Meet Weston

• Baby Saves

• 02.28.24

“At 29, I started my first pregnancy journey with a provider that provided little education on the pregnancy. I am an ER nurse, but that is miles away from what an OB-GYN nurse can do. I think my provider assumed because I was a nurse she didn’t need to explain anything to me. This led me on a journey of Google searches to help prepare myself for what was to come. I did end up switching providers, which was a great start, but I also found the Count the Kicks app.

To be honest, I read the information that was available in the app and used the app itself maybe once a week. The real value for me was learning how often I am supposed to feel him move. I thought, ‘Since my pregnancy is completely average, I don’t need to do this consistently; I just need to be aware of the frequency of movements.’ I told my husband about it, and throughout pregnancy he would ask me how baby Weston was moving. 

I liked the simplicity of the app and the lack of ads. It was easy to just click on and go. Depending on how active he was, if I was checking his kicks at the most active time, he could get 10 movements in a few minutes. If I was checking randomly, it could take 10 minutes. The app helped me learn that he was most active at bedtime or early morning. 

One morning I spent four hours at the computer concentrating on work and realized I couldn’t remember him moving. I was exactly 40 weeks and was used to his aggressive elbows and feet by this point. I decided to chug a soda and take a shot of maple syrup while pushing him around in my belly.* No response. I told my husband who immediately said, ‘let’s go then.’ 

After a bit of monitoring and an urgent biophysical profile ultrasound (BPP), it turned out my baby was in distress and needed to evacuate immediately. He was having some deceleration over the 3-4 hours they monitored me. 

We spent some extra time in the hospital due to an ‘unexplained hypothermic event’ that happened a few hours after he was born, but I am so thankful to report baby Weston is happy and healthy. 

When we told our family what happened, the common response was always, ‘I didn’t even know you were supposed to count kicks’ and ‘I don’t think I would have even noticed because I never knew there was a minimum amount!’

So my advice, even with a full-term, completely normal pregnancy, count those kicks and educate everyone you know. It really can happen to anyone.” -Emily H., Weston’s mom

*Editor’s Note: Research shows that fetal movement is best monitored without interventions like juice, candy, or drinking ice water.