I’d read online about feeling your baby kick, expecting to feel some ‘movement’ at around 18-20 weeks (thanks NHS etc) that felt like flutters. And I did – at around 16-17 weeks I felt bubble like feelings in my tummy that at first I couldn’t tell if they were the baby or just, ahem, gas. These increased in frequency over the next week or so and I began to distinguish between baby and non-baby feelings quite quickly.
But this week, my 20th week, I was in the bath with my hand resting on my stomach, watching Netflix on my ipad, when I felt the baby kick hard, so hard that I felt it on my hand, outside my body. I can’t really explain why this felt so much more significant than feeling it moving inside me, but I caught my breath with excitement. Now every time I feel baby stirring, I rest my hand in case it’s feeling strong. They haven’t obliged with a kick for Adam yet, but I hope that when it does, this will all feel more real for him too.