Maybe it was all the talk about children, but while Angelina Jolie was discussing Iraq education policy Tuesday in Washington D.C., she “felt kicking suddenly,” she tells PEOPLE.

And though it was “in the middle of the event,” the expectant mother of four didn’t miss a beat as she talked about her two visits to Iraq and her new initiative, Education Partnership for Children of Conflict.

Jolie, 32, says EPCC will be “a center that helps raise awareness and coordinate all the various efforts of people working towards education for children of conflict.”

Even after an exhausting couple days in the nation’s capital, Jolie, who brought sons Maddox, 6, and Pax, 4, with her, shows no signs of slowing down. She’ll continue her work in D.C. all week before re-joining Brad Pitt and their daughters Zahara, 3, and Shiloh, 1.

Most of all, Jolie says, she’s savoring this period – unexpected kicks and all – adding, “It is a very special time in our lives.”

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