Fetal kick counts is a simple monitoring technique you can do yourself at home. There are many ways to do a fetal kick count. The first thing you want to do is pick your babies most active time of the day to begin. Do not set yourself for panic by waiting until the quiet times. Take a piece of paper and write down the time you start paying attention, put a check mark on the paper every time you feel movement (kick, twist, punch, turn). Do not count hiccups. When you have felt ten movements, write that time down as well. Doing this at the same time every day will help with the accuracy of the test. If your baby is having a slow day, try walking for five minutes, eating, or drinking juice and then go lie down on your left side to see if that will perk your sleepy little one up. Keep in mind that we do not feel all the movements of the baby. We actually probably are too busy moving ourselves to notice the majority of movements. Your baby should move ten times in four hours. If this does not happen call your practitioner for advice on what to do next. Remember, there are different methods of kick counting. Ask your doctor which they prefer, or use the one provided here.
