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Day 196 of 280 · 28 weeks

Ten kicks in two hours

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 7 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-eight weeks: the third trimester. From now on you count your baby's movements once a day, and today is the first count.

Size this week
about the size of an aubergine
Length this week
around 37.6 cm from head to heel
A woman with a full bump in a grey t-shirt lying on her side on a sofa, one hand on her belly, a pencil and small notebook by her knee, soft evening lamplight.

Twenty-eight weeks. The third trimester starts here, and so does a small daily habit: counting your baby's movements. Yesterday you chose the time and the place. Today you count.

Your baby

A single glossy aubergine on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 37.6cm long from head to heel, about the size of an aubergine (NHS). The eyelids, closed since around weeks 11 to 14, reopen at about week 28 (MedlinePlus).

The NHS says the third trimester starts at week 28 (NHS), and MedlinePlus runs it from week 28 through week 40 (MedlinePlus). Twelve weeks to go, give or take what your baby decides.

Your body

From 28 weeks, the Office on Women's Health asks you to track your baby's movements. Most women count 10 movements in about 20 minutes, and its instruction is plain: "Call your doctor if you count less than 10 movements within two hours" (OWH).

The CDC adds the other half: there is no specific number of movements that counts as normal for every baby, and what matters is a change from what's normal for yours (CDC). So the count isn't a test you pass. It's how you learn your own baby's pattern, so you'd notice if it changed.

Try today

  1. Ten kicks in two hours

    Time: About 20 minutes, sometimes longer

    1. Use the time you chose yesterday, ideally one when your baby is usually busy, and keep it the same each day.

    2. Lie on your side or sit with your feet up, put a hand on your bump, and note the time on the clock.

    3. Count every kick, roll, swish, or jab until you reach ten. Most women get there in about 20 minutes (OWH).

    4. Write down how many minutes it took. Over the week, that column of numbers becomes your baseline.

    5. If you haven't reached 10 within two hours, call your doctor or midwife that day (OWH).

    Make it work:

    If movement seems to have dropped off, MedlinePlus says to eat a snack and lie down for a few minutes, and to call your doctor or midwife if it's still low (MedlinePlus).

Watch for

  • Normal

    quiet stretches when your baby sleeps, then busy ones.

    Call your provider

    if your baby's movement stops or slows; the CDC lists it as an urgent warning sign (CDC).

  • Normal

    reaching ten fast on some days and slowly on others.

    Call your provider

    if you count fewer than 10 movements within two hours (OWH).

  • Normal

    a white, milky discharge, which the NHS lists among the symptoms that can continue (NHS).

    Call your provider

    right away for vaginal bleeding or fluid leaking (CDC).

For you

A note on the vegetable: in the US it's an eggplant. The NHS is British, so it says aubergine. Same size either way.

Counting can feel like a job you might fail. It isn't. The CDC's point is that there's no right number, only your baby's usual (CDC), and the count is just how you learn it. If a day's count worries you, the call is the answer, not more waiting.

If you're the partner: you can keep the notebook, put the provider's number in your phone, and ask in the evening how the count went. If she says "it was slow", the question is "shall I dial?", not "I'm sure it's fine".

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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