Should I be worried??

[jerin]

Hi Everyone
Please can you help put my mind at rest.

I'm 30 wks and my baby is not a great mover. I've had days where I feel lots of movements but not many. Mostly my LO seems to sleep but I feel movements and the odd kick so have not been worried.

Last week I had a slight bleed, went to the hospital and was checked and everything is fine but the doctor did say she wanted me to do a kick chart. I'm not to count movemnets - only kicks. The last 2 days I've had average of 4 per day. Today 4 so far. But they are so soft I can hardly feel them.

Now I'm concerned that something is wrong with my baby which is why it doesn't move very much.
At 23 wks I had an emergency scan of my lungs for a suspected blood clot. it came back clear but I was injected with radiation. (I was told it was dye initially and when later they said it was radiation I was assured it would cause no damage). Later that day I had really fierce kicks and movements. Now I've convinced myself that I've damaged my baby having this scan. I asked my midwife and she just brushed it aside saying I worry too much.

My rational head is telling me some babies are wrigglers and kickers and some are not but I have this horrible voice telling me something will be wrong.

Please can anyone tell me about their experience of these scans and whether I'm just worrying unneccesarily....

many thanks, sorry for such a long post

[RGPargy]

Hi jerin

Sorry, no info on the scans at all but if you are worried, contact your midwife.

Have you tried drinking something sugary like Lucozade, having a bar of choc and then laying quietly on the sofa or on your bed for half an hour or so? You should be able to feel some movements.

But as i said earlier, if in doubt, phone them up or go to the hospital.

[loopielou]

Hi Jerin,

I would say do what you feel is best for you. At the end of the day this is your body and your baby. Get your peice of mind and get checked over again. Dont panic though. xx

[Lulumama]

listen to your inner voice

should you be worried? don;t know.

are you worried? yes you are

so you are not going to be able to relax and get this off your mind, until you have been checked.

call MW and get yourself and baby checked, chances are, once you are on the monitor, baby will kick away.. they always do !

[dissle]

Its NOT radiation its "radiopaq" which means that it is visible under xray conditions, its a dye.
radiation comes from the xray its self.
tiny amount.
Many expectant mums have xrays to determine the size of their pelvis, have yet to hear or read of any one having any problems due to this....
my baby didnt move much at all either.
my kick chart looked like you are describing.
When my baby was born.......he was never still, couldnt believe it was the same child!
not much room in there you know to be jumping around.
will be fine, enjoy this lovely time hun, deep breaths and calm thoughts.
hth

[jerin]

Thanks but I can feel my baby moving I just worry that theres a reason that he/she isnt moving as much as he/she should. I was on the monitor for about 30 minutes the other day and the heartbeat was fine. I think they've just worried me by telling me to look out for all these big kicks which i dont seem to get.
As I can came out from having that scan 7 wks ago the pregnant lady going in was shouting she didnt want the scan as she didnt want her baby to be brain damaged. As I was just told there would be no damage to my baby I believed them. I think that as my due date nears I'm frightened that I'm going to give birth to a baby that I've caused to be brain damaged. That the fact I dont get many kicks is an indication of this?

I've tried a hot bath, eating chocolate, fizzy drinks, cold drinks, nothing seems to make a difference to the amount of kicks or movements

[jerin]

Thanks Dissle I crossed posts with you.

I'm not sure why I've got myself worked up into such a state today. I guess I've been worried about for ages but trying not to think about it.

I really wasnt too worried until I went to hospital this week. They told me to do a kick chart but no-one explained how or even what it was.

[RGPargy]

jerin - it might just be the way baby is laying. I told my MW the other day that i was concerned because i wasn't getting many kicks any more, but just squirms. She said that this was absolutely fine and normal because they are still movements and as baby is growing, there is less and less room to move around inside.

I hope that you are working yourself up into a stew about nothing, but get checked out anyway. It wont do you any harm and will put your mind at rest.

RG (32+4)

[RGPargy]

Also, MW told me that if baby was facing in towards my back, i wouldn't feel kicks as much as my innards would take the brunt.

[ChocolateHobnob]

My baby has always squirmed more than kicked (I'm 36 weeks) and its kicks have never been the hard kicks people made me think they would be. It wriggles more than it kicks.

But if you're worried, go to hospital and have a check. I think the difference between squirming and kicking isn't easy to tell and my mw said wriggling was as good as kicking - surely kicking depends where lo's feet are?

Good luck! and for sure don't blame yourself!! It wasnt your fault you needed the xray!!

[mumofk]

Hi Jerin, It sounds to me like ot you had a nuclear med scan- you were probably injected with a radioactive isotope, and probably told to wee lots, so not to get tons in your bladder at once. The risks associated with it would be much less to baby than if you were seriously ill/died with a PE. Depending on the type of scan, you may have had to breath in the isotope, but as nuclear medicine isn't my area, I can't tell you enough about it. If you are worried, then you are worried and telling you not to is NOT going to change anything. I suggest you ring the hospitla you went to, ask to be put through to nuclear med or the department you went to and ask to speak to someone who CAN reassure you. They would probably need to ring you back- you'd be very lucky to get to speak to someone who can tell you enough. I doubt your midwife will have the understanding of this specialized area to reassure you.
The activity of baby is no indication of brain damage ( though- sorry to raise the issue but think brain damage isn't the thing to worry about with radiation) even babies with extremely serious brain abnormalities have movements mums can feel.
I work in ultrasound and do 20 wk scans- sometimes we find problems incompatible with life, and mums don't believe us because they can feel baby move.
So back to the other issue- not feeling baby move much. That's one for your midwife. You will have emergency numbers- you should have been told how many movements or kicks you should feel so you know if/when to go in. PLEASE, ring in, speak to someone TODAY so you dont worry all night.
The midwives are there ( well, every time I rang in a panic which now I can see overreacting) to REASSURE us! They'll tell you to go in if that's the best way to help you.
Good luck and keep us posted,
mumofk