This past weekend we went back to the hospital for more fetal monitoring. The baby likes to wiggle and squirm a lot when I'm at work which is reassuring but then on the weekends I feel nothing no matter what I try. On Saturday, Mandy was visiting and we installed the car seat in her car and decided to do a test drive to the hospital so she knew how to get there. I was concerned about the lack of baby movements so I spoke to the on-call doctor while we were driving there and she felt like we should go get checked just in case.
Last time this happened Dan and I were in and out of labor triage in less than an hour. This time, we were there for three hours hooked-up to the fetal monitor and watching his heart rate. He still wasn't moving like he had been the previous three days so whether it was due to that or because they were busy, we ended up in the hospital for a long time. Mandy was out in the waiting area and saw eight little newborns leave in the time we had been there!!!
Anyways, eventually the PA came and did a sonogram to check how things were going inside. Apparently it was a biophysical profile which looks for heart rate, fetal movement, muscle tone, amniotic fluid, and practice breathing. We all watched the sonogram for an hour waiting for him to do lung contractions which are practice breaths, apparently. The PA said they like to see 30 seconds of these lung contractions in 30 minutes. Well, in the full hour he didn't do any of them so he only got an 8/10 on the test. Poor little guy. The Dr. on call wasn't too worried since his heart rate was strong, he was moving (even though I couldn't feel it as much), and his amniotic fluid was good. There was a good 10 minutes though where they warned us there was a chance of being induced that day!! We weren't quite ready for that and were all a little relieved to get sent home with instructions to schedule for another biophysical profile on Monday.
We ate a late lunch at the Melt Shop downtown and then drove home.
Dan and I stayed home from church on Sunday and just did nothing. All day laziness with only a brief break to have a picnic in the park.
The baby was still much less active than he had been when I was at work. I was feeling like I'd rather just have him come early than constantly worry about whether he was alive in there. I scrambled at work on Monday trying to tidy-up tasks, and Dan and I scurried around Monday night getting everything we could think of done in case they decided to induce after the second test. We tidied the apartment, I finished my to-do list, Dan did laundry and assembled the pack n' play for our room. I informed my work that I might be taking my leave early and then we woke up this morning nervous but ready for the little guy to arrive if he needed to.
Dan and I went in for the biophysical profile and sonogram before work this morning and the baby passed the test 10/10 in less than 10 minutes. We stayed hooked to the heart monitor for 20 extra minutes to really double check the heart rate which remained steady and then we were sent home. All is well and he is doing fine. Man alive, this baby is so unpredictable already!! And, of course, moving like crazy whenever I'm at work. And so the anticipation just continues to escalate while we try to carry on life like usual but just so desperate to have him in our arms now!
No comments:
Post a Comment