Quickening usually occurs between 16 – 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Those regular butterfly-like flutters you feel low down in your belly are a lovely reminder of the amazing changes your body is growing through as your baby develops.
In the early stages of the pregnancy, it gets difficult to understand the various movements you feel in the stomach. It could be your baby or it could simply be the stomach’s effort to push out the gas. But after a point, you can actually start feeling the movements of your baby and you know for sure that there is a living, breathing entity inside your body that will call you its mother soon.
Why Does My Baby Move?
As your baby is continuing to develop he/she will stretch and flex his/her limbs. As you get further along in your pregnancy, you will begin to feel more obvious movements, such as kicking, punching, and rolling. Your baby may also move as he/she responds to noise or to your emotions.
If your baby finds a position you are in to be uncomfortable, he/she may also begin to squirm. Certain foods you eat can also cause your baby to be more active, and you may notice he/she follows a sleeping/waking cycle.
When can you Feel the Baby’s First Move?
The first time you feel the baby kick will depend on the unique circumstances of your pregnancy. First-time mothers can usually expect to feel their babies kick at about 18–20 weeks. If you have been pregnant before it is apt to happen even sooner, perhaps at 15–17 weeks. In some cases the baby’s first movements may be felt as soon as 13–16 weeks from start of the mother’s last period; in others it can happen as late as 25 weeks … or not at all.
Kick Count
Toward the end of pregnancy, you may be asked to record how often you feel the baby move. This test is done at home and is called a kick count. It provides reassurance about fetal well-being. Your doctor may use one of two common methods. The first is to count how many times the baby moves in an hour. The other is to note how long it takes for baby to move 10 times. Usually you can choose when you want to do the test. After eating a meal is a good time because baby is often more active
How Often Should You Feel the Baby’s Movements?
Early in your pregnancy, you may just feel a few flutters every now and then. But as your baby grows — usually by the end of the second trimester — the kicks should grow stronger and more frequent. Studies show that by the third trimester, the baby moves about 30 times each hour.
Babies tend to move more at certain times of the day as they alternate between alertness and sleep. They are usually most active between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., right as you’re trying to get to sleep. This surge in activity is due to your changing blood sugar levels.
