With my first baby, I felt kicking when I was 22 weeks.

With my second baby, it was 20 weeks.

With my third baby, I swear I could feel kicking at 16 weeks.

Most literature on pregnancy describes the feeling of fetal movements to be like: gas, popping bubbles, a tickling sensation, a fluttery feeling in your abdomen.

For me, I would say, baby movement feels like you have an ALIEN IN YOUR STOMACH KICKING THE CRAP OUT OF YOUR BOWELS.

It feels like you have a creature swimming inside you.

Something that is jabbing you in the ribs. Something squeezing against your side. Something pawing at the lining of your tummy. Something head-butting your lungs and bouncing off the walls of your uterus.

It feels alien.

The first time is always the weirdest.

And later, you learn the daily patterns of the movement. It’s always quiet during the day. But the moment you lie down to sleep, the baby throws a party and learns to dance in there.

But you get used to it.

It becomes normal. You learn to expect it. And love it.

In fact, I distinctly remember that it becomes so normal, that AFTER I gave birth, I would actually miss the movements in my belly. My tummy would feel empty and quiet. It was just me in this body.

The party was now elsewhere.

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