i cant feel my baby moving?

Question

i am 21 weeks & 5 days preganant and every where i read it say that i should be able to feel my baby moving inside me but i cant. i had my 20 week scan done 2 weeks ago and everythimg was fine. this is my first baby.

Answer 1

You can't ALWAYS feel your baby move and some women I know swear they never felt the baby move...but being pregnant the first time you may have very well felt the baby move but didn't know what it was you felt. I wouldn't worry too much if your last scan was fine. I've had 3 children and I had moments where I was so worried something was wrong because I couldn't feel my baby move for sometimes weeks at a time...I'm sure all is well and your first-time mom nerves are just kicking in pretty hardcore. Good luck with delivery and have an awesome future with your new addition!!

Answer 2

With the first one it is hard to determine wether you are feeling the baby or not. You may be feeling it and not realising that it is the baby. At first it sort of feels like tiny gas bubbles in your tummy, at least until baby is much bigger.

You must remember that at 21 wks the baby is still very small, only a few centimetres so any movement will be very slight and possibly unrecognizable to the first time mommy.

I don't remember feeling my first baby until I was about 6 1/2 mths pregnant, but with the second and third I felt movement very early - around 3 1/2 mths. But I knew what to "feel" for.

As well it will be much further along that daddy will be able to feel movement.

Answer 3

It depends very much on the individual.

I am expecting my first baby and I felt him moving from 16 weeks but that is VERY rare I've been told. even then i kept panicking because I'd feel him moving loads for a few days and then nothing for a couple of days!!!

Many women do not feel their baby move until 24 weeks or even later, that is quite normal.

If your baby is in certain position, or your placenta is "shielding" his movements from you, or you have a bit extra weight on your tummy, you will not feel the movements as easily as someone else might.

I would chat to your doctor or midwife about this. I have been told that I do not even need to keep a count of the baby's movements (10 per day) until 26 weeks so presumably many women won't be feeling the baby before this. I'm 26 weeks tommorrow so will be counting movements from now on!!

It is apparently quite normal not to feel a first baby move until about 24 weeks. Women on subsequent pregnancies often feel it sooner. Like I said, I have been feeling my baby since 16 weeks but that is very unusual.

You may be feeling the baby move and not really realising what it is! I kept feeling strange little twinges which I didn't understand until my Mother in Law pointed out that was the baby moving! After that I understood what it was! Before then it just felt like gas pains, flutters or slight twinges which I would have put down to just the workings of my digestive system!

I'm sure you'll feel you baby move very soon!

The midwife advised me, if I was worried about not feeling enough movement, to have a cold glass of iced water, lie on my back and give my stomach a gentle little "poke"! It always seems to wake little one up!

Answer 4

If you had a scan and everything looked fine you and your baby are probably okay.

Normally your first baby many people don't know what the movement will feel like because it is subtle at first. After you are used to it with your first it will be easier for you to tell earlier with other pregnancies.

Being able to "feel" the movement is HIGHLY subjective. Remember: Some women don't even know they are pregnant until very far along... You see them on TV all the time.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

Try this....lay down after being on your feet for a while, then relax totally get your mind off of everything. When you feel this little flutter almost as if butterflies are in your stomach...that is the baby. On the first baby you don't know what to look for and have never experienced it, but if you will do what I say, I think you will feel the flutter. It's not going to be a big movement like you may expect. :) Doctor said baby is fine, you will be too. Enjoy!

Answer 6

Sweetheart, I feel your pain. You may not think that you can feel the baby, but in fact you may be feeling him move all the time! At first all it feels like are little butterflies in your belly, swishing around a little. You are only 21 weeks along and it may be difficult for you to feel it because there is so much room in there right now. Don't fret, you will wake up one day to a strong kick in the abdomen thinking ' oh my gosh, I'm in labor!' but it's just your little one telling you to go eat breakfast. Yes, it can happen just like that. Don't worry, as long as there is a heartbeat at your appointments, Your little one will pop up sooner or later. Try holding still for a few minutes right after you eat a meal and see if you don't feel some fluttering.

Answer 7

I am 22 weeks pregnant and only started feeling baby move in the last couple of days. I mentioned my concerns to the midwife a couple of weeks ago when i couldnt feel it moving, but she assured me that it was completely normal, and depending on where the baby is lying determines whether you will feel it or not. Give it another week or so, it will happen!!

Answer 8

Relax I've had two children and the first movements are more like butterfly's, I felt my movements quite early on but my sister in law didn't feel hers till she was bout 24 weeks gone. If you've had your scan and everythings ok there's nothing to worry about. But please relax soon you'll be getting all types of kicks and prods at all times of the day and night!! Good luck with everthing and remember if you need any more help I'm only an email away. Sarah xxx

Answer 9

Sometimes it takes longer. It could happen today, or it may be 2 weeks from now. I can tell you, babies are more active at night. So if you really want to feel it here's what you do...

Drink a mountain dew (forget all that "no caffeine stuff. One isn't going to hurt your baby-my OB told me to do this when I was 32 weeks and wasn't feeling my daughter move, after I had been for weeks.) then lay on your bed. Lay there a while and you may get lucky and feel something.

Answer 10

When my baby would move it felt like gas in my tummy , not till he got stronger was i able to feel the difference ,that's how it was with me anyway , my first baby too , who now is 5 weeks old, and my world. Don't worry the baby is just fine, i worried about every little thing too , and that doesn't change after the baby is born. :) :) worry wort for life :)