Count the Kicks

On  August 1, 2009 a 7lb 6oz baby boy made his grand entrance into this world, surprising his parents by arriving 2 weeks early. His birth and delivery was uneventful and much easier than his first time mother expected. While this new mother sat getting acquainted with her new baby, her labor nurse came over and told her "I don't want to scare you, but your son was born with a true knot in his umbilical cord. It is uncommon and he is a lucky boy."

That baby boy was Drake.

And that new mom was me.

As I explained in my birth story here I had no idea how very serious and deadly a true knot could be to a baby.
9 months after Drake was born, I gathered the courage to research the subject. I was shocked and scared by what I found and  never felt so blessed to have a healthy and energetic baby boy as I did in that moment. 

Shortly after I wrote my birth story, I became connected through a series of events (some might even call it fate) to a woman who's daughter was stillborn due to a true knot in her cord. In the weeks that followed, this woman invited me to meet with her and 4 other amazing and strong women. These women came from all walks of life and all had different stories to tell, but are connected by the fact that each one of them lost a daughter to late- term stillbirth or infant death. These remarkable women banded together and pledged to make a difference and decrease the stillbirth and infant death rate. Through their conversations and shared passion they founded the organization Healthy Birth Day and the Count the Kicks Campaign.

Count the Kicks encourages expectant mothers in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy to monitor fetal movement. A significant decrease in fetal movement could indicate a problem with the baby. Count the Kicks gives women ideas on how to get the baby moving, should a decrease in activity be noticed, and advises women when to alert the doctor if movement does not increase. Please visit the Count the Kicks website to learn more.

                                                     
                                                                            Photo Credit
I was aware of the Count the Kicks campaign when I was pregnant and counted kicks many times. Little did I know at the time, Count the Kicks would come to be a campaign that I feel connected to and so very passionate about.

Because this is a campaign that I feel is worthy of our time and attention I'm going to present a challenge to you-my readers.

Please bring awareness to a campaign that can be utilized by every single expectant mother in the world by adding the Count the Kicks button to your blog.

(Just copy and past the html code below into your blog)

<center><a href="http://www.countthekicks.me/" target="_blank"><img alt="Count The Kicks" src="http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/sssmomma/th_CTK-Button.gif " /></a></center>

Do it for me.

Do it for Drake.

Do it for every pregnant woman.

Do it for every unborn baby.

Do it to bring awareness.

Do it for those 5 amazing women and their 5 precious angel baby girls.

Do it to save a life.

Please email me for more information about Count the Kicks and how you can help.