Meet Cathryn

• Baby Saves

• 12.17.21

“I’m so thankful that everything turned out the way it did. I had been keeping track of Cathryn’s kicks for a couple months now using the app and she almost always kicked 10 times in less than 15 minutes. Around 38 weeks 5 days, that started to slow down consistently. She was making 10 kicks in 30-40 minutes for each counting session which is still considered ‘normal,’ but it made me uneasy because it wasn’t normal for her.

I called the clinic the next day and let them know. They told me not to worry, because of course, it was totally ‘normal.’ The next morning, it took 65 minutes to feel 10 kicks and they were really faint. I called the hospital since it was a holiday and spoke with the physician on-call. This time I was more insistent. Again, she said that what I was telling her was still considered completely normal and nothing to be concerned about, but if it was really bothering me, why not come in and just get it checked out for peace of mind. She said, ‘30 minutes, we hook you up and monitor, you’re in, you’re out and you will feel better.’ I felt a twinge of guilt, like do I really want to be ‘that mom’ that is paranoid and seemingly annoying the on-call hospital staff with imaginary problems? But, I did it anyway. 

I had always used the kick sessions as a time to bond with the baby and talk with her. That was months ago, how are you doing today baby girl? If you ever need me to take you to the hospital, I need less than 10 kicks in an hour. Of course, I understand this is a one sided conversation, but it reminded me that I made her a promise multiple times. 

At the hospital, 30 minutes of monitoring turned into four hours of monitoring. At first they didn’t like that she was acting sleepy so they waited to collect more data before they would send me home. The end consensus was that everything was perfectly ‘normal’ and I was cleared to go home. The on-call doctor said even though everything looks great and I feel comfortable sending you home, I can tell this is bothering you. You are experiencing light contractions and you are 39 weeks along today, so if you want to just stay at the hospital and have the baby, we can induce labor and that way you don’t have to worry.

I was completely unprepared for that option. I figured the monitoring would either result in bad news and an emergency C-section or everything is fine, go home. My hospital bag wasn’t packed, we had planned on having people over at our house for the holiday, which also happened to be my oldest son’s 2nd birthday. Even at 39 weeks I was caught totally off guard, but something told me to stay at the hospital and get the induction.

Labor was smooth, she stayed at the same activity level I had been experiencing at home the last few days, faint and few, but still ‘normal.’

Delivery came fast. Everything was going great and out comes baby Cathryn. The doctor tells me to stop pushing. She said the cord is wrapped tightly around her neck two full times and I can see that her head is gray. The doctor stopped to snip the cord before I continued pushing. When she came out she was still. She wasn’t pink like my first son … she wasn’t crying like my son was either. 

My heart started to race. What was in reality probably 30 seconds felt like a lifetime as she coughed sputtered and finally started to cry. The doctor said it’s OK, she was just under a lot of stress. The nurses took her to the baby station to clean her up and a few minutes later she perked up and she was perfectly fine. The doctor grabbed my knee and said ‘you did the right thing coming in today, you knew something wasn’t right, I’m so glad you decided to stay and deliver.’

Had I decided to go home, who knows; it still could have turned out fine. But I am so grateful and I thank God that I didn’t. Now I will never have to wonder if I did the right thing for my daughter. Without using the Count the Kicks app, I may not have noticed the subtle changes in her movement, or had the guts to speak up about it. I’m so grateful.” -Amanda C., Cathryn’s mom