Meet Henry

• Baby Saves

• 07.14.25

“I found Count the Kicks on Instagram a couple of years ago with a suggested baby save story. I ended up scrolling through the feed and reading all the stories. I had already had my first child, but knew I wanted more. My first birth experience was pretty traumatic, and I knew I wanted things to be different the next time I was pregnant. I continued to follow Count the Kicks. Reading all those stories of other moms trusting their bodies and their babies reminded me how powerful it is to trust your instincts.

When I got pregnant with Henry, I knew I wanted to ask questions, understand my body, and really know my baby. From the very beginning, Henry was a wiggle worm! Every ultrasound we had he was doing flips and rolls. Once I could feel him move, it wasn’t sweet little kicks – it was full-on punches.

My pregnancy was considered high-risk because I have Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), which put me at higher risk for incompetent cervix. I got bi-weekly ultrasounds until 24 weeks, when I graduated from high-risk checks because everything looked good and Henry was growing well. 

At 24 weeks and 2 days, I sat down at the end of a busy day and realized Henry wasn’t moving nearly as much as he usually did. I tried a few things that would normally get him moving (like playing music). When that didn’t work, I called my OB-GYN. They said it was too early to depend on kicks and that I should just relax. But I couldn’t. I decided to go into Labor and Delivery just to ease my mind. 

Upon arrival, my blood pressure was 181/110. I was immediately admitted and placed on continuous monitoring. Henry was really active, and had a reputation at the hospital because he would not stay still. After a round of steroid shots, a magnesium drip, and blood pressure medication, they decided to send me up to maternity to be monitored for the night and to get ready to go home the next day. I was taken off the monitors as everyone seemed happy with how both of us were doing.

On Saturday, April 19 around 8 a.m. I woke up in the hospital with a weird feeling. I still cannot explain it. Henry wasn’t moving at all and something just felt wrong. I called in the nurse and asked if she could just put me back on the monitors for a few minutes just to ease my mind.

She found his heartbeat, but it was dangerously low. She called the doctor in, and within minutes we were being rushed down to the OR for an emergency cesarean section. As I was being wheeled down my nurse took my hand and said “Mama, you just saved his life.”

Henry was born at 9:45 a.m. at just 25 weeks and 4 days. They discovered that my blood pressure had spiked, and it was so high that Henry suffered a brain bleed in utero due to preeclampsia. He is now 2 months old (34 weeks adjusted), making great progress, and has the entire NICU wrapped around his little finger.

Had I not trusted my gut and paid attention to his movements, our story would be much different. No matter what gestational age, movement is important. I knew my baby and I knew that his being still meant something was wrong. 

It is so important to know your baby and know their activity. I would have rather come in 50 times and have nothing wrong than not come in and have something be wrong. If I had not paid attention to his kicks I would have never known I had silent preeclampsia. He saved my life and I saved his.” -Amanda B., Henry’s mom