baby movement in the run up to labour

[titmouse]

I was wondering, has anybody had any experience of the baby moving more before labour starts? Ours has been going completely mental - and a bit violent! - for hours and hours and this is not really usual, plus I thought movement slowed down in the run-up to labour. I am currently 39 + 4. No other signs but lots of BH today, went out for a long walk though so I might have got over-tired.

Any advice or experiences appreciated! Thank you

Hi there, according to my consultant and midwife it's not true about baby going quiet before labour, and you should still expect your 10 movements a day. Not sure what extra movement might mean though- perhaps baby is trying to get in a better position for birth? I'd ring your midwife if you are at all concerned. Good luck!

get it checked. just call the ward.

Hey TM I had exactly the same thing happen last week..totally freaked us out...but then after hours of frantic movement baby settled down again...however you are nearer your Due Date than me (39 tomo) so I would def call if you are worried...

nearly there!

thanks everybody - I'm not sure I am worried about it (although, with the advice to call the MW I did start to wonder if there is a problem and I should be worried!) just not sure what to make of it. Last night the baby felt like it was literally bursting out through the front of my belly, properly thrashing for hours again. If I call in they will just tell me to go up to the labour ward for monitoring again and it only seems to happen between the hours of 8 and midnight!

why don't you let them make that decision.

if baby's activity changes markedly, you're always better being safe and getting it checked.

Like they say, every woman is different as well as every pregnancy in the same woman. Once your far enough along anything that doesn't seem right or gives you that "mom worring" feeling you should get it checked. I'm 37 weeks pregnant with my second (a boy) and he has two fits every night that last for about an hour each, this has been happening daily now for about a week. He's usually pretty quiet all day, but between 8-10 and then again between 12-2am he takes fits where it feels as if he's just kicking and swinging like he's in a tae kwon do class. I unfortunately sneezed while he was doing this lil dance of his and a pain shot up my lower region that felt simular to falling on the rung of the monkey bars ... not fun! I never had ANYTHING even remotely close to this with my first (a girl) but then again I never went into labor with her either. At 8 days overdue I realised she wasn't moving much so I drank a tall glass of apple juice and laid on my side, still I bearly felt anything. I called the hospitial and they said it was normal for her to slow down and that she was probably getting ready for birth. A few hours later nothing changed, and no labor started, but I had that "feeling" that "Mom" feeling so I went to the hospitial anyways. It turns out that because of her maturity she had already had her first BM on the inside. I still was no where near labor and had to be induced, (with 3 doses of the "gel" and had my water broken for me) and even that took almost a full 2 days before I finally made it to 10 cms. (the doctors wanted to take her by cesarean but I begged they hold off until it was absolutely nessasary.) Luckily she is fine, the neonatal team waited in delivery for her and got all the "yuckies" out and she's perfect! Now this story wasn't to scare anyone but it just goes to show, that although sometimes it's perfectly normal for babies to slow down before birth, in other cases something could be wrong, so if your worried, get it checked. The doctors and nurses are there to help, and they usually are pretty pleasent about it.

well, a few weeks on I know what was going on in retrospect - my baby was breech, and we had an unplanned c. section after about 6 hours of active labour. I think all the frantic movements the week before she was born was her trying to get unstuck from my pelvis!
I did get checked by the MW and even on the day my labour started the MW who came to assess us at home didn't notice she was breech. So although my instinct that something was wrong turned out to be correct, even getting it checked out didn't help! I saw my MW the day after I posted my last reply here, she said all the movement was fine and was not at all worried. I really do think that poor baby was trying to turn back but couldn't as her shoulders were so wedged in.
Ah well. she is here and lovely. that's all that counts.

my sister in law's due date is tomorrow (Royal Wedding day) but since yesterday her baby's stopped moving. Midwife says it's okay, doctor's kept her at the hospital for observation but not sure why this is happening. Has anyone experienced this? Any suggestions? Doctor even said if it stays the same till tomorrow they will have to break her waters... :s

oh and forgot to mention baby's heart beat is fine... but said they can't check her inside coz baby's not moving... any ideas why this is happening? thanks everyone in advance...

I’m having the same symptoms at 39weeks +5 with my first and it’s hard to recognise any further signs and whether or not it’s a sign he will come soon.

keelz this is a zombie thread so you might not get much in the way of a response, but any change in movements that is not the norm whether it be increased or decreased should be checked out.