# Baby movements



## dsh (Apr 2, 2009)

Hello, 

I'm really hoping that you can help me. I have had a rather difficult pregnancy and have been having regular growth scans since 26 weeks. I had a scan Friday just gone and my babys growth has slowed a little he is estimated 3 ozs lighter than he should be, just below the middle line on my personalised growth chart. After speaking with a consultant he said that the blood flow from the placenta was normal, but my amniotic fluid was the lower end of normal and that they would scan me again at 37 weeks to check the growth again. He said that I should keep an eye on the babys movements and this is the best way without scanning to detech a problem, but I have really struggled to get my head around the whole movement thing since day one. 

My midwife disagrees with kick counts or charts, and just tells me that I should know my patttern. To be honest I have been so obsessive about movements I have for the past 10 weeks just pretty much spent all day with my hands on my bump feeling every movement, so I haven't really picked up on a pattern, as he Had been very active all of the time, but the last two weeks or so he seems to have slowed down and he seems to have more quiet periods, but the problem is they are never at the same time of day. Last monday I was worried that he hadnt moved for an hour so I went to triage and was monitored for an hour and everything was fine, but I found the whole thing exremely stressful and have been very tearful and worried ever since. 

I'm feeling quite depressed about the pregnancy as a whole and everything worries me. My midwife isn't particularly supportive and actually is very sarcastic about how much I worry for example at one visit I forgot my urine sample, she told me not to worry about it, but I did and went to the doctors the next day to check my urine, which it turned out had excess sugar in it, so the doctor sent me to hospital the next day for a gestational diabeties blood test, thankfully my result came back normal, but at my next appointment with the midwife, she mentioned the urine sample and blood test and then made a rather sarcastic comment about not trusting her and worrying over nothing , which made mt feel really stupid and increased the whole white coat syndrome that I seem to get. Also there was only one gp that I actually felt i could talk to and she has now left. To be honest through out the whole pregnancy I have felt really unsupported by the midwife and drs I have delt with. 

Have you any ideas to help me monitor his movements, I know at 34 weeks it rather late, but with this added pressure of the slow growth I really feel like I need a system, please don't just tell me that I should listen to my instincts or that I will just know if there is a problem as I have stressing over this for the past ten weeks and just can't seem to tap into my instincts. I have been feeling really stressed and under a lot of pressure recently, and now it seems that as the consultant wont see me for three weeks that the pressure to work out this movement pattern is the most important thing I can do, but I just cant seem to monitor it in anyway.

Sorry for the long post, but I jsut feel that FF is my only option at the moment. 

Please help.
Dsh


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## emilycaitlin (Mar 7, 2006)

Hi,

I'm sorry that things are being so stressful for you, you've had a worrying time. 
as long as you feel about 10 movements in 12 hours, that is ok. I wouldn't normally recommend this, as it can make people more anxious, but you could maybe write the movements  down for a couple of days and then compare your movements to them. That may give you an idea of any change to them. 
If you aren't happy with your midwife, you can ring the hospital and ask to speak to a supervisor of midwives, they will listen to you and can change your midwife. No-one will judge you, this happens a lot, not everyone gets on with their care providers due to personality clashes etc. 
This may just help you by easing some of your concerns,

Let me know how you get on,

Emilycaitlin xx


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## dsh (Apr 2, 2009)

Thanks for the reply. 

I had a long chat with my midwife and we kinda sorted things out, she has got a gp to refer me for counselling as she thinks I may have prenatal depression. 

I am seriously thinking of changing hospitals tho as I have had too many bad experiences there now.

Thanks again for the advice

dsh


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