I don?t understand kick counts.
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My biggest thing is worrying about decreased fetal movement. I used to think as long as I heard the HB and felt a kick here or there than he was fine. Well now I read that might not always be the case. And that you should also be concerned with how often LO is kicking,
lastly when you have an AP, at which point does that not matter any more? I know that it took longer than the average person to feel kicks, but at what point is my movement just like everyone else?s? Is there a time?
Ugh sorry for the FTM worried rant. I swear I am never calm about this pregnancy, I hate that, I feel as if my anxiety is ruining what should be the best time of my life. I just feel as if he has not been as active lately and when he is, It feels as if he?s so far away or something. Moment and kicks are so subtle I wonder if its even him.
Re: I don?t understand kick counts.
Probably not much help, but I've never tried to count my kicks.
A few times I've paused and thought to myself "I don't think remember the baby moving recently". At which point I've worried a little bit, drank something cold and lay down. Once I felt the baby move again, I was fine.
I feel like this is one of those things that could drive me absolutely crazy, so I've just mostly ignored it.
I'm saying this with love, not meanness. You're worrying too much. If you have certain times every day that you feel baby, then as long as you feel baby bouncing around, don't be concerned. For example: I always feel her when I lay down at night. If I don't feel her moving, then I poke her a few times and she'll respond. By 28-30 weeks, you should feel movement pretty well. Speak with your doctor about your concerns, but I wouldn't stress over kick counts at this point. And you're right, you need to enjoy this time.
This is me to a tee! I would freak out if I really sat and counted 1, 2, 3, ....so, like you if I feel like it's been a little bit of time I reach for my cold water bottle and boom! He's kicking again. Try not to be too concerned with this kick count thing. It really could drive a sane woman mad.
p.s.- I am by no means a sane woman so for me to worry it's just double crazy hahaha. I'd say be aware of the movement but don't let it control your life. God knows we don't need to worry about more stuff than is necessary!
With kick counts last time, the NP advised me to count after a meal and when I knew she was most active. So I did my counts at 8am, 1pm, 5pm and 10pm
She never even asked me what they were so..
? Voted Cool Cat ~ 2012 Sweetpea Mom Awards ?
This is a long one, but I just asked my OB about this and he gave me some GREAT information:
The whole kick-count thing has evolved into something totally different from its original purpose and, in his perspective, lends more worry and confusion during pregnancy than it's worth.
Apparently, there was a time when doctors started seeing more women with GD or who had been diabetic, obesity, or other high-risk factors. To monitor these women, they were being brought in for non-stress tests rather frequently, but that schedule was both expensive and, in many cases, unsustainable. So, doctors started teaching these women to identify kicks. They would have them wait until a period when they knew the baby was usually kicking (this baby, for example, always wakes up when I lie on my back) and count how long it takes for the baby to reach ten kicks, but not to exceed 2 hours of counting. Other doctors used a similar method, but asked them to count how many kicks were happening within a whole 2 hours. There was some disagreement as to which piece of information was more useful, but it seemed to reach the same end.
Well, most of these women would notice a decrease in fetal movement, particularly in the last trimester, and would be asked to come in for non-stress. The non-stress, though, would just show the doctors exactly what these women said: the babies weren't moving. So, then, they would do a stress test.
It would just go down the rabbit hole, from there, but time and time again a doctor would make a call to do an emergency c-section . . . just in case. The baby, though, would be delivered healthy.
Eventually, though, women who were not high risk, who did not have a history of complications during pregnancy were being asked to do these counts as a precaution and doctors found similar results. It was quickly realized that as babies get older and move down to prepare for birth, their activity levels drop. Babies can also go through changes in their sleep patterns (some days they are busy, some days they are sleepy, just like us)and none of this is cause for alarm, but nothing scares the crap out of a pregnant woman faster than the idea something could be wrong with the baby and either a doctor decides to deliver that baby sooner than is realistically needed or else the woman winds up spending the last few weeks or months of her pregnancy on the verge of panic for no reason.
My doctor told me that in the 35 years he's been practicing, he's had less than a handful of stillbirths and, when they do happen, it's the saddest thing he's been through, because often there is no answer as to why and there really isn't anything a doctor could have done to stop it or to prepare the patient. The good news, though, is that it is very, very rare at this point for a pregnancy to fail.
His advice was to notice if the baby was kicking, at all. If you feel the baby kick or roll or even just squirm a little. If there is ever a whole day of no movement, then I am supposed to call him.
If your doctor hasn't mentioned kick counts, it's likely he or she is in the same camp with my doctor and doesn't bring it up, because worrying that it took your baby an extra three minutes to complete ten moves or that he or she only six kicks instead of fifteen in two hours is going to do you more harm than good.
What came out of our long history lesson was this: Enjoy the pregnancy. This is the only one you get with this baby and the only first pregnancy you'll have.
And then he told me not to treat it like a science project.
Sorry that was long, but I thought it was useful, as someone who didn't know, either.
I was given a sheet to use, and twice a day I'm supoose to just count for an hour time how many kicks,turns/flips he does. As long within that hour it's like over 6 I think than I'm good, 4 or less then I have to add another hour on and see what happens.
I started yesterday and i'm doing it after dinner and after lunch at work. I'm trying to not let it bother/ worry me.
THIS.