Non-Stress Tests

This week was the first of my new hectic work/doctor appointment schedule and I have to say, it wasn't that bad!

If you remember, Dr. C recommended that twice weekly I am to be scheduled for non-stress tests in addition to my regular (now every two week) OB appointments. I'm really thankful that my job is accommodating me during all these appointments and letting me change my schedule from 8am-5pm to 7am-4pm however getting up that extra hour earlier this week was brutal! I'm sure I'll adjust to that quickly though.

I was a little nervous about starting these appointments just because of the nature of them - basically having GD considers me in the High Risk Pregnancy category and also because, I've never been to the hospital... ever... for anything...

Anyway, I made it down there ok, found parking, paid my $2 for said parking, and proceeded to wander around the Women's Maternity Center of the hospital until I finally gave up and asked where the heck I needed to go. Adam gets irritated with me because I'm like a man - I hate to ask for directions - so I'm glad he wasn't with me :)

So I finally figure out which part of the hospital they had me scheduled in - the Women's Center for Fetal-Maternal Medicine - and I took note since I'll be spending a lot of time there in the next 5 weeks. They hooked me up to a monitor that they told me would be similar to one they'd use up in L&D when I actually go into labor. Someone freaked me out and told me that these NST's would be simulating a contraction - that's not the case! Basically, one strap around my belly monitors Landon's heartbeat and another strap monitors if I'm having any contractions. The tech also gave me a little clicky deal that I had to push every time I felt Landon move. She said that they'll monitor him for a minimum of 20 minutes and they need to get at least 2 good movements with significant raises in heart rate. Apparently when a baby moves their heart rate raises and that's what the whole test is about.

Of course, it couldn't just be that easy right???

Landon was asleep... at BOTH my Tue & Friday appointments... fabulous. Both days they let me sit there for the first 5 or so minutes waiting to see if he'd wake up. He didn't. So first they try and have you drink a cup of cold water to see if that would help. It got him going a little bit but on Tuesday but it wasn't enough so they used a little device that uses a combination of vibration and sound to really wake him up. The tech said it won't hurt him in the slightest but the second that vibration hit my stomach I got the hardest kick I've ever felt. He was awake!!! :) After that it was kick after kick and HR rise after rise. I did end up having to sit there for 10 extra minutes because I guess once he was awake the cover line of his HR was bouncing from 140 to 135 and without 10 minutes of a consistent cover line I'd have to keep sitting there so they could monitor. Today, the water alone did the trick and and his cover line was consistent at 135. 

They must have noticed that I was nervous though cause they did put my mind at ease telling me that they wouldn't let me leave their office if they thought something was wrong. If they did think something was up - they'd either call Dr. C or send me straight up to L&D, or both.

Today (and every Friday from here on out) in addition to the test above I got an ultrasound to measure the amount of fluid he's living in. To my surprise, it was a 3D ultrasound!!! It was awesome! While I REALLY was hoping to get yet another confirmation of Team Blue - Landon didn't want to show us the goods. But the fluid level looked good and he's got some chunky little cheeks :) He was also sucking his thumb at one point and he's also in the perfect head down position... so hopefully he'll stay that way :) Here's a glimpse of our little man! He's very flexible :)