The Struggle to Go In – When Baby isn’t Moving Regularly

I specialize in pregnancy loss. I have been working with women for six years now, in differing capacities as a perinatal loss specialist and bereavement doula. In my childbirth education classes, we review fetal kick counts, fetal movements, and I share that it’s a myth that babies “run out of room” the farther along in pregnancy women get. We talk about being intuitive with the baby and knowing what is the normal pattern for the woman’s individual pregnancy and baby. Each baby may not fit the pattern of X number of movements per hour but if you know how your baby moves and what you can do to get your baby to move, then it’s easier to tell when things are “off.”

If you didn’t know this, as of the writing of this post, I am 30 weeks pregnant with my 5th baby (hopefully 3rd living). Yesterday, I had a scare with my pregnancy and it was very interesting for me to see how my mind was responding to this scare. I know I had been little more anxious this past week but I chalked that up to a few new clients with stillbirths and a few stories that popped up in my Facebook feed about late losses. It had me on edge more than usual and I was listening to baby more than usual on my home doppler. That always brings me reassurance but I had found I needed the reassurance more often.

I was having periods of contractions the last few days as well. These were not typical contractions. My belly was tightening but I was also experiencing cramping and some pressure. Knowing my body, even though they were uncomfortable, I did not think these were contractions that were dilating or effacing my cervix. On Wednesday night though, I was very uncomfortable so I took a bath; which helped for a few hours but then things picked up again.

I decided to try to get some sleep and listened to the baby just before I fell asleep. She had an episode where her heartrate was really high and then dropped but then she stabilized and all seemed fine. Throughout the night, I was not feeling her. I get up often, roughly every two to three hours, because my bladder calls and when I return to bed she usually “tickles” the side I am laying on before we drift off to sleep. I briefly noted that this was not happening.

By morning, I figured my cup of coffee would rouse her. Nothing.

I took my son to his dentist appointment and didn’t feel her at all so we went to the store and I got a donut. The worst kind, a frosting filled, maple iced, long-john. Surely this amount of sugar would get her moving. Nothing.

I wasn’t worried at this point but just noted that she wasn’t moving much. I thought I had felt a few punches earlier so I rationalized that I had felt something but really knew I was feeling nothing.

I sat outside with my youngest while he played in the driveway. It was a nice warm and sunny day. I lifted my shirt to expose my belly; which was something that usually got her moving. Nothing.

After a few hours outside, I returned inside and sat at the table and did some work on my computer. I leaned forward to sort of “smush” her hands because that would usually get her moving. Nothing.

I grabbed my doppler at this point and listened. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. Her heart rate was in the 130’s. Normal for her. But she didn’t punch or kick the doppler like she always does. Ugh!

I had to go to an appointment at the church. I figured I would start to contract and get her moving because it was “that” time of day where my uterus liked to pick up and do something. Unfortunately, on the drive there, my uterus was silent, but so was she. As I got closer to the church, I decided to feel for her. She always moves her foot away when I push on it. I located her foot and pushed. Nothing.

When I arrived to the church, I parked and sat for a moment. I talked to her and told her she needed to move. Nothing.

I hummed and sang; which usually got me a kick. Nothing.

Then I located her butt and pushed down on her. I could feel her whole body move down into my pelvis. I felt the pressure of her head on my cervix. Nothing. She was still. I was now worried.

I called the OB office and demanded to speak to someone. I was lucky because they actually transferred me directly instead of “sending a message.” I told the nurse everything I just wrote above and she said I should be seen. I wanted to go to the clinic but it was 3:30 on a Friday afternoon and even if I got there before 4, the doctors wouldn’t be there long enough to read the strip. She said I had to go to L&D. Oh how I wish there were more options with my HMO. It’s very frustrating.

I texted my mother-in-law to see if she was available to watch the kids and went into the church for my appointment. It was quick and I returned to my car anxious about the baby. She wasn’t moving at all. I was going to leave straight from the church but I kept feeling like even though she wasn’t moving, she was okay.

