Pregnancy
Moms Reveal What A Baby Hiccup In Utero Feels Like
When I was pregnant I started hearing a lot, and I mean a lot, of talk about fetuses hiccuping in utero and how cool that felt. All I could think was, "Wait, how do these people even know what they're feeling is, in fact, fetus hiccups?" So, I decided to ask a bunch of moms to describe what a baby hiccup in utero actually feels like. After all, between all the body changes and the gas and the false labor, a hiccup isn't always a hiccup.
I was pretty bummed that I didn't get to experience baby-in-my-belly hiccups with my first two pregnancies. Maybe I did feel those tiny signs of life, but didn't recognize it? All these other pregnant people seemed so sure that what they felt were hiccups so, honestly, how come I wasn't? Then, magically and with my third child, I felt the distinctly strange sensation everyone was talking about.
This sensation was like a butterfly in my pelvis, but not. A soft, fluttery, rhythmic sort of jolting. It kind of made me need to pee, actually, and if I'm being honest. Then again, everything seemed to make me want to pee at that point. Still, my third child hiccuped so much there were times it became truly uncomfortable. I would look down and see the well-paced jumps just under my protruding belly mound. The tick-tick-tickling seemed to go on so long that I got the contagious hiccups! To this day, at 13 months old, baby number three still hiccups all the time.
"Lola"
"Felt it with both of mine. Sort of a rhythmic kicking focused in one spot when they were breech. Head-down, it was a bump down low, then one up high immediately afterwards when the baby bounced. I have video of my belly jumping from hiccups."
Oli, 23
"In utero hiccups felt like a rhythmic ticking or twitch. My little one had them a lot!"
Allison
"[My daughter] constantly had hiccups from about six months on. It was enough to make me nuts. To me, it felt like muscle spasms, only the muscle spasm moved! She hated them and always got very active (which isn't saying much, I could do a one minute kick count in 10 seconds.)"
Kit, 23
"In utero hiccups felt like someone that is not rhythmically inclined trying to keep a beat."
Kathy, 38
"Oh my, [my daughter] had hiccups in utero all the time! It took a while to understand what was happening in there, but then it just became a hilarious feeling. I would be sitting there, watching my belly jiggle... jiggle... jiggle. Like little teensy spasms, one after another. I swear she had the hiccups like 80 percent of the time. And as an infant, too! She 19 months now and she still gets them occasionally."
"Bella"
"I never experienced hiccups with either of my kids. I sorta felt left out of some very specific club, LOL."
Caitlin, 37
"My [son] had the hiccups often. Mostly in the evenings. It felt like a rhythmic bounce in my belly. Like [the baby] was springing off the sides of my uterus. It didn't hurt or feel like an intense sensation (which a good kick or punch did). Just like a jump in my belly. I would say, 'I think baby has the hiccups again!'"
Arlene, 22
"Small repetitive taps. I had no idea what they were with my first, but it totally clicked with my second. I was just like, 'OMG, they're hiccups!' LOL! They were so subtle I didn't even think about it."
"Leslie"
"Little taps. Kind of like a little, soft knock saying, 'Hi, Mommy, I'm doing great in here! I love you.' I only felt them with [my son]."
Amy, 40
"L had the hiccups what felt like constantly in my last trimester. It felt like a repetitive pulsing; almost like a heartbeat in my uterus. Rhythmic and powerful enough to occasionally be visible."
Kavin, 34
"I remember them clearly! Very distinct and obvious. Felt like tiny, painless spasms."
