Meet Emmett

• Baby Saves

• 03.01.24

“I already have tears filling up in my eyes, because I know how lucky we are. I’ve written this story countless times on your website but never have pressed submit. But now over 2.5 years later, I wanted to share my story, because your website was the one that alerted me to change the outcome of my own.

It was a Monday night. I was at the nail salon, rubbing my belly in the pedicure chair trying to get my son to move around some more. The past couple days I started to feel decreased movement with my second son. I had no other symptoms, but just very little movement. It almost felt as if he was floating in my belly. 

I went down a rabbit hole of researching and googling why this might be. I have suffered from bad anxiety, and with my first born I was constantly calling/texting/messaging the doctor/friends/family question after question. This pregnancy I tried my best to not be that way, but I am glad I listened to my body. I came across Count The Kicks. I read story after story. Dove deep down a rabbit hole on social media, and started to connect with the stories. I knew something was wrong.

I called my husband on the night of Sept. 20, 2021 and said I just feel like he is not moving as much, but I feel completely fine. My husband, who is a very laid back, does-not-jump-to-conclusions type of man, said the words I needed to hear ‘Let’s just call the doctor for reassurance.’ 

I called the nurse and I explained to her that I wasn’t feeling him move like he had been my whole pregnancy (which was a lot!). She is an incredible nurse. I was blessed with the best nurse and doctors. She said I can either come in and get checked out, or I can drink a sugary drink and see if there are at least 10 kicks within 2 hours.* As I fought my anxiety, I was like ‘deep breath,’ I’ll just go home and drink something and see how it goes.

I got home, drank some Cherry 7up,* and laid on the couch. It was quiet. My oldest laid with me as the little spoon, with his back up against my belly so he could feel the kicks too. We felt eight kicks within an hour and 50 minutes. I was like OK, we will need to go in. I started to get up, and then there was a flutter of kicks. Was that 10? Or is it still 8? We didn’t know what to think. 

I decided to sleep on it (I did not sleep, I was up all night). I had my 34 week appointment the next morning at 9 a.m.

On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 21, my oldest son and I were running late, shoving powdered donuts in our mouth and we were off for the day. I got to my appointment, and the doctor was running some tests. They sent me to a back room and hooked me up. The amazing nurse kept coming in and checking on me, and brought some Halloween candy. They are very personable in general, and understand my personality. Once they started getting quieter and quieter, I knew something was wrong. My doctor suggested I go get admitted to the hospital to get monitored. I called my husband, and he said he was already on his way.

I was so confused. I felt fine. It didn’t make sense. What was happening? And why?

I arrived at the hospital, and we were hooked up. Many tests, nurses, and doctors swarmed the room. Steroid shot in the leg, no eating, COVID test, it was all happening so fast. As the doctors said ‘the baby had a BPP [Biophysical Profile] score of 6 with non reassuring fetal tracing, no accelerations, and was recommended to present to hospital for further monitoring. Waveform on tracing started to appear more sinusoidal, initially intermittently and more and more continuously.’ 

Our second son was not progressing the way he should be. It was incredible how the doctors were working together as a team, and calling other hospitals and trying to research what could be going on. Our doctor made the best decision and concluded that night that he thought it would be best to do a cesarean section. What all the doctors said still rings in my ears ‘If you get him out, I will save his life.’

I went in for a cesarean not knowing what to expect. My husband was full of emotions, trying to stay strong. I was still in such shock, trying to figure out what was going on, what did this all mean, and why it was happening.

The team prepared us for the worst, and they prepared us for the best outcomes. We prayed.

As I lay on the surgery table with my husband by my side, I just wanted my baby to be OK. Three years ago from that same date I met my husband that same night on Sept. 21. Our lives were moving so fast. We held each other’s hands tight.

We weren’t expecting a cry. And three little cries came out of my belly. Our son was as white as snow. They rushed him off to another room, and I told my husband to go after him.

After PPV [positive pressure ventilation] and then CPAP [continuous positive airway pressure] resuscitation and blood transfusions, our baby stayed strong. He had lost the amount of blood of a full-term baby and some. He was our little warrior.

The final diagnosis was a clinical fetomaternal hemorrhage with no known cause.

They finally got to wheel me into the room, and I was able to see him. During our hospital stay he was taken care of in the NICU, and eventually I was able to hold him. And then after days went by, it was time to go home.

We will never know what the cause was, or why. All we know is we are all together, we are truly blessed, extremely grateful, and living each of our lives to the absolute fullest.

I’ve shared my story with friends and family. If I hadn’t listened to my intuition, researched on your website, called the doctors … it would’ve been a completely different outcome. And maybe even within those hours that it all happened. Listen to your babies and your bodies, and count your kicks.

Sending all the love and hugs from our families to yours.” -Samantha J., Emmett’s mom

*Editor’s Note: Research shows that fetal movement is best monitored without interventions like juice, candy, or drinking ice water. Current research indicates expectant parents should work to understand the normal amount of time each day it takes their baby to get to 10 movements rather than looking for a certain number of movements in 1 or 2 hours.