Then all the questions in my mind began.

“She’s probably fine.”
“It’s probably just a growth spurt.”
“It’s going to cost me a fortune to go to L&D”
“I am going to get there and she will move like crazy and then they will think “I” am crazy.”
“It will end up being a waste of time and money to go in.”
“I heard her on the doppler and her heart rate was fine, so she is fine.”
“I don’t want to go and be admitted.”

I am sure there were many more things going through my head. I called my mother-in-law to tell her what was going on. She had texted a few times and called me but I couldn’t respond. She rationalized with me and said everything was probably just fine. We talked for what seemed like, FOREVER. I just wanted her to say I should be seen but I never heard that. I just kept rationalizing and since I was going back and forth, I decided to drive home.

I called my husband on the way home to update him. He didn’t have an answer for me either. He just kept saying that it was probably a growth spurt and she was “tired” because I had been in so much pain the night before.

“What if the cord is wrapped around her and she isn’t getting enough oxygen?” You would hear that on the doppler as her heart rate would be struggling.”
“What if my placenta isn’t working right and she isn’t getting enough oxygen?” Same answer as above.
“What if there is something wrong and I don’t go in and she dies?” There is probably nothing wrong.
“What if…”

All my concerns were shot down, either by my husband or by my mother-in-law. In all honesty, I was shooting some of my concerns down as well. But the back of my mind kept saying, “What is your advice to women who aren’t feeling their baby move regularly?”

If your baby’s movements stop, change, or are concerning to you, be seen!

I couldn’t even follow my own advice. I stress this in my classes. I stress this to women in pregnancy after a loss and here I am…the professional…struggling to follow my own advice. How are women going to follow this advice if I can’t?

I got home and laid down on the floor on my back. Surely this would get her to move? Nothing.

I poked her. Nothing.

I listened to her on the doppler. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. Her heart rate was in the 140’s.  She still didn’t kick the doppler.

I grabbed some apple juice and a snack and went outside with my son who wanted to play again. I drank the apple juice and sat on the bed of the pickup truck. I had been talking with my mother-in-law who decided that we would have dinner together and decide then.

It had now been at least 18 hours since I felt any real movement from her and in the next few moments, I felt her move. It wasn’t much, but it was more than she had given me all day. This only began to complicate things more for me.

I had dinner with my mother-in-law and had two slices of pizza and a Shirley Temple. This would also HAVE to get her moving, I thought. Nothing. Nothing for an hour!

It was now after 7pm and I really needed to make a decision. I posted on one of my Facebook groups and every person who responded said to go in. I knew I probably wouldn’t sleep much if I didn’t and I knew that I would question every second of her silence. So, I opted to go in. It was such a tough decision and I didn’t want to waste the money but there was that “what if.”

So here is when things really got crazy for me. In the car on the way there, she started to move. I began to actually feel kicks. I hadn’t felt a single kick all day. We almost turned around but decided to go in anyway. Five minutes on the monitor had her moving like crazy. It was like she was dancing inside me and I was so frustrated that this happened to me and I was now here. She even got the hiccups and we decided she was fine. 12 minutes on the monitor and they said all was good with her. 

It took longer for them to “check me in” and “update my chart.”

They were about to discharge me when they took my blood pressure. It was high. While baby was fine, there seemed to be something else going on with me. It took two more hours, a urine test for protein/creatinine, and blood pressure checks every 10 minutes, before I was able to go home. Diagnosis, I have borderline high blood pressure which needs to be followed up on.

I learned quite a bit though. I learned that even though I know when I am supposed to go in, it’s not as easy as it sounds. I learned that I should have gone in earlier when the decision was technically easier. I learned that it’s not as simple as “go in if your baby isn’t moving regularly.” Now I just need to take all this information and work on a new way to present it.

Was it worth going in? Absolutely!