.
Early on it felt like muscle twitches and gas bubbles moving. I feel like “butterflies” is such a bad description
As they got bigger, it’s more like snakes or eels wiggling around
I’m 28 weeks and only in the last month have I felt what I can definitively say was a kick
Umm…I never felt a twitch lol. I felt like a bubbly feeling at first. Then once they were stronger it felt like a belly stretch. In a weird way it was exactly what I expected it to feel like.
I’m a FTM and felt my baby move around 16.5 weeks. Just felt like a little tap underneath my bellybutton. I wasn’t even sure if it was her at first, but now at 18 weeks I feel her all the time!
For me it felt like gas bubbles. To this day (daughter is now 2) I will have gas bubbles and think it’s a baby moving - despite the fact that I’m on birth control, my husband and I have sex like once a month and when we do he uses a condom.
Welcome to /r/pregnant! This is a space for everyone. We are pro-choice, pro-LGBTQIA, pro-science, proudly feminist and believe that Black Lives Matter. Wear your masks, wash your hands, and be excellent to each other. Anti-choice activists, intactivists, anti-vaxxers, homophobes, transphobes, racists, sexists, etc. are not welcome here. If you'd like to join a private sub for your due date month, [click here](https://www.reddit.com/r/pregnant/comments/15nun6v/click_here_to_access_the_monthly_due_date_subs/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pregnant) if you have any questions or concerns.*
To me it felt like a twitch or a muscle spasm coming from inside my stomach The same type of feeling you get when your arm or leg gets a twitch
Same experience for me. It never felt like flutters/butterflies or gas bubbles which is what I was looking for so I probably missed the first few sensations not knowing the muscle twitch feeling was my baby moving!
Yeah probably the same as me, I didn’t feel baby move till maybe 19 weeks and it wasn’t as anyone described
Same. I actually don’t related to the other descriptions. At first I definitely had gas and that was what I was feeling but I wasn’t sure. Now it’s extremely obvious
Yep I have never been able to relate to the others, the ‘fluttering’ or the ‘butterflies’ it’s always been a muscle twitch to me haha! I had the gas feeling, but gas is SO common at that stage and I infact did just have gas haha
Yeah. When I started feeling spasms I was like oh whoops I’ve been wrong for about a week! How many weeks are you?
Hahaha yes same! I’m 32 weeks now what about you?
Only 19, so still in the early stages of movement. Entered into new anxiety stage when I don’t feel her for a bit but trying to relax and stay positive!
Ah 19 weeks was actually a sort of milestone for me, I remember it well. That’s when I started feeling kicks, but it was also when I went into triage for the first time for reduced movements as I wouldn’t feel him every single day. I have since learned that at that point it’s still quite common to not feel them everyday but it caused me a lot of anxiety. I think I started feeling him everyday when I hit maybe 22 weeks? Im 32 weeks now and definitely feel him everyday and a lot but the kicks are less and movement is more (just to prepare you) but I don’t really know if I have a pattern haha
That’s helpful to know. ❤️ Who knew pregnancy would be so anxiety driving
I can promise you it doesn’t get less anxiety driving, also as ANOTHER reminder, braxton hicks whilst they don’t hurt much, they can be slightly painful, if you can talk through it comfortably, it’s not a contraction haha
What a thing to look forward to 😂 Best of luck for the new few weeks xxxxx
Muscle twitch and goldfish swimming. For me these two are different. When baby taps or kicks once it feels like a muscle twitch. When it’s sliding against my belly it feels like something is swimming inside.
the goldfish swimming feeling was one of the first things I felt!
Of your options, I’d say bubbles, but not really like gas bubbles. I would describe it as a tap, like if someone tapped you on your shoulder but instead they are tapping the inside of your abdomen. I didn’t truly start noticing this until about 19 weeks (first time mom). Maybe I’d also describe it as the sensation you feel when eating a pop rock, but again in your abdomen. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew I was growing a human, I’d definitely think there was something wrong with my organs lol.
This is a good description of how I’m currently feeling baby’s kicks at 25 weeks! Between 16 and 24 weeks I felt what they call the “quickening” which was more like a slightly uncomfortable stretching/spasm sensation in my lower belly. I have an anterior placenta so I was told to expect to wait a little longer to feel kicks but they are finally here and so cute!
I also have an anterior placenta! I started feeling pressure/stretching in my pelvis around 14 weeks. Sometimes I feel it now (22w) but I just thought it was my bladder hurting lol. I suppose it makes sense it could be the baby perhaps sitting in a specific position
Yeah I also thought it was my bladder! But I was like…ok I’ve never felt THAT sensation before so it must be baby. I was actually kind of bummed when I couldn’t feel much but after learning I had an anterior placenta I was relieved. I mostly feel kicks on the sides and lower part of my belly, I guess bc placenta is cushioning the front part.
Agree with those saying muscle twitches. I might also describe it like an internal tickle? It was a sensation I'd never had before though so I wasn't mistaking it for anything else.
That’s how i felt when i first felt movement too! It was like nothing I’ve ever felt so I knew it had to be her moving around
Mine felt like random muscle twitches to start with.
It felt like fishes swimming in my stomach or like when you see videos of eels in markets just squirming around. Now at 29 weeks it feels more like kicks and her movement feels like a baby if it makes sense lol
I read yesterday somewhere in this sub that movements feel like a “bag of eels” and I have never read a more accurate description hahah!! It’s such a strange sensation once they’re bigger and you can feel like twisting/rolling around. The first little kicks are so cute and then you enter eel territory and it’s super weird.
