Counting Baby Kicks

Over the last couple of months, my OB-GYN began each visit with the question “Is the baby moving okay?” At first, I wasn’t sure what she meant and how to answer. I thought the baby was moving from time to time, but I was not sure. Plus, I didn’t know what was considered normal. Was I supposed to feel him kick at any particular time of the day? How many times were considered sufficient? How strong should the kicks be in order to count?

Fetal Heart Rate

I learned to worry about fetal heart rate with my first pregnancy, when I hurried to the computer after each visit with my reproductive endocrinologist, anxious to see if my pregnancy was progressing normally. We were able to hear a heartbeat as early as at the end of week 5, which was a milestone we were happy to reach, but once we were able to measure the heart rate, I began to feel apprehensive.

Placenta Previa

I am generally healthy, but I am now 40 years old, have had three failed pregnancies, and have now conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF). All of these factors qualify my pregnancy as high risk, so when I graduated from the fertility clinic, my reproductive endocrinologist urged me to find an OB-GYN who specialized in high-risk pregnancies. I had no idea how difficult my quest would be.