Reduced movements - long sorry

[GKite]

Hi all, new here.
I'm 33w & 6d pregnant with my third. Since Thursday I've had reduced movement, to the point I can count on one hand how many movements I've felt.
I got checked over on Friday, booked in for an emergency growth scan which showed everything was fine (cord/placenta working beautifully the lady said, lots of fluid around baby, baby swallowing and doing lots of deep breaths in) and was checked over (by this I mean put on those monitors) again yesterday (Mon) which showed baby heart rate fine but a very sleepy baby - was on monitor from 12.15 to 2.30 and had 7 movements. In that time I started contracting so was given steriod injection as precaution but I'm so worried about not feeling anything, even now the last movement I remember feeling was about 5ish. I've tried laying on my side, going for a walk, having cold drinks and ice poles, eating something sweet, eating anything, rubbing my belly, talking to belly, poking belly. Do I just now suddenly have a sleepy baby? Is this at all normal? I'm back to hospital tomorrow for another monitoring & steriod injection but I've never experienced this before, has anybody?
V stressed

Do you have an out of hours triage number on your maternity notes? If so give them a call now and tell them exactly what the problem is. If you don't have that then get your OH, someone else or a taxi to go to A&E now.

Do not leave it until daylight

Hi GKite

Hope you're ok.

There's no right amount of movements you should be feeling, it's a myth that they should move 10 times and it's a myth that they slow down closer to the end. They should continue to move in the pattern that's normal for YOU until delivery.

Some babies are lazier than others, some move while you're asleep and sleep while you're awake. If your placenta is anterior it cushions the kicks too.

I had reduced movements with DD1 from 33w onwards, she was just a sleepy baby, but was delivered early as I also had pre-eclampsia.

DD2 had reduced movements and I was induced at 36w, she had the cord around her neck. They didn't pick this up on scans!!!

I would get checked out again, my midwife always said they'd rather you came 100 times and it was fine, than not come once and there's a problem.

Please call triage xx

I could've written this OP. I'm 28+6 and have had significantly reduced movements since the weekend. Went into hospital on Sunday and was monitored for 40mins and given lots of reasons why baby wasn't moving as much, including heat. I was told lots of ladies were coming in with reduced movements and it was because of the hot weather. I didn't feel reassured by that if I'm honest (even though my body has blown up like a balloon and I'm melting out of my sandals). I've got an appointment with an Endo tomorrow (I'm considered high risk) and will be insisting on a scan to make sure everything is okay. I'm also going to ask about the temperature+reduced movement thing (have not heard it before) to see if it's true. If so, I'm going to request time off work until this heatwave is over.

Sending lots of positive vibes your way and hoping our babies stay put until their due dates

Please call the the mat unit and go in ASAP. It is most likely nothing. But it really isn’t worth taking the risk.

I had reduced movements with my second, I had an anterior (very large) placenta so that accounted for a lot of it but I was induced because of it at 37wks. It turns out he was unwell when he was born, he got better, and now he’s a healthy 19 month old. Xx

Call maternity assessment now op, best not to wait till the morning. The midwives will be happy to talk to you. I hope all’s well

Please get it checked... with DD one week everything was fine when scanned, we went back the next week to be told she had stopped growing and there was high pressure in the cord and placenta and she needed delivering now... (34 weeks). Did you get both steroid injections? If they need to get baby out they work wonders, our little one was only precautionarily in NICU for 24 hours and we were home within 10days 🙃

Go back. Without a doubt, go back.

Please, go now. I was in and out umpteen times with all three of mine.
Precious cargo and all that.

