NST Update

For the past 4 weeks, I’ve had weekly non-stress tests (NSTs).  I come to the OB office, sit in a recliner, and am strapped up to a heart monitor for Baby, and a contraction monitor for me.  I sit there for 20 minutes or more (mostly, more), and I press a button on a remote every time I feel Avery kick or bump or roll around in my belly.  The NST machine prints out a roll of paper with wiggly lines showing the heartrate, any contractions I have, and the dots that my beeper puts on the paper to show her movement.  The doctor is looking to see if her movements correlate with the heartrate.  For the first three weeks, the appointments were at 2:30pm.  Avery is very active during that time.  However, for last week’s appointment, they scheduled me for 1:00pm.  I thought this might end up being an issue since it could be at a time when Avery is napping.

Avery started out being active in the NST, then she fell asleep.  So, even though her heart rate was steady and I was still feeling movement—just very far apart in timing—the nurse had to wake her up with a bell.  So they inverted this little metal bowl on my belly and banged it with a metal spoon then switched to the other side of my belly and did it again.  She immediately woke up and started moving again—I’m pretty sure she was mad. 



Then the monitor started picking up the transfer of my blood to hers through the placenta (it makes a whooshing sound), so the other nurse had to come in and rearrange the heart monitor to find Avery’s beat again.  Then I had a big contraction. I was thinking “man, this hurts” and I looked over at the paper from the machine, and sure enough, there was a wave showing the contraction.  The nurse comes in and goes “wow! You had a contraction!  And it was a big one!” but it could have just been from Avery having to wake up from the bell, etc. Then she got the most intense hiccups.  I was in the NST room for over an hour (gag).  Then I got right into an exam room, but took a while for the doctor to get in there because he had other patients to see.  He said everything looks great and we’ll do an ultrasound in 2 weeks to measure her weight.



When I was checking out, a girl in front of me was making her appointment for 4 weeks from that day, which will be August 24^th.  It was fun to think that I will be holding a baby by then (Lord willing!). 



I had to get blood drawn again for my thyroid, and I’m hoping that was the last time.  At the time I handed in my folder at the check-out counter, and then headed to the lab, it was about three hours since I had eaten lunch.  I was trying to get out of there as fast as I could so I could get back to my car and check my blood sugar. 


Once I got to my car, I checked myself and sure enough, I was low.  I went back inside to the little Walgreens they have in the building, and I bought a Coke.  I ate the peanut-butter and jelly sandwich that I brought for myself and drank some Coke (about a third of the bottle) and checked my blood sugar again about 15 minutes later.  I was in a safe place to drive by that time, so I was able to make it home okay. 


I am pretty much guaranteed to go low on Thursday afternoons after these appointments.  Although I brought a substantial snack with me this time (pb&j), the NST took WAY longer than normal, and I think that set the stage for me to be off kilter by the time I got back to my car.  I was trying not to bring in my big tote bag (with my meter and sandwich), but this upcoming Thursday I might just have to bring it inside with me anyway so I can eat my snack in the OB office and not have to delay leaving the parking lot for 20 minutes after every appointment.


This Thursday's appointment is at 3:00pm, so hopefully Avery will be in her active stage and not napping because sitting in a recliner when you can't take a nap gets annoying!  I bring something to read during the NSTs, but good gosh, there's only so many times you can flip through a magazine, or try to read a textbook while still paying attention to Baby movement.  It's also nerve-wracking to make sure the heart monitor stays on Avery's heartbeat instead of picking up mine or the placenta-transfer!


I am SO READY for August 23rd!  School for Michael starts next week (cue the tears) and I have medical meetings next week with the staff to discuss the care that is needed for him during the school day.  I'm also a little perturbed at his teacher for mailing us a separate supply list than the one the school provided in April during Kindergarten Registration.  The lists are basically the same, but a few extra items are on the teacher's specific list and I think it's rude to send out a list within 10 days of school starting, and after tax-free weekend has passed, and after parents have already bought items on the list they were provided with during registration!  But, I have my child's needs at heart and by golly, Michael will have everything on that list so that he doesn't have to be ashamed or have reason to cry if he doesn't have a certain supply.  He already has enough to go through each day, so I'm going to suck it up and buy the extra items on the teacher's list so my child can have confidence as he starts school for the very first time.  Once he gets into a pattern at school, I will feel more comfortable and then I'm planning on just coasting to Delivery Day!


Thanks for reading my little "mom of a kindergartener rant"!


Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba