"count the kicks" saved my baby's life
I had never heard of it and all I was ever asked at routine MW appointments was "is baby moving?"
The only thing I would say is TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. If you think something isn't right don't be fobbed off.
I was admitted several times for reduced movement. Every time I was put on a monitor for 20 minutes. Each time it showed baby to be fine so I was sent home.
When I was admitted at 38 weeks, baby was still transverse, measuring small and the trace showed his base line to be 110bpm with several decelerations. The monitors were still removed after 30 minutes and I was kept in overnight but not checked once until the morning despite having pains and feeling very much that something was wrong.
I was put on a monitor again in the morning for 20 minutes which showed the heart rate and movements had improved so after a quick scan to check growth I was sent home. The reduced heart beat and movement was put down to cord compression.
At 41+1 I had been contracting regularly albeit managably for 12 hours before I realised that I had not felt any movement for a long time. I was told to come in to be monitored again.
By the time I got to the hospital the contractions had stopped and there was still no movement. The trace showe a baseline of 100bpm. Only because I had such a history of reduced movement and was booked for induction 2 days later did they agree to admit me and induce labour.
I waited from lunchtime until 7pm to be transferred to the labour ward for my waters to be broken, my contractions had started up again by 3pm and were getting much stronger but still intermittent. I had been 3cm dilated since a sweep 2 days before.
As the MW broke my waters I went from 3cm to 8cm as she examined me. I was strapped to a monitor which showed his base line was still only 90-100bpm. From then on everything went wrong. The labour instantly went from managable to terrifying and completely out of controll. Baby was head down but still not engaged properly and op.
Within 3 hours, after me screaming for help saying something was really wrong and watching the heartbeat become untracable during the pretty much constant contractions, I was in stirrups being cut and having a baby with no heartbeat ripped out with kiwi suction cap.
The cord was around his neck, tightly. The doctor who deliverd him said it loked like it had been that way for some time and was almost certainly the cause of the reduced movement. He was blue and floppy with an apgar of 1.
I am so lucky that despite all this he responded well to the resus and has suffererd no long term effects. He really is my littel miracle. Unfortunatley I have 3 close friends who weren't so lucky. 1 has CP, one has severe developmental delay and SN, and one was tragically stillborn.
DO NOT allow your concerns to be diminsished, don't let yourself be made to feel like you are wasting anyone's time. Your concerns are always always valid. Even if it turns out nothing is wrong you HAVE NOT over reacted. Never be afraid to insist on better care and never let anyone convince you it is unreasonable.
I will always be grateful to Count the kicks and will never tire of helping to get their message across. If there is anything at all I can do please let me know, I would love to help.