Movements - never feeling much at all. Third trimester

[Candycane2020]

I know the advice is to go in for monitoring if you feel reduced movements but what if you only rarely feel movements in the first place?

I’m 30 weeks and only feel movements every few days and only for the past few weeks. I have an anterior placenta and my BMI isn’t classed as high

If the movements are usual for you then i wouldnt worry too much. I'm having twins - the smaller one has an anterior placenta and at 34 weeks I barely feel her compared to her brother but that's a normal pattern for us so hospital is happy

It's frustrating because it is the surest way to feel reassured, so when you don't have it it does cause alarm. Any movement counts, not just kicks. So even a tiny flutter is good. A tip a midwife gave me once was to drink a bottle of lucozade or similar and wait. The position you are in affects it too, sitting back on the couch may not be the best, lying on your side is good. Also going on all fours allows baby to change position and they might then have more room to manoeuvre and give you a few flips.

Me! My first house pregnancy I barely felt my sonics. Didn't have a high bmi or anterior placenta. I was so worried I went in for movement checks quite a few times and also paid to be scanned my a private consultant!All was fine though and when he was born it became apparent that it was just his personality. He was never a wriggling baby, he was veeeeery chilled out! He's 5 now and still a chilled out child and a fantastic sleeper - hopefully your baby will be the same!

Having said all this, never put off getting checked out, even if you go multiple times. But in my experience, very little movement WAS my baby's movement pattern, anxiety inducing but nothing was actually wrong thankfully.

Son not sonics!

You said your weekly monitorings have stopped because of lockdown, how often will they be taking place now? If you're worried then you should definitely speak to your midwife and let her know your concerns and ask if you can still get weekly heartbeat monitorings in some way. My midwife appointments haven't changed, I didn't realise some people's had. There definitely should be some kind of way for you to keep a track of this even through lockdown.

First I will say, please ring and get checked out for your peace of mind. Everyone is different, and for some the experience you describe is normal and for others it's not. Best to be on the safe side.

But I can defo relate.

My pattern (currently 35+4) is there is no pattern. Some days I have a really active baby, other days it appears I don't.

However, I go to PAU twice a week for regular monitoring related to previous issues which I won't bore you with. Let's just call my pregnancy 'eventful'. I spend 30-60 mins on a trace, and have found that I can hear all sorts of wriggles and movements of my baby but I just don't feel all of them. So that has made me more relaxed about the fact that sometimes it seems quiet, because I'm reassured twice weekly that I have a really busy baby.

I have an anterior placenta which makes feeling movement less consistent but I do find quite often I can have my hand on my tummy and feel movement from the outside, but not in the inside.

I know I'm lucky I get the extra monitoring and it helps me feel reassured, but even though I know my pattern is there is no pattern, and the midwives know I don't feel all movements, they still always tell me - if movements feels reduced, ring them.

It's easy to worry about things so do use the PAU service to put your mind at ease, and make sure your baby is healthy and happy in there.

With the movements thing it definitely depends on your individual circumstances and how the baby is positioned - for me I feel most movements whilst lying on my back sat you a bit watching TV - I tend to feel less when I lie on my side

Also the saying "a watched kettle never boils" is very true - the more you will to feel something the less likely you will.

Mine definitely react more when I'm in a quiet room on my own just reading

Thanks for the replies. It is great to hear your experiences. It’s difficult when I see so many posts in a pregnancy Facebook group about all of the kicks and I have none! The movements I do sporadically feel are more like internal flutters where I’m like gas, cramp or baby!

Someone asked about monitoring with the midwife. I’m going back 3 weeks after my last one instead of weekly. I think 32 weeks might be a normal scheduled appointment though. I’ve booked a private scan to put my mind at rest anyway.