
Describing the sensation of a baby moving inside you is almost impossible, but one Tennessee mom seems to have cracked it.
Kathy De Leon (@__mmkayy) shared how she finally figured out a way to explain the strange sensation of feeling a baby move during pregnancy in a clip on TikTok.
“My baby was moving a lot while at work and one of my coworkers asked me what it felt like when [he] moved,” the 29-year-old told Newsweek. “I couldn’t think of a way to give him an accurate explanation.”

@__mmkayy
During her pregnancy, De Leon said Ellias was constantly moving – and not much has changed.
“He is still the same now,” she said. “He kicks and pushes himself up again you with his legs. Sometimes I still get little phantom kicks.”
Now three months postpartum, De Leon had just returned to work from maternity leave last week when the conversation resurfaced.
Still pondering the question, she found herself experimenting with tongue movements – and then realization hit.
“The feeling had me absolutely mind blown!” she told Newsweek. “I was so shocked because I was not expecting that to be the exact feeling that I had been looking for. I made the video on my lunch break really quickly – it was clearly my first take.”
In the clip, De Leon explained that putting your hand on your cheek and moving your tongue over it is akin to feeling a baby move inside a mother’s belly.
She went on to clarify that baby movements aren’t always big or dramatic but often they’re soft, firm and slow. “Just think about what your hand is feeling, and that’s what it feels like,” she said.
De Leon’s clip went viral on TikTok, amassing 2.4 million views since it was posted on April 11.
It struck a chord with many other fellow moms, who applauded De Leon for her accurate description.
“Mam you deserve a [medal]. Best description I’ve ever heard,” one user wrote.
“This is 100% correct. I’ve had 7 babies and have never known how to explain it,” another said.
The new mom told Newsweek that the online reaction was unexpected. “I made the video because I was so excited that I had figured it out and I wanted my friends who were curious to be able to feel it too.”
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