Baby Kicks

Hi girls,

I am wondering if anyone can tell me if there is a 'right' amount of kicks I should be feeling (I am just going into 3rd tri this week).

I know pregnancy is different for everyone, but I would like to know roughly how often bubs should be kicking now.

Thanks in advance!

Jess

Hey Jess.

You can do a kick count. This is where you pick an hour that bubs kicks most and record how many kicks s/he does in that hour. Bubs should do at least 10 kicks in the hour. If less, try another hour and record. You should see your doctor if bubs hasn't kicks up to 10 times in the 2 hours.

Hope this helps.

Take care,

Thanks Tegan, that does seem like a lot of kicks, but I guess they do add up.

Is it normal for bubs to kick a lot at a certain part of the day (morning for me), and then not at all at night? I find most days bubs will kick all day on and off at work, then he will go really quiet at night, somtimes I wont feel a kick at all.

Jess

Yeah thats pretty normal. I mean they do have to sleep sometime lol. Bubs probably kicks while you are sleeping, so you might not feel it. My bubs usually kicks when i wake up and when i go to bed mostly. and just a few kicks here and there during the day.

Tegan, kicking sounds similar to my bubs. Its all so exciting isn't it!

I have had a bit of a 'lull' lately with everything in general. I think it has a lot to do with being a very impatient person! I cant put my feelings into words, but I just feel like there is so long to go even though it has flown by, but on the other hand it is so nerve-racking thinking of child birth and its confusing to think that is something I am actually looking forward to (not the pain but the baby afterwards!) I constantly worry that bubs is going to be late (and therefore my sister wont get to see him as she leaves for Europe on the 20th of December) and I see how the girls in 3rd tri are so emotional when their bubs is well overdue (with good reason!!!!) and it worries me as I feel like I am sure my bubs will be overdue too - maybe just because I feel like it is never going to really happen? I think I would be an absolute mess if I had to wait much longer than the 40 weeks so I admire girls like Pee who have been able to hang in there. Sorry, blubbering aren't I, I am just enjoying getting these thoughts off my chest, its something no one else would understand except the BellyBelly girls.

Anyway, how are you?!

Jess

Jess

When i was pregnant with Kimebrley i never felt her at all. Even when i was having a u/s done they asked if i could feel it as she was moving and kicking but no.

Jess - I'm feeling super tired atm. I wish i had my energy like i did in 2nd tri. I'm also feeling the same way you are. Feel like this baby is never going to come, excited and nervous. Yet i don't want bubs to come early coz then my best friend will miss it as she will be coming back from schoolies 4 days before my due date and she doesnt want to miss it! I'm also a very impatiant person. I hate running late and not getting things done. I have 12 weeks and 5 days to go and i feel like it will never get here, yet at the same time i feel like it's coming too soon coz we haven't even got the nursery started yet! Which is a bit impossible at the moment coz of our house renovations.

Tatty - Your pregnancy sounds similar to my mum's re. the baby kicks. She never felt me kick at all, just kinda pushing on her tummy, like i was walking across it or something. Hence why she doesnt understand why i get worried if i don't feel many kicks!

Tegan

The only thing Kimberley did was at about 30 weeks was dance on my pelvis or that's what it felt like. She just did not want to turn and never did.

Tegan, I must admit I am getting tireder by the day too. And Friday at work after lunch I was sitting at my desk feeling so uncomfortable (always after I eat I feel really 'heavy', it was such a yuk feeling I just wanted to go and lie down but had too much work to do. Then again over the weekend all I could do was clean and renovate etc. But I am finding I no longer look forward to going to bed as I can never sleep. I toss and turn and always wake up thinking about the baby. Last night was the worst, I had the wierdest (grossest but wont go into detail as its too gross) dream and I would wake up so often feeling wide awake. Poor DH I feel sorry for him, I am almost tempted to sleep in the spare room, it probably would be better for both of us.
I guess we just have to learn to cope with all the symptoms and cross our fingers bubs will come exactly on time, not earlier, not later!

Tatty, that is interesting to know, I guess you can never stress about anything until you see your doctor!

Jess

Hi Jess

My baby(a girl) kicks almost constantly, whereas my son hardly kicked at all, drinking something really cold, lying on your left side or laying flat on your back (not for long) is supposed to move baby around, and of course the kick chart, sometimes we are busy and just don't notice them.
I have about 10 weeks to go and if I don't stop having constant nightmares (horrendous) I am going to collapse, it's bad enough not being able to get confortable and taking 4 goes to roll over, let alone the bad dreams as well. That's my whinge for today.
Take care
Kylie

Hi Jess,
With regard to kicking I was/am on a fetal movement monitor where as if i dont feel 10 movements by 5 p.m. then i should be worried. To be honest with you I have not really had consistent kicking the whole way through the pregnancy but Ryley is fine atm- (just not budgin!!)

