Baby thrashing 35 weeks

[coffeeandjuice]

Today the baby has been especially active it feels like she's been thrashing around all day. Has anyone experienced this? Did you ring triage? I've gone too deep into Google to know what to think!

Go and get checked
It might be the cord causing issues
A big increase in fetal movement can sometimes be indicative of distress too so be on the safe side and be looked over

I would call triage; they say any changes you should call them

I will ring triage. I had this with my second child.

Always be safe and call. You would never forgive yourself if something was wrong. Go with your gut and call.

Changes in movement doesn't just mean reduced movement, always call in for increased movement too. Better to speak to a professional and get checked over x

Thanks for the advice. I rang my midwife and she said it sounded like the baby had dropped down in preparation for labour and it will have given her more room to move. I'm to ring if there's any other changes.

Hopefully she's not going to come out soon, I've already had two premies and was hoping to keep this one in for longer!

Keep a close eye on her. I know someone who had a sudden increase in foetal movements and it turned out it was because there was a problem with the cord and the baby was literally desperate for oxygen and thrashing around madly.
Trust your instincts and insist on monitoring if you don't feel all is well. If the baby has dropped, you'd probably notice - had bump changed shape, do you feel more pressure lower down?

@cautiouscovidity wow that's really scary. I asked my midwife about the cord not working as I'd read about that. She said if the cord wasn't working properly the baby would slow down all movements. Thanks I'll keep and eye on it and ring triage for second opinion. It's so scary!!

@coffeeandjuice

Thanks for the advice. I rang my midwife and she said it sounded like the baby had dropped down in preparation for labour and it will have given her more room to move. I'm to ring if there's any other changes.

Hopefully she's not going to come out soon, I've already had two premies and was hoping to keep this one in for longer!

Sorry I think that is actually incredibly poor advice If your baby is still thrashing about I would urge you to go and be checked

[quote coffeeandjuice]@cautiouscovidity wow that's really scary. I asked my midwife about the cord not working as I'd read about that. She said if the cord wasn't working properly the baby would slow down all movements. Thanks I'll keep and eye on it and ring triage for second opinion. It's so scary!! [/quote]
Seriously this worries me
My daughter had a period of hyper activity when I was around 36 weeks
I went in for a scan and she has turned transverse and was sat on the cord . Cue instant admission and monitoring / scans and then 48 hours later she’d moved so it stopped

It’s true that if the cord wasn’t WORKING ie problems with blood flow then baby’s movements would slow down. But if there was a problem like the cord had got tangled around their neck then this could lead to thrashing and distress as baby tries to move it.

My mum experienced this with me a few days before I was born, she said I was going completely crazy. When I was born the cord was wrapped tightly around my neck twice. Midwife told her that she was lucky to have an exceptionally long cord and that if she hadn’t I could have been strangled during birth. Sorry that’s a scary story but you really do need to go in to be checked.

I agree - please go and get checked.

I had a weird 24 hours when about 35 weeks pregnant with DS when he wouldn't stop moving, it felt like he was thrashing, they did monitoring for a few hours and eventually he settled. When he was born, the cord was twice around his neck. They had to cut it rather than do any delayed cord clamping.

Edited to add: I didn't notice your title of being 35 weeks when posting. Hope you're ok; I remember how stressful it was. x

It's most likely fine but I would definitely get it checked out.

Towards the end of my pregnancy I had periods of increased movement and baby thrashing around. Sometimes the movement was so strong and uncomfortable it brought tears to my eyes. I assumed this was normal towards the end. When the same thing happened in labour with the babies heart rate monitored, the thrashing was followed by huge dips in heart rate leading to me having an emergency C-section. If anything similar happened in a future pregnancy I would definitely get checked out.

Definitely go and get checked ASAP...please !

As a bit of reassurance my baby's movement increased just before my waters broke and labour, probably like your midwife has said. But please please please go and get checked to make sure.

I just want to echo the pp's advice- ring triage, or preferably go in. Midwives are only Human and can be wrong, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

OP ex midwife here although I haven't practiced for 5 years. I have never ever been told to worry about increased movement during my training or practice. Its generally worrying when movements are reduced not increased. Please try not to stress about this, however if you are still concerned then maybe give them a call back and explain how worried you are. They should either explain the theory behind what they are advising you or ask you to come in for monitoring.

Thanks for all of this feedback. There are some very scary stories here!! Since Thursday her movements have gone back to a bit more regular and I'm waking all through the night to check them. I've got a scan on Wednesday so hopefully that will shed some light on anything that may have gone wrong. In our district, it's never mentioned about increased feral movements being an issue. I only knew it was a "thing" because or reading about it on other people's posts.

I last saw my midwife and consultant on Thursday this week (I’m 38w) and they made it very clear to me that ANY changes in movement to call and not just reduced movements but increased movements or changes in pattern. A call to triage won’t hurt and you’ll have your mind out to rest. Hope everything is ok.

I hope things continue to normalise for you. The whole movement monitoring thing is enormously stressful I find x

@Inkpaperstars agree with you I wasnt worried with first pregnancy but this time I feel im constantly on edge thinking I havnt felt her in a while, then she'll give me a swift reasuring kick lol!

Agree @PFin it’s so nice to feel that kick after a quiet period.

I went in recently for reduced movement, they told me to go in if ever I am concerned although if they knew how often that is they might reconsider. Realistically I have times most days when I wonder if I should go in, but I suppose we have to decide where to set the boundaries and when to actually do it. That’s part of the stress I think, only we can feel it and decide, partners or medics can’t really tell us. Part of what I was thinking was that if I am having the same concerns every day, then actually that’s probably just a normal day for me. It’s a big change that we need to look out for but it’s so hard to track!

I am 29 weeks now and don’t really think I have identified a pattern yet. But the midwife I saw recently did say that at this point babies vary hugely in how much they move, some people feel things all the time and so if they had a few hours of nothing that would be abnormal, but that for others feeling nothing for a few hours is completely normal. She said there are some people who just feel very little movement throughout.

@Youvegotafriendinme

I last saw my midwife and consultant on Thursday this week (I’m 38w) and they made it very clear to me that ANY changes in movement to call and not just reduced movements but increased movements or changes in pattern. A call to triage won’t hurt and you’ll have your mind out to rest. Hope everything is ok.

This is the best advice Any change please go in always you just never know

I had this and it was placental abruption. EMCS