Baby movements

[Bellsx]

Morning ladies I'll be 29 weeks pregnant on Thursday and I'm really struggling with what my baby's movements should be /feel like. I've been in twice already for reduced movements and would obviously always go in if I was at all worried and I spoke to my midwife about it at my appointment last Friday and she said that as long as I'm feeling 10 movements(I didn't think that sounded a lot?) in a day then all should be fine. I think I definitely do feel the 10 as my baby is most active first thing in the morning then sometimes I am just starting to feel him at points during the day then in the evening he does have a wriggle around as well but I'm conscious that his movements aren't really very strong or I don't see like any rolls or anything that I've seen some people mention. I have a posterior placenta so I was confident when I found this out at my 20 week scan that this is a good thing and I thought as you go through pregnancy things might start to get a bit easier and less worrying as soon as they start moving but it's just got me all anxious and I keep over thinking things.

Have you tried using an app like kicks count @Bellsx? That would help you count the number of movements each day.

I'm 29+4 and normally have between 8 and 13 periods of movement a day so 10 seems about right for me. They are clustered so most are either first thing in the morning or just before I go to sleep with only a couple during the day.

I found it was hard to use the kicks count app every time I felt a movement, in practice, so only use it if you are going to really dedicated to recording every session, otherwise the count will be artificially low and you might worry.

After around 32 weeks, my baby was moving regularly throughout the day and evening (although not constantly of course, they do sleep a lot in there!), which was more reassuring. Hopefully you'll not have long to be wondering.

@RyvitaBrevis in fairness, I've only just started using it so you may be right. I know I tend to be very dedicated with things like this for a week or so then start to forget lol. I just thought it might give OP some reassurance.

@sel2223 It's not a bad recommendation at all, it just depends on how you use it! The app's instructions says to count active sessions, and I struggled to be consistent about whether I counted movements as part of a new session or a continuation of the previous one if there was a short lull, and I never got to 10 sessions in one day just because of being in the middle of something or not having my phone next to me etc. In the end it was probably more worrying than helpful for me but it could be the answer for the OP!

She shouldnt be telling you 10 movements is ok, that's old guidelines, its what is normal for YOUR baby. So if your baby normally moves 20 times a day and drops to 10 you'd need to be seen, but if your baby normally moves 5 and stays at 5 that would be ok.

@sel2223 I have downloaded that yes but like some people have said I find it hard to keep on top of it everyday so then have different numbers on different days. There seems to be so much conflicting advice as I've also read that you should go in if your baby is moving a lot as well, I'm just finding it hard to establish what is right and wrong and a pattern of what movements I should be feeling /experiencing.

I'm not sure there is a right or wrong to be honest. I think it's just about getting to know your own baby, understanding your own body and being alert to any changes.

The advice I was given is that most women only start to see a real pattern forming from 28 weeks but that movements can still keep changing after that then plateau around 32 weeks and stay at the same level till the end of your pregnancy. Before this, there is still room for a bit of movement and a change of position can make a big difference to what you can feel.

You have to trust your gut though. If something doesn't feel quite right, give the MAU a call. It's always better to be safe than sorry.