Baby Watch Blog: 19 Weeks & Counting!
Your belly’s rounding out right about now. You’re anxious to feel those kicks. The anticipation is killing you! Then, there you have it — he kicks! Excitement wells through you, and you can’t wait to share the news. However, your happy little moment is turned upside down when someone tells you, “You’re not supposed to feel him move like that yet; it was just gas.”
WHATEVER!
I’m going through this right now. Yeah, sure, we all know that gas can make it feel like baby flutters and movement, but when you’re belly actually bulges up from a kick … excuse me, that’s not GAS! Unless it was released by the baby (which is not the case).
I’ve been feeling this sort of movement for weeks now, but I was told I have an anterior placenta when I had an ultrasound at 16 weeks. I was already beginning to feel the “flutters” by then anyway. I had no idea what that really meant and forgot to ask. According to lots of moms on various online forums and whattoexpect.com, an anterior placenta is where the placenta develops on the front (or anterior) side of your uterus, and Baby is behind it. Thus, providing a bit of a bumper for any kicks to come. You’re not really supposed to start feeling kicks like this until later as the placenta migrates around the uterus and out of the way.
Not sure why I’ve been given the pleasure to feel them so soon, but I’ll take it! It could be the fact that he’s measuring two weeks bigger than he should be (putting him in the 95 percentile in height). Doc says he could just be a big baby. He seriously pushes so far to one side that you can feel his head! He kicks so hard that I actually caught it on video, too.
A few other factors for my being able to feel kicks is that 1.) I’m not gaining any weight so there’s less “cushion” around him — whatever he gains, he takes from me, which is weird for me since I gained weight in my first two pregnancies; 2.) It’s my third baby; and 3.) Maybe it’s also the fact that I have hypothyroidism … gonna ask Doc about that next week. Apparently, first-time moms could be as far along as 25 weeks before feeling anything. We pros here know what to look for.
If you really want to feel those kicks, be sure to try when you have a chance to lie down in a quiet room without distractions. The quieter it is, the more movement you’re apt to feel. My little guy tends to bounce around when my other children are not in the room. I tested this the other day. He was kicking like crazy and I called for the kids to come feel. The moment they came in the room, baby got shy and stayed still. It was funny. I teased and said he was hiding from them already!
