29 weeks and worried about how much baby is moving

[arolf]

So, last week baby was trying to kick his way out, and I spent two days feeling seasick and watching my bump wriggle like mad. This week (well, since Saturday), he seems to have slowed right down, so I'm getting an occasional thump, but not much more. I could feel him wriggling around early this morning, but no actual kicks.
I just tried drinking some diet coke (caffiene), which on the other 2 or 3 occasions I've drunk it has driven him wild, but today, not much - still some movement, but not much really.

I'm going into the hospital for blood tests tomorrow, so was planning to mention it then - but was wondering if anyone else has experience of this.

I know I have an anterior placenta, and thus the kicks/movement should feel cushioned, which they do now - previously the kicks were either really low down or really high up, so it could be he's just moved I suppose.
My fiance is getting a bit sick of my worrying though, so any reassurance would be great.

When I started reading your message the first thing I wondered was where your placenta was! I am now on my 2nd anterior placenta and my experience has been very like yours both times. When baby is not hiding behind placenta plenty of kicks, but every now and then a few really muffled days with just enough little wriggles to stop me calling the midwife but nothing more - this is when baby goes and curls up behind the placenta.

Also when baby lies back to front as opposed to back to back you can feel fewer kicks.

Hope that is reassuring.

Hey arolf, I have had the same thing. I am 29+6 and either have disco baby complete with rocking bump or lazy baby who is determined to scare me by refusing to move for hours. It has always been like this for me. My placenta is at the back, so I should feel more, but I think maybe on the quiet days he/she is having a growth spurt as my bump seems to be bigger and harder after a couple of quiet days. This is my first, so I really don't have a clue what is going on in there, but hope that helps!

thanks - I ended up going to the foetal assessment unit this afternoon, as I was in the hospital anyway, and after a tense hour in which no heartbeat could be detected, baby decided to move, start kicking, and reveal his heartbeat to us.

There were a lot of tears from me to start with, as I (and the midwife!) was convinced something was wrong, but luckily baby had had enough of scaring the shit out of me for one week...
I'm now trying to calm down a bit from a fairly trying day!! Oh, for a large glass of red wine just now...