Thanks for your comments, I did phone up about half hour ago and they said to try the coldest drink and lay on my side. I done that and baby is moving a bit more now but I'm getting very sleepy and don't have anybody who could watch my other children so going up so late isn't a good idea imo, I'm due back in for 9.10 for more monitoring and the second steriod (was told they get given 24hr apart) I'm suppose to be having a planned c section in 5 weeks but in all honesty I want my baby out now.
Reduced movements are very unusual for me/us. On Wednesday for example movements were very strong, to the point I was like "baby calm down this is getting sore" what looked like waves/rolls, a lot of head butting movements down in my public area and then Thursday it was like a half hearted punch, and that's how it's pretty much stayed.
Seen baby move on the scan but was struggling to feel it,
Also my placenta is posterior so that shouldn't be effecting movements iirc

I'm going to ask my SIL if there's any chance she could pop over just to sit in with the children.
Is there any realistic possibility that a dr/consultant would consent to doing a c section this early on? I know my baby is somewhat healthier inside but this is really playing on my mind, I've not slept a whole night since Thursday as I'm just on edge waiting for movement so I can at least feel like it's gone back to normal. If it doesn't return to normal pattern, my sanity won't handle another 5 week of this

That is shocking advice from the hospital, especially since if your baby is moving frantically and non stop then not nearly as much that needs investigating immediately. Excessive or ramped up movement can be an indication of an episode of fetal distress. (Not that I want to worry you but this pattern of movement was the reason I was taken straight in for induction that day with my first)

Sorry you haven’t got anyone that could watch your children, is there not a neighbour or good friend who’d understand and that you could turn to?

Cross post.
Yes, ask your SIL. I’m a firm believer in trusting your instincts. If you aren’t happy then you should always get checked with things like this

And yes you could be induced/have your section 5 weeks early for reduced movements if they find it necessary. To be blunt my consultant told me ‘monitoring is only as effective as when you are on the machine, babies die after’ he recommended getting my DD out that day at 34 weeks so that is exactly what we did. She’s now 4 weeks old and we’ve been home for a couple of weeks. It’s amazing how strong tiny babies are

Did you go in OP? How are you feeling?

I didn't go in the early hours of the morning admittedly as I couldn't get hold of anybody to watch my other children, please don't shout at me I feel awful as it is. I'm here on the monitor now, not one movement but the heart beat is fine so they don't appear concerned 😭 I haven't had any movement since about 5 last night 😭 my partner keeps saying "it's fine because we seen the baby move on the scan" but why aren't I feeling it :( and what if this keeps happening? They don't seem bothered, they've even got me switching sides to wake baby up so they can clearly see he/she is quiet

Almost an hour later, I've had two movements 😭 I'm so scared and don't know what to do

Ask them why they think it's ok to send you on your way if you've had to switch sides etc...

Are there accelerations on the paper print out? So not only a great heart beat but is it jumping up and down too?

Where is your placenta positioned?

Stay calmed, and remember stand your ground. If you don’t think things are right, don’t be pushed over.

I'm off monitor now, waiting for steriod injection
No heart rate doesn't jump and down, it goes to 140-150, I get a button to press when I feel movement but never press it as don't feel anything
Placenta posterior

Ask to see consultant, do not settle for being monitored.
I would be asking for a c section.

It was the consultant that sent me away yesterday

Tell them you KNOW something is wrong! Call your midwife from the hospital for support.

Ask to see another one

Someone tried to persuade me to have a vaginal birth and I actually needed an emergency section then and there and a general anaesthetic.

If your gut says something isn't right then ask for another consultant

I thought 3 episodes of rm meant being induced

Am I correctly understanding you - the baby is moving on the scans, but you can't feel it? And they have said there is a lot of fluid? I was told that the ratio of fluid/baby doesn't always stay the same, so sometimes you feel movements more strongly and sometimes you don't feel them, so it could be nothing to worry about. Can they do a longer term monitoring to get a better idea of how often movements are? It does seem very early to be thinking of a section if heart rate is normal, but perhaps get emergency baby sitting sorted for older kids just in case, make sure you are prepared to go in if it becomes necessary

I don't think they will induce at this stage unless they really need to, I had some quite serious complications and still was asked to hang on until 39+2

I also had a huge build up of amniotic fluid (severe polyhydramnios) and as a result I couldn't feel baby move. They said to me imagine the baby is in a swimming pool as opposed to a bath, the movements are there but seem reduced.

If you get another scan OP ask them to check the fluid levels. It could be that, it was for me.

And just to second what PP have said, always always go in if you think something is wrong. Even though I knew why I was having reduced moments I went in 5 times to be monitored and had twice weekly appointments at the FWBU.

Don't ever risk it, always put your own experience of your baby first, you know your own body better than anyone else.