Ria_Rose
Mum to JJ & expecting #2
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- Mar 17, 2008
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Wasn't going to post this one but thought I'd better in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation and worries.
On Wednesday we went to Ante-natal class and the midwife stressed the importance of ringing the clinic if LO doesn't move a lot in a day - even if you are just worried. She said most women won't ring because they don;t want to bother the midwives,or a fear LO will kick as soon as we get there and it's probably nothing ... and she said maybe it is nothing, but what if it is and you wait and something happens - she stressed "it is never a waste of our time to find a healthy baby in there".
She also spat at the idea that LO's movements will reduce as there is less space. She said it gave women the wrong idea and stopped them reporting changes in patterns. She said if we feel poorly as adults we tend to want to curl up on the sofa and not move much and this is the same for baby (although I seriously doubt any of us can fit a mini sofa in there) and this is why they want us to monitor how many movements baby does in a day (it should be over 10 periods of movement in a 12 hour period (not counting ten kicks in fast succession)
Well JJ hadn't really been moving with his usualforce ... until we got to the class where he promptly started doing the can-can so I wasn't too worried. Then I couldn't sleep all night because it was hard to get comfy and he didn't move much, and during Thursday I only felt a few shuffles - but as he's a night baby I still wasn't worried.
After laying awake till 5am this morning with bearly a twinge I woke OH up in tears I was so worried. He very logically said I should ring the hospital clinic - and I found myself spouting all the exucses the midwife had said not to use (it's probably nothing, what if he moves as soon as I get there? I don't want to waste their time). He pointed out that he'd been at that class too and reminded me what she's said (he was sooo annoyingly right). I agreed to phone but said I'd try to get some sleep first.
Woke up this morning and still nothing, so I rang and they told me to come straight in to the 'day clinic'... luckily I already programed the hospital in to my sat-nav. And very carefully drove myself there.
The day clinic was empty and the staff were very friendly. The midwife has a feel of my bump (confirmed he is still head down) and listened to his heartbeat with what I can only describe as a wooden egg cup (sure it has a technical name) and immediately jumped back because his heart beat was so strong
which meant I immediately relaxed.
They hooked me up to a monitor, which checks LO's heartrate, movements and any contactions and gave me a button to press for every movement I felt. And then wouldn't you know it - the second I was hooked up he gave a great big kick against the equipment
They checked everything and apparently he's fine, I have to go back tomorrow to be monitored again to make sure he's still as active. But I was so releived. She also said LO was measuring a bit small, which is news to me as at my last hospital all the way along he meaured just right.
Anyway the moral of the story is, if you are concerned RING THEM! Even if all is well you will not be wasting their time. They will be able to tell you on the phone if it is worth coming in, and if you ignor the intial symptoms of a problem things could get worse - and maybe even go beyond the point they can help.
On Wednesday we went to Ante-natal class and the midwife stressed the importance of ringing the clinic if LO doesn't move a lot in a day - even if you are just worried. She said most women won't ring because they don;t want to bother the midwives,or a fear LO will kick as soon as we get there and it's probably nothing ... and she said maybe it is nothing, but what if it is and you wait and something happens - she stressed "it is never a waste of our time to find a healthy baby in there".
She also spat at the idea that LO's movements will reduce as there is less space. She said it gave women the wrong idea and stopped them reporting changes in patterns. She said if we feel poorly as adults we tend to want to curl up on the sofa and not move much and this is the same for baby (although I seriously doubt any of us can fit a mini sofa in there) and this is why they want us to monitor how many movements baby does in a day (it should be over 10 periods of movement in a 12 hour period (not counting ten kicks in fast succession)
Well JJ hadn't really been moving with his usualforce ... until we got to the class where he promptly started doing the can-can so I wasn't too worried. Then I couldn't sleep all night because it was hard to get comfy and he didn't move much, and during Thursday I only felt a few shuffles - but as he's a night baby I still wasn't worried.
After laying awake till 5am this morning with bearly a twinge I woke OH up in tears I was so worried. He very logically said I should ring the hospital clinic - and I found myself spouting all the exucses the midwife had said not to use (it's probably nothing, what if he moves as soon as I get there? I don't want to waste their time). He pointed out that he'd been at that class too and reminded me what she's said (he was sooo annoyingly right). I agreed to phone but said I'd try to get some sleep first.
Woke up this morning and still nothing, so I rang and they told me to come straight in to the 'day clinic'... luckily I already programed the hospital in to my sat-nav. And very carefully drove myself there.
The day clinic was empty and the staff were very friendly. The midwife has a feel of my bump (confirmed he is still head down) and listened to his heartbeat with what I can only describe as a wooden egg cup (sure it has a technical name) and immediately jumped back because his heart beat was so strong
which meant I immediately relaxed.They hooked me up to a monitor, which checks LO's heartrate, movements and any contactions and gave me a button to press for every movement I felt. And then wouldn't you know it - the second I was hooked up he gave a great big kick against the equipment
They checked everything and apparently he's fine, I have to go back tomorrow to be monitored again to make sure he's still as active. But I was so releived. She also said LO was measuring a bit small, which is news to me as at my last hospital all the way along he meaured just right.
Anyway the moral of the story is, if you are concerned RING THEM! Even if all is well you will not be wasting their time. They will be able to tell you on the phone if it is worth coming in, and if you ignor the intial symptoms of a problem things could get worse - and maybe even go beyond the point they can help.
