Before it looks -- and feels -- like an alien has taken control of your belly (What is that? A head? A foot? An elbow? An entire soccer team? Ouch!), those first feelings of movement from your baby are not only a huge relief to most pregnant women, but also seriously cool.
Early on, though, it can be tricky to distinguish between "quickening" -- the official term for the sensation of your baby's first movements -- and the burrito you took down the night before coming back to haunt you. First time moms-to-be usually first notice the signs between 18 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, while second-time moms may notice those early kicks as early at 16 weeks.
Many women describe the feeling as a fluttering or bubbles, but for those who are unsure if what they're feeling is actually the baby, here are some ways iVillage mamas describe those joyful early movements:
"It felt really light and subtle and fast, almost like an eye twitch. It's very very subtle, but I can feel it most of the day! I have a very active little wiggly worm in there." -- JessiRynn
"For me, it feels like I have a bag in my belly with a goldfish swimming around. When the goldfish flicks into the bag, that's what I feel. So excited!" -- talllady84
"I felt a sort of paintbrush feeling go across the my abdomen. It was incredible!” -- addiegirl09
"I felt tiny little strings of bubbles off and on for about five seconds, or swishiness, or something, right in the front of my tummy." --eva_antropologa
"I was lying in bed (on my belly to stretch my back) and I felt something. It was really low in my pelvis- sort of where I would have menstral cramps-in the middle of my belly. It felt like a super tiny butterfly was in there." -- melanie914
"I was lying on my back in bed , just on the verge of waking up and I felt little flutters in my very low belly. Unlike gas or anything I've felt. Just quick little pitter-patters." – quixy
"I felt it at about 16 weeks. It feels like popcorn popping in your belly!" --brown_eyedgal30
"Mine feel like little thumps...not very hard some days and others a bit harder. With one child, it felt like little animals moving around in my belly when it was an active day. I think the best way to describe it is like a little spasm!" -- nikkicherry
"I'm not a gassy person and it felt like little bubbles bursting in my stomach." -- eternalist
"It felt like a light flutter that ran across from one side to the other." -- nillababy
"Sometimes it feels like a little light tickle, and sometimes a little bump when I swear the baby's doing somersaults." -- excitednewmama
