Not felt baby for over an hour?

[ElizabethM49]

Hello,
I am 24+5. I have started kick counting and to be honest it is taking over my life. I've never been pregnant before and I'm obsessed with the idea that she is going to be still born. What would be reduced movements? If I went to the hospital every time I felt she hadn't moved in a while I would be there all day every day! When should I realistically worry? After an hour of no movement? Half an hour? I've already been up the hospital once this week and was tempted to go again yesterday but she perked up a bit in the evening.

At this stage I really wouldn't worry, I didn't feel anything at all until 22 weeks and didn't feel baby regularly until much later. If you have an anterior placenta (your scan notes will say) then it's normal to feel them less.
If nothing tomorrow call your midwife (for reassurance mostly)

My midwife told me not to count, as all babies are different but to try to get see if there are patterns in baby's movement. Once you get to about 28 weeks, if you see a difference in the pattern give yourself 2 hours to try to make baby move (cold drink, lie on your side, eat something sweet, etc) and if there's nothing at all in that time, to phone maternity assessment.
In answer to a pp who was asking whether this is a new thing, there's a campaign at the moment to encourage women to keep an eye on and report reduced movement in an attempt to cut stillbirth rates, which are considered high in this country.

OP you don't need to actually count the kicks, just be aware that they are happening at this point. At 24 weeks your baby won't realistically have any sort of pattern. Also, with my DS I found he'd have a quiet couple of hours but would have a period (late at night) when he would have a very lively period. It wasn't until 30 weeks that he had a pattern and even then it did alter.

The advice if you're worried you haven't felt movement is to: have a very cold drink, a very sweet snack like chocolate and lie on your side. You should feel some movements within 30-60 minutes and if not call the midwife for some help and advice.

I know how crippling anxiety can be and that this statement won't be helpful but you have to try and comfort yourself because an hour of no kicks isn't what midwives would class as a concern (depending on the risk factor of your pregnancy) and they may not tell you to go in for monitoring based on that. And that doesn't sound like it would comfort you at all.

If you'd gotten part way or towards the end of the day and thought, you know what I've barely felt baby today or I don't think I've felt baby at all, then they'd advise you to go in for monitoring.

Good luck

I would delete the app - I don't think it's helping you.

It's trying to tread a fine line between being mindful of the baby without it becoming an obsession.

With my first pregnancy I was so busy I just didn't think about it. I fell pregnant immediately and sailed through so in my head I was untouchable, I was made to make babies and nothing was going to go wrong. I can't remember feeling him kick that much and I gave birth at 40+3 and there he was all pink and perfect.

Then life happened. I had secondary infertility and three miscarriages back to back, last being a MMC due to Downs. Nothing was ever going to be the same after that and I worried and sobbed for 9 long months with my successful pregnancy with DS2. I wouldn't wish that misery on anyone.

So please try to enjoy your pregnancy, shield yourself from upsetting threads and photographs and slowly you will learn your baby's rhythm of movement (DS2 liked to kick through the night for example and would usually wake me at 2am with hiccups). Then if something changes and you realise you haven't felt a movement for a long time, you can try various techniques and then finally ring the labour ward and they will pop you on the machine to monitor the baby (normally at that point they start jumping about and make you look silly).

Good luck

Delete the app, seriously.

Totally understand your fear. First preg. Taken many years to get preg plus I'm high risk due to age dvt and ivf so I'm kinda the same.

I don't worry about bubs and prem labour as now 28w and mw said at 24w relax a bit more - 99% will survive if prem.

But I do worry if bubs is quiet. You need to learn their pattern. Bubs may be semi active early am. Fairly quiet daytime but from 5/7pm on wards quite active

If in doubt ring triage. That's what they are there for.

But I do worry about lack of movement. I went to triage in between xmas so 26w as hadn't felt bubs move in eve for a few hours. When I rang and said felt nothing 4/5hrs they said why didn't I call earlier and I sobbed down the phone saying I wasn't sure how long to wait and didn't want to waste their time

She said come in asap

Once checked and bubs fine. Hiding placenta as low - the senior mw came to see df and I

She said always call them if in doubt if patterns change. They will always prefer to see a preg mum and false alarm. Rather then Us worry

I semi joked I may in every night for next 12w. She said fine.

I agree delete the app and just start to notice their pattern and if in doubt call triage. The number should be on front of notes

Hi Everyone,

First post ever! Hoping you can help put my mind at rest. I'm ridiculously anxious. So i am 9 weeks today and this is my second pregnancy. My first daughter is now 12 years old and was born with a rare chromosome disorder. that affects 1 in 50,000. She is perfect and thriving with support. My blood and her dads (my now ex) and we were both given the all clear of carrying any type of chromosome disorder/translocation/defect. Therefore they confirmed my daughters chromosome disorder was 'de novo' i.e just one of those things. They stated that if i was to have more children i had no higher risk than anyone else of having another child with her chromosome disorder or any others. However this doesn't stop me worrying. Me and my now partner have decided to pay private for the Panorama DNA test, as although this doesnt test for my daughters chromosome disorder, it does give accurate early results for many others. We will then make the decision whether to progress to a CVS. I had the blood drawn today and i live in the uk so i have a tense 7-10 day wait. My questions are....

Has anyone else had the Panorama test?
How did you cope with the wait?
How long did the results take (uk based people)
Has anyone has a child with a chromosome disorder and gone on to have a healthy child?

Sending love and best wishes to you all and thanks in advance

XXXXX

Im so sorry!!! posted my post in error on this thread.

Ignore mine! And pretend i wasnt here :)

Apologies again. xxx

Ive been feeling regular movement since 20 weeks, I'm now 26 weeks.

