Decreased Fetal Movement -- a.k.a. Irony

Less than a week after my post about what an active baby we have, I noticed a marked decrease in Baby Payne's movements over the past 36-48 hours. It was enough that I was starting to get concerned. Normally, he is quite active, and there are several times in any given day that I could both see and feel significant movement. There was never really a problem counting the recommended 10 movements in one hour...once he got started, I could usually count 10 movements in about 5 minutes!!

I was fairly busy and active on Sunday cleaning our bedroom (yes, the nesting instinct is kicking in already), and I don't feel movement as much when I'm active, so I didn't really think much about movement on Sunday. But Monday, he really wasn't moving much. By lunch time, when I'd hardly felt anything all day, I decided to get a Sprite with lunch, as cold sugary beverages always get him kicking. But, he didn't really react to the Sprite. By the evening, I still hadn't felt much. I was feeling some movement, just not nearly as much as is normal for him. And if I poked and prodded my belly a bit, I could (with effort) coax out the recommended 10 movements in one hour.

Overnight, I didn't feel much either...also unusual, since every time I change position, he tends to wiggle around and change position as well. By about 10:00 this morning, I was getting increasingly concerned. So I called my doctor's office to ask the nurse about it. I expected that perhaps I was over-reacting and she would reassure me that everything was fine, and I only really need to worry if (fill in the blank) happened. But, the nurse got on the phone with me right away, who told me that any significant decrease in fetal movement needed to be checked out right away, and that I should get to the labor and delivery ward in the hospital as soon as possible. She said that while in most cases, it turns out that everything is fine, but that decreased fetal movement, especially in the third trimester, can be a sign that the baby is in distress and they only way to know for sure is to get it checked out. She got me sufficiently freaked out!

I called Bryan and calmly (I think) explained to him what the nurse told me, and that I was on my way home and I needed him to drive me to the hospital so we could get this checked out. In the 20-30 minutes it took me to get home, he had researched 3rd trimester decreased fetal movement, what it can mean, what it usually means, and the tests the tend to run to check everything out. He brought my book (we were expecting to be there a few hours) and some extra food, and was pulled out of the garage and waiting for me when I pulled in.

Within 30 minutes of first appearing at the patient registration desk, they had me in a room, and about 5 minutes after that, a nurse came in and strapped on a fetal heart rate monitor. We were both relieved to hear that heart beating away! So as my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate were continuously monitored, the nurse took my medical history.

As Murphy's Law would have it, Baby Payne started getting really active and kicky about 15 minutes before the doctor came in to do her evaluation. We could hear his strong kicks which seemed to be aimed right at the sonogram receiver strapped to my belly! I'm blaming it on the apple juice they gave me in the waiting room. The doctor eventually came in and checked my vitals, and the baby's vitals and did a sonogram, where we received more good news. His heart rate was good, she could see that he was breathing well and that he wasn't anemic (though I have no idea how she could tell that from an ultrasound!!), my amniotic fluid levels are just right, and that the placenta was in a good place (away from the cervix) and showed no signs of abruption or tearing. She also noticed that the baby has already turned and has his head down, right where it needs to be! When we asked about size, she said that she couldn't measure specifically, but from what she could tell, he seemed just about right...not overly big, but not too small. It appears that Baby Payne and I are both as healthy as can be!

We were discharged about 2.5 hours after arriving, with the reassurance that everything is A-OK. The doctor confirmed for us that it is fairly common to notice a decrease in movement at around this stage in the pregnancy, as he is growing faster than my uterus at this point, and has less and less room to actually move around. And Bryan is theorizing that it was only in the past couple of days that he re-oriented himself into the head-down position, and because of that, is doing less flipping and spinning or whatever else he was doing prior to that.

Since the hospital visit, he still hasn't been as active as "normal." I think from here on out, I need to re-evaluate "normal" and begin using a different baseline for monitoring his movements. I guess he's finally starting to show signs of outgrowing his womb, and as he gets bigger and his space gets tighter, he'll be moving less. But now that I know this, I can stop worrying about lack of movement. And start worrying about things like finishing the nursery, re-organizing the kitchen, organizing the baby clothes, and other preparations for welcoming our son home.