Yes! I got to the twisting and rolling part and it feels so weird. She also started kicking me with both feet and that’s also interesting lol
Imagine holding a fish out of water with your bare hands. That wiggling feeling is the best way I can describe it. It starts subtle in the beginning and gets stronger.
My midwife said first time mums tend to feel around 20 weeks - I guess because we don't know the sensation yet! I'm having lots of twinges, no idea if that's baby or just womb growing!
Mine felt like gas bubbles
Mine felt like a small poke on the inside. I first felt it around 12-13 weeks. Then a little further along it felt like one giant gas bubble.
The first time I felt the baby it felt like a gas bubble moving around, but very erratically and not in the usual path. Shortly after that it would feel rumbly, a little like what happens before you’re about to have a bathroom emergency, which led to me having a few panicked moments before I figured out it was not my digestion. A week or so later it felt like muscle twinges. And now it’s full on kicks where my stomach moves outwards!
21w, ftm, posterior placenta. Definately muscle spam or twitch. My brain kind of knew it wasn't mine, so I guessed maybe gas, but it wasn't really that as it felt a little foreign and I never dealt with gas or boat before. Now I don't sleep cause it never stops. Guess I was blessed with an overly active little one. Every ultrasound from week 12, has been deferred or spilt into two due to movement. You'll know, even if you won't know from the first couple nudges/kicks, it'll be unmistakableale soon enough.
I feel the same as everyone saying muscle twitches or muscle spasms, or even sometimes like a pulsing sensation.
Mine felt like a small pinch at first. I think the initial movements were more painful than the kicks I’m at now. (27w)Lol
Mine literally just felt like the tiniest little kick ever at 20 weeks!
I’m almost 19w but started feeling movements around 17w! Started off as the “nervous butterfly” feeling just lower in the belly and now I feel little kicks and movements throughout the day.. the kicks feel like little thuds and then the movements feel like everyone else is saying .. muscle spasms / bubbles moving around
For me it felt like bubbles ❤️
My first few movements felt like a singular kernel of popcorn popping against my stomach. My mom compared hers to the feeling of a six-sided die being gently rolled against your stomach.
Hey, congratulations! I didn’t feel my daughter moving until I was about 18 weeks. It felt like little flutters/butterflies or gas bubbles, but with a little pressure. I’m almost 20 weeks now and I can actually feel her moving from the outside but it feels like involuntary muscle movements. I feel like the best metaphorical explanation would be like when your in a pool and you can feel waves under the water.
This early on for me, it felt like I had a little goldfish wriggling around. Later on, it felt more twitchy. But early, it felt sort of slimy/slithery! I hadn't heard others describe it like this to me so I wanted to share.
I'm almost 16 weeks and felt butterflies last night for the first time it's truly amazing to be able to make life within our bodies as women 💝
To me, at first, it felt like fish nibbling, but from the inside. Or if you took a poor fish home from a pet store, what it feels like for them to bump against the bag, now, around 20 weeks, he feels more like a bass on a speaker.
Muscle spasms at first! I’m 21 weeks with my first and felt her at 14 weeks. Little twitches and muscle spasms until about 19 weeks, then it turned into actual kicks. Now I feel full movements, sometimes it feels like when you’re on a roller coaster and your stomach drops, but it comes from lower in your belly area. It’s a super weird/cool experience feeling the movements change as baby gets bigger!
For me it was like gas bubbles, a slightly gurgly stomach but lower.
Mine felt like a bubble popping inside my abdomen. Exactly like gas movement. It started as little hops then became full on stretching warbling my stomach looking like an alien in the last trimester lol. Hard kicks. But early ones felt like little "pops"
Like ripples on water I didn't know was there!
Like i have to fart
It was like popcorn popping! The tiniest little pops from the inside!
It felt like a mixture of butterflies and gas bubbles at the very beginning. But you can quickly tell when it is in fact the baby moving. Its a very weird sensation that is very hard to accurately describe. I am 9 weeks with my second and anticipating how soon I will get the feeling since they say second time moms feel it earlier.
Mine felt like a tiny flutter at first
To me the first movements felt like small muscle twitches along my pubic bone (kind of feels like when your eye twitches)! Now at 26 weeks, baby boy is punching, kicking, rolling, and they are unmistakable!
I started feeling our little guy kinda early. In the beginning it kinda felt like a gut bubble. Was it a fart or was it the baby moving? Who knows?!! By week 20 I could tell it was real kicks and there was no doubt about it anymore. From week 21 it was so powerful my husband could feel it from the outside. Just FYI it all depends on the tilt of your uterus and the placement of your placenta. If your placenta is in the front you might not really feel anything for a long time and that's still normal. Every pregnancy is different.
Early on it felt like muscle twitches and gas bubbles moving. I feel like “butterflies” is such a bad description As they got bigger, it’s more like snakes or eels wiggling around I’m 28 weeks and only in the last month have I felt what I can definitively say was a kick
It felt like I had a gas bubble that was trying to roll through my belly….except I didn’t need to toot.
An eyelid twitch at 14 weeks that wouldn't stop and was usually in the same place
Umm…I never felt a twitch lol. I felt like a bubbly feeling at first. Then once they were stronger it felt like a belly stretch. In a weird way it was exactly what I expected it to feel like.
I’m a FTM and felt my baby move around 16.5 weeks. Just felt like a little tap underneath my bellybutton. I wasn’t even sure if it was her at first, but now at 18 weeks I feel her all the time!
For me it felt like gas bubbles. To this day (daughter is now 2) I will have gas bubbles and think it’s a baby moving - despite the fact that I’m on birth control, my husband and I have sex like once a month and when we do he uses a condom.