Baby movements 27 weeks

[Jsnb9319]

Morning :)

Haven't felt baby as much today and when I have he hasn't been so strong.

I phoned maternity triage and they advised to go home and lie down for 2 hours and count 10 movements in those 2 hours.

Does that mean kicks or movements or both together? I am just going to count everything but she said to call back after those two hours if not happy.

Does that 2 hours also mean 2 hours completely or can I get up if I need to and just carry on afterwards (don't think I can manage 2 hours without a toilet trip!)

Sorry if this seems silly, ended up crying on my poor colleague when I left the office and just quite worried and scared.

Thank you in advance

My understanding is any sort of movement counts, but do call them back and ask if you are unsure. I'm 27 weeks and had to do this a couple of times myself. Another helpful too was to drink a big glass of something very cold, and eat a decent portion of something high energy so a good sized chocolate bar or piece of cake. Do the two hour thing as well.

It's awful and upsetting when you think you haven't felt the baby move but it's so easily done when you are busy or distracted. I hope you get some reassurance! The last time it happened to me I went in for a scan and showed baby had curled up and faced backwards, she just wanted a different position in there and found she liked it enough to stay for a while!

Wishing you all the best

You can get up and go to the loo, it's more that during that time you need to be focussed on the baby and not distracting yourself with work or household stuff, but a quick wee is fine!

Does that mean kicks or movements or both together?
They most likely mean any movement, so I would count both, but you know your baby's normal movements best, so if you're not satisfied that he is moving normally after focussing on them for two hours (even if you feel the 10 movements) then definitely phone the maternity unit back and get checked out.

Any type of movement, kick, roll etc except hiccoughs, they don’t count as are involuntary. It’s a tricky time with movements because they still have quite a lot of room around them compared to 30 weeks + so it can be easy to miss them if you’re doing other things. Do call them back if you’re still not happy after 2 hours though.

It will be any type of movement, so kicks, rolls etc. As others have said though, you know what's normal and what's not for your baby and if you feel that it's out of the ordinary for them then call back and ask for some monitoring.

Thanks all. I have felt a lot of movements in the two hours so feeling more comfortable with what is going on. I guess more recently I've noticed less substantial kicks and more general moving, which is gentler than a kick so for him that seems unusual but I wouldn't say out of character. Perhaps it is just his changing size so noticing the little things more and worrying about the big ones.

It's so easy to get so worried at the slightest thing, and then feel a bit silly for it afterwards. Thank you for your messages

The ten kicks over 2 hours period is out of date advice. You need to monitor the pattern of movements.
Look up Mama Academy - a charity set up to save babies lives and the rcog guidance on movements.
If your triage unit try to fob you off again quote rcog guidance at them.

I'm 31 weeks today and have actually just got back from a midwife appointment. I mentioned in the past 3 weeks the movements have changed and actually feels like less kicking and more like wriggling, if I look down at my belly I can't see anything on the outside but can feel movement from inside. I find that fizzy drinks help to encourage some movement but I don't know how many times I've rung our pregnancy unit, just try and relax and count the movements. X

I’ve noticed that around that time my baby’s movements started changing from actual kicking to something I’d call “readjusting”, moving around, but not proper kicking like before. I was really worried at that time, but the more time passed the fewer kicks I get (and they all tend to go straight to the ribs - ouch!), however the baby is generally moving more (than second trimester). Also the daily pattern of movement changed around 32 weeks. I’ve had multiple scans and midwife visits (mostly for other reasons) and it was confirmed that baby is always fine, but if you’re worried do contact your care team.