Before the First Flutter: What Your Baby Is Doing Before You Can Feel It
There is something absolutely incredible happening long before you can feel that first little flutter. Before you can feel a kick, see a tiny foot pressing against your belly, feel a hiccup, or recognize your baby’s movements as their own. Your baby is already developing their intricate systems that will make movement possible. In the earliest weeks of pregnancy, the foundations of the brain and nervous system are rapidly taking shape, while the developing spinal cord is forming alongside them. Even though your baby is still incredibly small, their body is already laying the groundwork for the dazzling amount of brain and nerve growth.
As development continues, something begins to happen; your baby begins to move. Long before those movements become something you can recognize, your baby is already making small movements as the nervous system and body continue to grow. As things progress, these movements take on different forms, reflecting the incredible coordination taking shape between your baby’s developing brain, spinal cord and body. What may seem like a tiny movement is part of a much bigger story; the developing nervous system is learning to communicate with and coordinate a changing body.
Finally, comes the moment mama gets to experience what her baby has been doing all along: the first flutter. It may feel like a tiny flicker, a little bubble, or a gentle “did I just feel something?” Behind that little sensation there is something much bigger…they have been swimming around the placenta for weeks. What you feel at first is simply the beautiful moment when you finally get to experience a small piece of what has been happening all along.
As a chiropractor who cares deeply about the perinatal journey, we believe that mama’s nervous system deserves just as much attention during this incredible season as the growing little one. Supporting nervous system function may help the body communicate, adapt, and respond to the many changes of pregnancy. Creating space for mama and baby to grow together as their remarkable relationship between their two developing systems begins its own beautiful dance.
One of the most common side-benefits of mom’s getting adjusted during their pregnancy is not only better birth outcomes but an overall healthier baby. We’ve seen this hundreds of times over our 37+ years in practice…even yesterday we saw a 4-week-old newborn whose mom was adjusted during pregnancy and the resilience and adaptability of her and the baby was remarkable. Happy healthy moms create happier healthier babies!
References:
-Ohmura Y, Morokuma S, Kato K, Kuniyoshi Y. Species-specific Posture of Human Foetus in Late First Trimester.
-Santos C, Marshall AR, Murray A, Metcalfe K. Spinal neural tube formation and tail development in human embryos.
-Vasung L, Abaci Turk E, Ferradal SL. Exploring early human brain development with structural and physiological neuroimaging.
-Zeng B, Liu Z, Lu Y, Zhong S. The single-cell and spatial transcriptional landscape of early brain development.
