My Little One's Movements - The Importance of Fetal Movement Counts

Pregnancy at the least trimester is definitely not a walk in the park .Today, I've officially reached the 30th weeks and while I am enthusiastically counting down the weeks (partially due to boredom and excitement) before my life changes forever; I cannot help but feel extremely exhausted while doing so.

My back has been aching non-stop ever since I reached the 28th week. Now and then, there were a jolts of pain that will shoot up the right side of my back - leading my actions to a standstill. My ribs would suddenly receive a major kick (I think she's practicing martial arts in there) and I would feel out of breath. Seriously it will hurt so much that I couldn't move at all from whatever spot I was at.

My nights have not been much better. I had actually been taking note of her fetal movements and patterns and this is what I noticed: She would start her morning exercise at 7-8 am with some gentle prodding movements. She would continue until on and off until noon where she would start her warm-up once more. After lunch (especially when I eat sweet stuff), she would suddenly go into hyperdrive before slowing down to take a break in the mid-afternoon.

In the late afternoon, I think she schedules a hiccup session in her diary. She would be hiccuping in rhythms non-stop at times and she can take as long as 5 minutes before she winds down for the day. In the evening, around 8, she would start her gentle warm-up again and do some light aerobics, kicks, belly-dancing or whatsoever. Then, it was time for bed. I am beginning to realise that she may be someone who is a terrible sleeper when she is born; mainly she starts to do her martial art classes at 2 am. It's not the soft, gentle prodding. It's like there is the "heeyuck" yell and one huge jab to leave me gasping for breath followed by a few more jabs. Needless to say, all these movements are leaving one very exhausted mummy instead.

My only consolation is that now is the school holidays. I do not really have to wake up early in the morning and drag myself to school - so thank heavens for that! That is one perk of being an educator!

Truth be told, I didn't really take notice of fetal movements before. I would go sporadically like "Whao, she kicked!" and that's about it. Then my more experienced colleagues began to talk to me about fetal movements and asked me to take note of the number of kicks and movements for this is a sign of well-being. It is said that one should start to worry when the number of kicks or movements are less than ten within 4 hours when you lay on your left side after eating. Even though most articles state that movements will tend to decrease after 32 weeks due to lack of space, the following article really freaked me out :

"Unfortunately for Tiffan Yamen, whose second child was stillborn at 37 weeks, awareness of the importance of fetal movement came too late. "With my first two pregnancies, I was under the impression that as I got closer to my due date the baby would run out of space and may not move as much," says the Waukee, Iowa, resident. "The afternoon prior to losing our daughter, Madeline, I went into labor and reported to labor and delivery at our hospital upon the request of my OB's office. The baby and I were monitored in a triage area for nearly six hours before I was sent home that same night. While I was being monitored, the nurses kept commenting that I had a sleepy baby."

Though Yamen's contractions continued, her daughter's movements didn't increase, and a biophysical profile was done. She had a perfect score, so Yamen was sent home, but wasn't advised to monitor the baby's movements. At her doctor's visit the next day, the baby's heartbeat couldn't be found. A knotted umbilical cord had cut off her oxygen and blood supply. It's possible that Madeline's decreased movement the night before was a sign that she was in distress.

According to Dr. Nguyen, decreased fetal movement has been associated with impaired intrauterine growth and stillbirth (unexpected death of the baby after 20 weeks of pregnancy). Dr. Nguyen admits not all stillbirths are preventable. "However, the majority are, with increased awareness of the importance of fetal movement so that doctors can make timely intervention," she says."

As a first time mom, this is extremely horrifying news. Although a simple search on the internet also shows that there are some medical professionals who didstudies on lack of clinical evidence of fetal movement's association with  stillborn, I will seriously not take any chances. I cannot imagine carrying my little one all the way to full term and to receive such devastating news for this tragic blow will not be an event that many people can handle.