Week 16 – No movement yet
April 13, 2006
At my doctor appointment this month they started to ask me if I had felt the baby move yet. I wanted to remind both the doctor and nurse who asked me that the baby did have a significant layer of fat to kick through on my stomach, so I’m not really expecting to feel the kid for the next week or two. 16 weeks is generally the earliest one might feel movement. Although I’m not feeling anything yet, the baby is definitely moving. When the nurse put the dopplar on my stomach to listen to the heartbeat, the kid kept moving away from her. She had to chase the kid all around my stomach trying to find a spot where the baby stayed still long enough for us to hear the heartbeat. Eventually she caught up with the baby, and the heartbeat is somewhere in the 140’s, which is apparently still good. We’ve got the sonogram coming up in a few weeks, so hopefully I’ll be able to post a picture of that soon. I’m a bit worried that if the baby won’t cooperate for the dopplar, he or she also won’t cooperate with the sonogram, which could be rather frustrating for us parents who would like to know where it is a he or a she. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that the baby won’t have its legs crossed!
My baby bulge is actually starting to be in the way when I pick up things (boxes, etc.) Most people get this panicked look in their eyes when I pick something up, like if the box is too heavy the baby is going to drop out of me right there. From what I’ve gathered (research on google), lifting isn’t too much of an issue if (a) you’re having a healthy pregnancy (b) you don’t have a history of miscarriages (c) it’s safer after you’re out of your first trimester. If you could lift stuff before you were pregnant, you should be able to lift stuff while you are pregnant. That being said, I am not a medical professional, so if there are any expecting mothers reading this, please check with your own doctor and don’t take my word for it. Besides, it’s kind of nice to have everyone else do the heavy lifting for a while, so although I feel a little like an invalid when I’m told not to lift things, I do enjoy the break.
sara, where are weeks 17, 18 and 19? i want to hear your narration of them!
Um, we need more updates, ok? I miss you! I really have nobody else to bitch with
Dear Sara: Google sent me your way — I’d asked for no-movement babies. My daughter is 11, an absolute wonder to us. We nearly lost her at birth (apgar 2) but my wife had saved the day by always counting kicks (we were in the 8th month). So that morning, she knew something was wrong, the orange juice didn’t change anything, and we had a c-section just past 11 am.
Anyway, morale of the story is count those kicks. It really does matter.
Hi Taylor’s Father – it sounds like your family had a bit of a scare when your daughter was born – it was lucky your wife was so on top of things! Your comment has definitely made me much more conscious of my baby’s kicks during the day – luckily the baby has continued to be quite active on a regular basis. Thanks for your comment and advice!
i have not had any movement at nearly 17 weeks after having a week of fluttering every day, should i be worried
Hi Kayleigh, congrats on your pregnancy! Whenever I was worried that I hadn’t felt enough movement, I would lay down in a quiet spot, on my left side, and time how long it took to feel 10 kicks. Usually it took less that 10 minutes, and I often decided that it wasn’t that I hadn’t felt the kicks, but that I had just been too busy and not paying enough attention to feel them, especially at first when he was too little to kick very hard. However, if you really haven’t felt any movement for a while, definitely call your doctor’s office – they’ll hopefully be able to reassure you that everything is ok, and maybe have you come in so they can verify that you and the baby are fine. Good luck!
hiya i emailed in at 17 weeks saying i had hardly any movement. i am now 21 weeks and found out its a boy!! and i think he heard me say that as he is kicking every night up to 15 times thanks for your previous advice
Hi Kayleigh – congrats on your baby boy – that’s so exciting! That kicking is so much fun. I’ve actually had women tell me that they miss the kicking once the baby is born. I don’t know that I actually miss the kicking, but I do understand the sentiment, so enjoy it while it lasts!
hi im 16 weeks i do feel movements,n its exciting.this is my first breakthrough pregnancy after 1 misscarriage.so im a lot over protected, i can’t wait to find out the gender i hope its a boy,i go for a checkup on the 13 of february, so i should know then.
Hi Yolande – congrats on your pregnancy and on feeling movement – that’s very exciting! Take care of yourself, enjoy your pregnancy, and let us know when you find out if you’re having a boy or a girl!
im 16 weeks pregnant and was feeling alot of movement until last night i had a huge argument with someone where i was screaming and yelling. since then i havent felt any movement. i havent had any pain or funny things but im scared??
Hi Jackey – while stress isn’t generally good for a baby, I haven’t heard of an argument causing a miscarriage. I noticed that when I was busy or distracted, I didn’t feel movement. However, if I made an effort to lay still and count movements, I could always count 10 in under 1/2 an hour. So, I would suggest that you take a break, lay or sit still and concentrate on movement. If you still don’t feel anything within 1/2 an hour, call your doctor – they may have you go in for a checkup, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing – then you’d get some reassurance and know that everything is still ok. Please keep us posted on how you are doing – good luck!
hey… i loved reading all your ‘weeks’ i dont know if im pregnant or not right now, as my home pregnancy tests show negative and my docs wont give me a blood test… i would be 15 weeks and 3 days… im abit chubby so dont know if its just fat or small bump…but im def bloated, ive missed my period 3 for 3 months now, and if it oesnt show next week, it will be 4, my docs just looked at me and said, well you probably have pcos… but im not REAL fat, just abit chubby LOL!!!!
have you ever heard of anyone not showing positive on a home pregnancy test?
wow what a wonder insight of pregnancy you have given through out your experience you should make a book out of it this is wonderful and would help so many first time mums!! congrats on such a detailed and wonderful peice of art!!!
[...] http://beingsara.com/story/week-16-no-movement-yet/ Being Sara ? Week 16 – No movement yet im 16 weeks pregnant and was feeling alot of movement until last night i had a huge argument with someone where i was screaming and yelling. since then i … [...]
I love hearing what you have to say.I googled 16 weeks because I wanted to see what my baby looks like right now.At first I was worried because people where asking me if I felt the baby moving, and I would say no…I thought something was wrong.It is really nice reading someone else story, thank you!
Cynthia