Meet Rocco

• Baby Saves

• 11.10.21

“I began using the Count the Kicks app while pregnant with my fourth baby mostly as a way to remind myself to find time to connect with him. I looked forward to slowing down for a little bit each afternoon and feeling him move, and would always reach 10 kicks within about 5 minutes, which was reassuring.

On the day I turned 38 weeks pregnant, I woke up feeling ‘off.’ I couldn’t put my finger on it, but just didn’t feel well. I chalked it up to being very pregnant in the summer and went about my day. 

I had a prenatal massage scheduled that afternoon, and at the end of what should have been a relaxing time, it hit me that I hadn’t felt the baby move the entire time. I went home, had a sugary snack, and sat down to count. It took me 50 minutes to reach 10 kicks, which I knew was different than my normal thanks to the app. 

I still thought I was probably making too big of a deal out of it, but my husband encouraged me to call my midwives to get their input. When I let her know about the change in his movement, the midwife on call told me to head in to triage immediately for monitoring. 

At triage, we discovered that my blood pressure (which had been totally normal up to this point) was sky high, and it worsened over the next 2 hours. I was induced immediately, and the next afternoon gave birth to our healthy, perfect baby boy.

I am so grateful for his safe arrival, and know it was a direct result of being familiar with his patterns and having a care team who took the changes I noticed seriously.” – Erin M., Rocco’s mom