Ah, I'm week 13 with DC2 and I had forgotten about movement anxiety. The joys!

My DD never established a pattern at all. I used to sit at my desk unable to concentrate on anything but trying to feel her move. Then suddenly she would boot the edge of my desk and all would be well for the next half hour...till I'd start wracking my brain to remember whether I'd felt more movement or not....

Im 24 weeks and panic every time he doesnt move, i must think that babys never sleep. I even just went to get some orange juice from asda so i could lay down and feel him..even though ive felt him moving a few times today. I panic and had anxiety before i was pregnant, now its taking over haha. I went in for leaking fluid which was nothing and the midwife said up until 25 weeks they dont count it as reduced movement, however loads of doctors and midwives have told me 28 weeks so either way we're too early. I feel my baba kicking every day and do worry ALLLL the time to the point it drives my dad and family crazy. Its normal to worry but maybe speak to someone about worrying so much x

Kick counts are (apparently, so said my midwife) nonsense: it's about a pattern that's normal for you. So
If after 28 weeks your baby kicks around 10-15 times per hour, or has normally kicked by an hour after you've woken up/ eaten dinner/ always kicks after you've drunk a cold drink - and suddenly isn't- then you worry. My baby was a wriggle - but had definite "down time" - he could go 4 hours without any notable movement while I was sat at my desk... But always always had a nutty hour around 9pm when you
Could see him doing some excellent stuntman moves through my belly. I had RFM twice - both times all was fine- just a slow day at the office

Also - if you have an anterior placenta then movements can be harder to feel

OP delete the app as its not helpful, after around 28/40 baby will likely begin a pattern of movements this is what to become aware of to differentiate any difference to what you normally feel.

In response to earlier comments PLEASE do not wait 24-48 hours to phone with any concerns about movements or anything else

Glad you've been reassured OP and regular movement isn't normal before 28 weeks so try not to worry. However I would absolutely not advise waiting until 24-48 hours without feeling movement, after 28 weeks that is far too long! My consultant says to just look out for any changes in your baby's pattern of movement after 28 weeks but that if I needed to go in every day to be reassured that would be fine, so if your ever worried just give them a call

triage asked me why i hadnt called in the 4/5hrs of feeling nothing, i said i wasnt sure when to call and dint want to waste their time

they will always prefer you to call and go in then worry

ps pepsi works wonders if you want to feel movemnt

And ignore everyone else's claims of what their babies are doing. Most likely it's a loads of rubbish. I had a girl in my pregnancy group with dc2 who claimed she could feel baby moving at 9wks ... what matters is what's normal for your baby.

If something seems unusual then call triage. They would rather you came in every day than you didn't and something was missed.

And never ever ever believe the dangerous myths that babies' movements reduce in preparation for labour to 'conserve their energy' or some other guff. They don't and if they do, they need to be checked out.

I was advised to count kicks when I was pregnant with DD,way back in 1983,but only from 28 weeks onwards,as before that the baby still has quite a lot of space to move so you probably won't feel every kick. I was also told that if I didn't feel any movement for more than 2 hours to drink some ice cold water as this sometimes did the trick. If not, contact the hospital if there was nothing after 6 hours.

I am 29 weeks and still only really feel my baby move in the evenings after I eat diner. I now consider that my movement pattern, so when I noticed I didn't have movement the other night after diner I felt a bit anxious. I called the hospital and they told me to have a cold fizzy drink and see what happened, I did that and after about 20 minutes the baby started kicking. Panic over.

Really try not to worry too much and i'm sure you will start to notice a regular pattern for your baby's movements over the next few weeks, but remember that babies can sleep for hours at a time and every baby's movement is different so you can't really compare to other people. The more you obsess over it the more you will feed your anxiety.

I think it's too early to be worrying about kicks. But do what you need to to feel reassured.

The baby is still small enough to move around somewhere that you wouldn't feel it. Unclench, delete the app and enjoy x

My baby is always moving at scans and heart beat monitors but I can't feel it because of the placenta position .
You can't cause yourself this stress . If you ever have no movement for a time period, lay on your left side for an hour , drink a fizzy drink etc .
I didn't feel mine for a whole day a couple of times but then felt her again by evening . You will make yourself sick you need to focus on the positives and imagine your healthy happy baby. Hope all goes well .

I'm 24 weeks and have been feeling really quite noticeable movements for 3-4 weeks and on a regular basis, but if I'm busy, especially if I'm driving or walking I don't feel anything. I think they're probably still so small at this stage that if we're not still the movements won't be that noticeable.

There are some patterns forming as to when my baby moves. I was unwell with a virus last week and it had a noticeable effect on the baby's movements. When it got to the point I hadn't felt movement for around 5 hours even though I was resting, I phoned the midwives team for advice and they asked me to go in so that they could check things out. They picked up on a potential issue so I'm glad I went. They organised for me to be scanned again tomorrow by a fetal medicine consultant to check the placenta and various other things more thoroughly.

I'm certainly not counting kicks or even consciously monitoring movement but a significant change in patterns is noticeable anyway.

I'm OP. I had changed my name for the post :-). I have deleted that app and do feel better for it. I agree with you all about finding your babies own pattern though with an anterior placenta and a busy job that keeps me on my feet most the day I think I miss some of the smaller movements. I wish there was a easy answer such as if you are x weeks pregnant and they haven't moved in Y hours that's when you should see someone. My anxiety makes it very hard to judge when I'm being OTT about something. As a PP said if I feel her move I'm so happy and content... for about 20 minutes and then I'm panicking about the next time she will move! . I know this is irrelevant really but I went to the hospital twice and it was the same midwife and though she was very kind and just said come whenever I need to the fact I saw her twice made me feel a bit silly?