Dont worry too much and the periods of rest and play seem to be very normal. I can go a whole day without feeling a movement and then at like 5 o'clock i will feel 10 so it is ok. Try and drink a glass of lemonade or some icey water if you are worried coz this inspires them to move.

Hope this helps!! (Thanks for the saying about the overdue thing but really i dont have much of a choice!! ;) )

The funniest thing happened today while at the OB. While I was waiting for my next blood test, there was another p/g woman in the CTG room and was being monitored. When the heart beat of the baby could be heard, Snowmonkey woke up and started bouncing around inside. It almost felt like he was trying to come out and play with the other baby. It made me laugh. It was so cute!
:)

Snowy

Snowgirl. That sounds soooo cute!


My lil girl has just started playing games with her daddy. Before he'd put his hand on my tummy to feel the kicks....she'd stop. Now he pushes in a lil and she kicks him straight back and he has a good laugh. He blows razzberries on my tummy (she ignores it) but when he starts kissing my tummy she kicks him fair back. She wakes up and moves more when she can hear his voice. She's already a daddy'e girl! I think it's great that they are bonding already when she's still in my tummy.

Oh that is very cute!! Snowmonkey is ignoring his father so far.... he still stops when DH puts his hand on my belly.. it's so weird! I sometimes have so much movement going on but when I pull up my top and go "Look" to DH, he stops... he did see the belly shake in the waiting room though... otherwise he'd probably think I'm making it all up! lol

Snowy,
My lil girl does that too sometimes. It's amazing how they seem to know when they are being watched isn't it? *L* I'm sure DH must think I over react sometimes cause when she kicks hard I jump, but when he feels them they're only the smaller ones. He hasn't seen the tummy stick out a million millimeters yet because as u said, everytime I get a hard kick and go to show him, she quietens down. But I am just happy he gets to feel even some of the movements and that when they play games, I see his smile and it is just so beautiful. I can't wait to see him holding her now.

Hello

I find that I can have lots of movement but as soon as I say to DH, put your hand there it stops.

I have said that I hope he has that soothing effect when baby is born LOL.

Carmen

Yep, I'm getting that too...bub will be kicking around madly, and as soon as I get DH to put his hand there to feel, he stops. DH, bless him, has taken this to mean that the baby knows that daddy's there and this calms him right down...hmmm!

Haha, same for me too. But DH seems to expect the kicks to be wild and strong, I am constantly reminding him bubs is no longer than 30cm and only weighs about 1kg. It is so cute though, when he does feel the kicks, which isn't often as like the your bubs he stops when daddy gets close, his eyes light up and I can tell he is sooooooooo happy, even if his little man is a weakling - not for long though! I am 6ft tall so my boy is bound to be taller than me, they say all sons are taller than their mothers.

Jess

Well, we'll see if my son will become taller than me. That will mean that he is taller than his dad too (since Monkey is shorter than me) ... we'll see if my genes or Monkey's genes are stronger. So far it looks like he is coming after me (2 weeks ahead of average growth)

Snowmonkey has been very active yesterday. My belly has been shaking and wobbling all over the place. Last night when I was rubbing cream into my belly, he kept pushing his bum into my hand. (midwife told me that was his bum on my right side) It was so cute. Everytime my hand came to the right side of the belly, he would poke it right out. I would push against it and then continue rubbing in circles and when I came back to my right side, I would stop and sure enough he would push against my hand again. It was so cute! Ít's so nice that they are getting so interactive now! Monkey was watching my belly shake in awe. Unfortunately most of the times he misses it ... it's like Snowmonkey knows he's being watched!

OK, I am back to my stressing over bubs kicking, I just cant help it, he has been quiet lately and I just need to know if it is normal for them to have busy and quiet spurts. Last week he would kick on and off all morning, and sometimes at night, but this week he might give a stray kick here and there, but nothing like 10 kicks in an hour etc.

I feel fine otherwise, but (TMI warning) have had a bit of gas lately, like my tummy isn't agreeing with something I am eating, and have had a lot of stitches across my bump, and just recently it has been aching quite a bit. I'm sure these things are all normal, but when bubs isn't kicking I worry.

I guess partly I just need to get it off my chest, so thanks for the listening.

I almost just didn't post this, as he is kicking slightly right now (just a few stray kicks), but they seem to have gotten lighter, could it be as he has less room to wind up his legs to kick?! I remember Snowy (in 3rd Tri - Sept thread?) being a bit worried about less kicking a week ago, and someone replied from about now they might quieten down as there is less room (having said that, I still don't feel 'pushing' instead of kicks)?

