Dr Appointment/Stress Tests

I am 37 weeks 5 days pregnant and the passed two days have been a blast...I went in yesterday morning to have non stress test (NST) done and then later, went to my regular OB visit. My sister came along with me to my first appointment to keep me company-thanks sis! Anyway, they did a quick ultrasound to check the fluid levels and everything looked good. After that, they placed me on two different monitors-one for baby and one for me. The one for me monitored if I was having any contractions (I wasn't, darnit!) and also, my blood pressure and the other monitored the babies heart rate. The baby was pretty non reactant and his heart rate stayed the same for a while. The nurse taking care of me gave me a brochure on the different types of tests they might be doing and here is what it says about the heart rate: The non-stress test is considered reactive or passing if there are two fetal heart rate accelerations in ten minutes. They must accelerate 15 beats and last 15 seconds. This means that the baby has adequate oxygen at the time of the NST. A non-reactive NST is one in which the baby is not moving frequently enough or the heart rate does not increase adequately with movement. Occasionally, there will be decelerations in the babies heart rate. Some decelerations are concerning, some are not. So after drinking apple juice and zapping the baby twice, the nurse decided to perform a Biophysical Profile or BPP. Apparently, the baby must score an 8 or 10 to pass. Here are the points they were looking for:

*2 points-reactive NST

*2 points-adequate amniotic fluid
*2points-fetal muscle tone

*2 points-3 fetal movements

*2 points-fetal breathing for 30 seconds.

My baby scored a 6. I thought all babies inside the womb breathed consistently but apparently, it's only every so often. We stared at the babies chest for over half an hour, waiting for it to rise and fall for 30 seconds and he never did so. He would start for maybe a second and then stop. The nurse got a hold of my doctor to see what he would want to do about it. They can either send you to labor and delivery for further testing or they can opt for you to come back the next day to have the test done again. My doctor wanted me to come back the next day so I went ahead an made an appointment. I went home a little nervous (and sore from all of the pushing on my stomach) but they assured me that he was moving and his heart was beating fine and we might of just missed him breathing like he should of been.

I went to my regular OB visit later that day and talked the test over with my doctor. We talked about inducing my labor if the baby decided not to cooperate the next day. I was checked and told that my cervix is no longer thick but now starting to thin out-yay! I haven't gained weight since last week but my tummy was measuring about 34-35cm. Still behind schedule a little bit but not by too much. Anyway, I went home thinking that I would for sure have this baby this weekend. I woke up the next morning and wasted no time in getting a few things ready-mostly washing some of the babies things. Chris was able to make it to my appointment with me at 3:30 and I'm not going to lie, I left very disappointed. As soon as the nurse placed the tool on my belly to perform the ultrasound, we could clearly see the baby breathing up and down, up and down. He also was VERY active on the monitor and you could see him wiggling around on the outside. Of course I want everything to be okay with my little boy but wanted to meet him so badly. I wasn't expected anything special when I first went in yesterday so after my doctor told me I might have to be induced, that's all I could think about. Now it seems like his due date is even further away even though it's only a matter of about 2 weeks.

Chris started to laugh at me when he saw me taking pictures of things for the baby but really now, what else do I have to do? Plus it's fun to look back on things all tidy and ready because I'm sure it won't last long once the little guy gets here. The baby doesn't have his own room yet so most of his things are crammed into our bedroom. Here are a few things that are waiting for baby...

I woke up this morning with his bed by my side and thought, "I can't believe there could be an actual BABY in there soon!"

I even washed the carseat cover, strap covers, and headrest. Those things are a pain the butt to get back on, let me tell you!

Here is what Landon looks like lately a lot of the time. I can't keep a shirt on that kid! He needs a friend...I think he is bored and he is starting to drive me a little crazy! So little baby, we are all ready for you to come whenever YOU are ready too!