Non Stress Test #1

Because of the factor V diagnosis, I need to go in for weekly Non Stress Tests until I deliver. Since my midwife appointments are first thing Monday morning, I've been able to schedule the NST immediately afterward.

The NST monitors her heartbeat, movements and my contractions over 20 minutes. Since they need a 20 minute continuous strip and she is a diva, it took about an hour. Not bad for our first time.

I started out in a room with a reclining chair and had the sensors (1 for her HB, 1 for contractions) placed on my tummy and held in place by bands. It's the same setup you see in labor and delivery. She was good for about 10 minutes and then moved and we lost the HB. The nurse came back in and repositioned the sensor only for the baby to move the second the nurse walked out of the room. She came back in and spent a few minutes trying to find the HB, but our little girl has gotten REALLY good at hide n go seek.

So they moved me to a room with a bed and brought in a portable ultrasound. By laying flat, there were less places for her to hide. Turns out she's facing out instead of facing my spine so they were trying to listen to her HB through her chest instead of her back, which is apparently much harder. They had me roll over on my side (NOT comfy given my pelvis issues) in order to get a better angle, but she rolled over as well and foiled their attempts. So Chris had to come around and hold the sensor in place for 20 minutes. So much for him using this downtime to read the birthing book he needs to finish!

I had no contractions while we were there. Not even a blip. Which I expected.
I also felt vindicated because the readout showed that she was kicking NONstop during the NST (as she does all day long). This girl doesn't give me a break! (But I'm okay with that) Everytime she moved it put a little black dot on the screen. Chris was pretty impressed when instead of the random dot her and there, she was producing a solid line of neverending movement. :)

So the NST went fine. Her heartbeat was right where it should be and the nurse said that with a baby that active, we had no reason to worry. ... Not that we were.