Meet Ryen

• Baby Saves

• 01.20.23

“I was excited to be expecting our first child and made sure to research and seek out the best OB/Gyn care for my pregnancy. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but the baby and I seemed to be doing well. When I was around 34 weeks pregnant with Ryen, my doctor told me that the ultrasound revealed that the umbilical cord was wrapped about my baby’s neck twice! My doctor immediately advised me to monitor Ryen’s movements as closely as possible and to take advantage of the Count the Kicks app.

I remember going home that day from the doctor’s office and crying in my car because I was so afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to track my baby’s movements very easily. However, after using the app I quickly became reliant on how comfortable it made me feel. I became a religious daily Count the Kicks App user and became very aware of Ryen’s normal movement patterns. 

Because I was receiving additional monitoring during the last couple of months of pregnancy, a second umbilical cord complication, called a vein varix, was discovered. This further reinforced the need to stay very in tune with Ryen’s movements and to speak up if I noticed a change.

One night when I was 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant, at around 7 p.m., I was trying to do another recording of Ryen’s kicks when I noticed a dramatic decrease in movement. She was typically so active in the evenings and I really started to worry after 2 hours had passed and I still had not felt a single kick.

I quickly got into my car and visited my local maternity unit where they assured me that my baby’s heartbeat was within normal limits, but found that my blood pressure was abnormally high and I was already 4 centimeters dilated. My water had broken and I didn’t even know it!

They admitted me into the hospital that night and the next day my husband and I had our beautiful daughter at 6:12 p.m.! And to our surprise, there was no cord around her neck and she was an extremely healthy baby.

Without the Count the Kicks app I would have never noticed the decrease in movement and went in to have my beautiful and healthy baby the next day! I am grateful that my doctor not only had the Count the Kicks posters and brochures at his office, but also that he encouraged me to utilize the free app, as prior to that I was only an occasional app user. 

Being in tune with Ryen’s daily movement patterns and having a doctor who educated and encouraged me was vital to the delivery of our healthy daughter.” -Morgan S., Ryen’s mom