The first time I felt another human flutter in my uterus I was lying on the sofa watching Friends. My then husband was sound asleep beside me. We had done an ultrasound that morning to find out if we were having a boy or a girl, and I remember asking the doctor when he thought I’d feel the baby kick.
He told me it could be anytime, or not for a few months
I was anxious. I couldn’t wait to feel those flutters I heard so much about. I thought I’d burst if I had to wait much longer.
I was positive that the first swoop I felt to my left was a kick from my son. After that night, I felt him kick all the time and I savored every one of them.
Fast forward to a few days before he was born, and all I wanted was for him to calm down so I could get some rest.
Then, when I got pregnant with my daughter, she’d kick me right in the ribs and the pain would shoot through me. I even dropped a glass while walking through the kitchen once because one of her kicks literally took my breath away.
I pretty much felt my third child kick as soon as I got a positive pregnancy test.
He was a big baby, so every movement felt like someone was twisting my insides
I used to lie on my back and lift up my shirt so my two little toddlers could watch my stomach morph and move for entertainment.
I knew I might have those phantom kicks for a few months to a year after giving birth. I’d heard it could happen, and figured that since I’d been pregnant so much over the years, it might take my body and mind some time to adjust.
However, as I look at my youngest who is 6’1” and will be 15 this year, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact I still feel those baby kicks inside my stomach. It mostly happens when I’m lying on my back. And it’s not nearly as often as it was when my kids were small — there were times I thought I should go get a pregnancy test even though my cycle was normal because I would have bet money on the fact there was a baby in my belly.
When I talk about this, people laugh and tell me they are gas bubbles
But I know my body (and, believe me, I know what gas bubbles feel like) and I khow the difference between a toot coming down the pike and feeling a baby kick inside of me.
I wonder how long these will last, because honestly I love them and wouldn't mind if they stayed around a lot longer. Every time I feel one, it takes me back to that night when I felt my first one and the overwhelming sense of happiness I felt.
