Meet Isla

• Baby Saves

• 08.18.23

“When I got pregnant, I was like most other first-time moms-to-be: I was overwhelmed and eager to learn as much as possible to have a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery. I had of course heard of resources like What To Expect When You’re Expecting (I was gifted the books and downloaded the app), but then also learned about other resources from my primary care. 

Once I reached my third trimester, one of those resources was Count The Kicks. I downloaded the app and trained myself to get in the habit of noticing my baby’s normal movement patterns. It became part of my regular routine and just a normal part of the day. 

When I reached my 35th, nearly 36th week, I became sick. After a week and a half, my condition worsened. I had a super high fever, could not stop coughing and due to the fever, felt quite weak and out of sorts. 

My husband had me to do a test and sure enough, I was COVID positive. He helped nurse me through that weekend and managed to reduce my fever at home. I felt so lucky to finally feel alive again, but realized something critical: I had not been counting my kicks. In fact, I had not felt my baby very much at all. It wasn’t just a ‘mom’s sick’ thing — I knew that something wasn’t right. 

I called my doctor within a couple of hours and they advised that I should go to the maternity ward the very next day for fetal heart rate monitoring. I did precisely that; my baby’s variable decelerations in heartbeat were causing alarm on the floor. Evidently, her heart rate was dropping, so I was admitted and induced. After attempting to jumpstart labor all night, we ultimately had to do a Cesarean to safely deliver my baby. 

She was born at 37 weeks perfectly healthy, thankfully. She did have some meconium in her lungs, but she recovered fine. Today she is almost 15 months old and the light of my life. 

I’m so grateful that I was aware of the importance of fetal movement and how the lack thereof is often indicative of a greater issue. In this case, my fever and illness impacted the health of my baby and we could have lost her if we ignored her ‘quietness’ and tried to wait out the full term. I can’t imagine my life without her.” -Lauren B., Isla’s mom