Good Vibrations?

Now that I am into the second trimester, I am getting lots of questions about the baby moving. Questions from friend and family and from doctors and nurses alike. Can I feel it? How does it feel? Is the baby kicking yet?

The problem is, I am not sure how to answer this question. This is my first pregnancy, so I am not really sure what a moving baby feels like. Besides, at only 3-5 ounces, he or she is still pretty small, so it could be easy to miss those movements in this seemingly huge belly of mine.

Being a researcher, the first thing I did was look it up. My first go-to resource, What to Expect, says that it is unusual to feel movements this early, especially in a first pregnancy. Usually, movement is felt closer to 20 weeks. This book says the movements can feel like anything from butterflies in your stomach, to a feather, to gas bubbles. Huh. I can’t say I’ve felt anything like that yet.

Still wondering, though, I went to my next favorite resource, the internet. Here I found all types of real-life experiences posted in forums and on blogs. Some women felt movement as early as 13 or 14 weeks, and others, not until the sixth month. But I did find one thread that caught my attention; It was about vibrations. These women almost all said that their movements felt like vibrations low in their bellies. Now that is something I can relate to! And actually,I have been feeling these vibrations off and on since about 13 weeks. Could these vibrations be my baby moving?

I am still not 100% sure because the vibrations are fleeting and only happen, at most, a couple of time a week. Mostly they occur when I am about to get up in the morning or when I lay down at night. Perhaps they are happening all the time, but this is the only time that I feel them?

Who knows, maybe it is just wishful thinking. Maybe it’s nothing but gas bubbles …