As a woman on bed rest, my outings are nearly limited to my twice weekly visits to the doctor and our Thursday night parenting class. This morning, I headed off to my "routine" Monday non-stress test (NST) for fetal monitoring. Soon enough, I was strapped down with monitors, enjoying the sound of Baby Davolt's heartbeat. I did notice a couple contractions, but like before, no pain associated. While I wasn't watching the clock, I could tell that the 20-30 minutes had passed with no sign from the doctor (another colleague of my OB, as mine was off today). Another 15 minutes later, Dr. Dillon came in and started to review the data. She said baby's heart rate looked good but there were more than the few contractions that I had noticed. Dr. Dillon described herself as conservative and wanted more information. Thus, I was sent to Labor and Delivery.
Once there, I was again strapped into the NST for two more hours, so I was thankful that I had brought a book with me. I was officially admitted and given a new ID bracelet. Just like my previous visit, the nurse said Baby looked very healthy. Dr. Dillon also requested a Biophysical Profile, which is an ultrasound that checks baby's fluid levels, and breathing patterns (the same that I had on April 20th). The tech arrived and began the ultrasound process. Again, baby looked good on screen and I was given another picture of our little one
. The fluid levels were determined healthy, according to the tech, but we needed to see Baby D take some practice breaths. When Jeff and I were at the last ultrasound, nearly two weeks ago, Baby D showed some quick gasps of breathing but did not show the extended breathing that the experts hoped to see. So I wasn't surprised when it was evident that he did not want to show us any breathing today. The tech explained that there is a 30 minute window to see the breathing and it took nearly 25 minutes, plus pushing on baby and even me getting up for a minute to finally see some practice breaths that would count! Satisfied, the tech left.
Once the tech had left, the nurse returned and said Dr. Dillon, the tech and the radiologist were all satisfied with the monitoring and ultrasound and I was excused. Four hours into my "routine" visit, I was leaving the hospital!
Once there, I was again strapped into the NST for two more hours, so I was thankful that I had brought a book with me. I was officially admitted and given a new ID bracelet. Just like my previous visit, the nurse said Baby looked very healthy. Dr. Dillon also requested a Biophysical Profile, which is an ultrasound that checks baby's fluid levels, and breathing patterns (the same that I had on April 20th). The tech arrived and began the ultrasound process. Again, baby looked good on screen and I was given another picture of our little one
. The fluid levels were determined healthy, according to the tech, but we needed to see Baby D take some practice breaths. When Jeff and I were at the last ultrasound, nearly two weeks ago, Baby D showed some quick gasps of breathing but did not show the extended breathing that the experts hoped to see. So I wasn't surprised when it was evident that he did not want to show us any breathing today. The tech explained that there is a 30 minute window to see the breathing and it took nearly 25 minutes, plus pushing on baby and even me getting up for a minute to finally see some practice breaths that would count! Satisfied, the tech left.Once the tech had left, the nurse returned and said Dr. Dillon, the tech and the radiologist were all satisfied with the monitoring and ultrasound and I was excused. Four hours into my "routine" visit, I was leaving the hospital!
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