Melissa & Zoey

• Mom Saves

• 07.03.23

“I noticed decreased movement at around 35 weeks, and immediately went to the emergency room when it took longer to get to 10 counts. I was acutely aware of this because of my prior stillbirth.

At the ER, my preeclampsia was discovered. I didn’t have any other symptoms or high blood pressure at any of my prenatal appointments. I was admitted to the hospital and told I wouldn’t be going home until after delivery. I was kept on continuous monitoring of both the heart beat and my blood pressure for 1-2 days, then changed to every 4 hours. I was given steroids to develop her lungs. 

The night before my cesarean section, during the routine every 4 hour monitoring, they had a hard time detecting her heart rate and she was having pretty significant decelerations. They were being overly cautious due to my previous stillbirth, so we rushed to the operating room immediately and delivered her via C-section.

If I hadn’t gone to the hospital with decreased movement, it’s likely the preeclampsia would have not been detected until my next prenatal appointment. The untreated preeclampsia could have for sure taken my life.

My daughter is here, happy and healthy, thanks to my regular use of the Count the Kicks app. Thankfully, I was able to avoid another tragic stillbirth by recognizing my baby’s first signs of distress through the app.” -Melissa Z., Zoey’s mom