Jess

Hey Jess,
I'm the same ATM. My bubs has quietened down now. She used to kick a lot and they were strong, now she doesn't kick as much, in fact I think she doesn't have the room to get the swing in for a good kick most of the time. I do however feel slight tickling sensation at times and I know it's her moving slightly. Sometimes I can even feel the build up to a big movement. The room in there is running out and I TRUELY believe that is the main reason for the slowdown in kicks. I went all morning this morning (from around 1am) without feeling any movement at all. At around 11am she finally started moving again. I think u just have to be aware of the smaller movements from now on because they are more cramped.
But as always, if u get too worried about it or if insinct tells u that something seems wrong, get it checked. Everyone tells me drs r used to being asked about stuff like this and they'd rather u ask than something be wrong and they not find out till later.
Better to be safe than sorry.
Hope this helps a little. Sorry if I rambled on too much.
Hope everything is ok.

Jess, I think as long as you get any movement - whether weak or strong - that all is good. I guess they are just running out of space. Recently it has totally turned into pushing. Sometimes I wonder if bubs is trying to bust out through my belly button. I think only if you have no movement at all for a day, you should get worried.
Hope that helps.
Mine definitely goes through phases. I will have 2-3 days of crazy activity and then 2 days of less activity.

Snowy

Thanks girls. I really did start to go into a panic last night. I was chatting with the girls on IRC after the trivia and I realised that compared to others my kicks are extremely light. So I am OK with the fact that I am still feeling movement, just now worried that I have never felt strong kicks. I would describe the kicks I have had as more twitches. A few times DH has felt them but only just, and a few times I have been able to see my belly move, but again only slightly.

I am so confused about this, I don't know if it is just lack of sleep (I have been getting horrible side pain on the left of my belly towards my back at night and it has been keeping me awake). I rang the hospital last night and she seemed happy with the amount of movement I was having but she asked me to drink a glass of icy water and I did that 3 times with no movement following so that made me upset.

I will keep you guys posted on the movements I feel over the next 24hrs and see how it compares to you. As a start I have probably felt 4 small kicks this morning (it is 8:45am and I get up around 7:15am). When I was lying in bed at around 5am with a hot water bottle on my aching side I felt 3 small kicks in a row but I haven't included those), btw, is it safe to have a hot water bottle so close to bubs, I worry it will make his home a bit too hot?!

Jess

Just thought I would let you know that I rang my hospital again and spoke to a really nice midwife and she said just come in to put your mind at ease, so I will be going there straight after work .... I am sooooooo glad I called ....

Oh and an update, I have recorded 23 very light kicks since this morning.

Jess

oh JEss thats so scary!!! I hope everything goes well for you!

I hardly ever felt Liam kick during the day (probably because I was too busy working) only at night. DH use to feel him kick more than I did as would have his arm around me while I slept. As soon as I would goto sleep he would start. DH said it was so cute cause everytime he would kick I would grunt in my sleep. I would always worry that he never moved.

When he was 5 days old and went for his heel ***** test, the nurse said I would have hated to be pregnant with him becuase he has such a strong kick.

Oh Jess, you poor thing, let us know asap how you get on at the hospital!! It is definitely better to check it out and put your mind at rest, but 23 kicks sounds pretty good. I definitely get busy & slow times, and during the slow times it's like the whole world comes to a standstill till he starts moving again. He seems to really quieten down for a while after I have a bath or shower too. Another thing is, if your placenta is positioned at the front of your uterus, as mine apparently is, you won't feel as many kicks because it's like an extra layer. Also mine are less like kicks and more like a pushing sensation now. Anyway, I'm sure all is well and I will be waiting to hear your next post!

I agree with Beth - you might have an anterior placenta which cushions the kicks. Has your OB mentioned anything?
I hope the midwives at the clinic were able to put your mind to rest and all is well with bubs. Let us know how it went.

PS.
Mine never reacts to cold water. Don't know why...

All was fine at the hospital, the midwives were so lovely and I had the CTG (strapped up to a moniter which has baby's heart beat and the buzzer to press when I feel movement) for 20 mins and she said it all looked perfectly normal and just reassured me that everyone's movements feel different, so I guess I just have to accept that the kicks some people describe are personally not what happens to me.

I feel much better, thanks again!

Jess

What a relief Jess. You're lucky that you had such a nice midwife to suggest you go in to get checked out.

That's good news Jess. I'm glad you had a very nice midwife, you don't find many, most just tell you to not worry, etc.

Jess,

I am so glad that you were able to go in and get hooked on on that CTG thing - was that what Kathryn was talking about?

I am glad that the mid wives were helpful, makes it easier knowing you'll be back there in approx. 10 weeks!

Have a good day

nellbe