So a few days ago I posted about considering just renting/borrowing a doppler and several of you gave me information about how to do so (and the lovely Katie just asked about it again). It turns out that a doppler is not considered "sufficient" proof that the fetus is not in distress. It indicates the baby is still there, but does not track long enough to show that the baby is not in distress. This is also why I wasn't just triaged at the midwives last night, but instead sent straight to L and D.
I thought that the point of bi-weekly non-stress-tests (NSTs) was to monitor fetal movement and check for heart decels (another classic sign of distress). At least, that's what I was told when I was a gestational diabetic, and that's what my favorite midwife had suggested.
And then they had yet another practice-wide meeting about me, and it seems that the alarmists won out. So now the proposed course of action is bi-weekly NSTs and bio-physical profiles (i.e. the super-long u/s most women have just at 20 weeks). Bi-weekly. Ugh. And, since I have yet to schedule them you can bet I'm going to get the 3 pm slot and have to somehow lug along the fusspot or pay for extra daycare, plus the wait can be hours by the end of the day. I have another week and a half reprieve to "see if I can feel the baby move" but baring that, it looks like I'm in for a lot of long medical appointments in the following weeks, and hopefully no unnecessary-monitoring-induced-unnecessary-interventions.
Much of me is rather annoyed by the hassle, but then 99% thinks it's just another 2 months and I would of course do absolutely anything to get a healthy baby out of this pregnancy. Of course, next midwife who suggests I "look a bit tired" is going to get an earful. I've already asked Y. about dropping off the bargain baby at 2 weeks for a few hours a day (don't panic - I'm thinking 2-3 hours, no bottles because I'll be working only a few blocks away, and not increasing to a 4-5 hour workday until he's at least 2 months old). Which is all to say that every hour I don't work now = less time to lie on the couch with my newly renewed netflix and my shirt off snuggling a new baby. So yeah, all those hours of "preventative monitoring" are going to lead to long nights until the baby arrives.
Off to draft a more detailed "to do around the apartment" list for my long-suffering husband.
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6 comments:
Ugh. Just... UGH. I can relate to the bi-weekly NSTs from 30 weeks onward. A royal pain. BUT, I have to say, it was quite comforting to spend that time sitting and focusing on their heartbeats and most minute movements. I can't imagine doing it with a toddler in tow, and yeah, it's kinda boring after a while, but to be honest, I kind of miss it. And I also wish I'd had more ultrasounds towards the end. It was really frustrating to have no idea who was kicking me, since I didn't know who was where. Sigh.
Anyway, I think you've got the right attitude about it-- it's just a couple of months, and while it will be hard to take the time away from work and away from your future time off, it's worth it to make sure Project 2.0 is happy and thriving in there.
BPPs aren't the same as the 20 week u/s. They limited in length, the baby must show everything they are looking for in a certain amount of time (I think it was 20 mins, but maybe it was 30 mins... I can't remember, Michael always had everything done 5 minutes and then we'd just look at him for fun). At the 20 week they measure and look for EVERYTHING... even the lips. They only measured for size every 3 weeks for me and that was a much quicker measurement.I found my BBP and NST time to be really enjoyable. I suppose if I had a toddler to take care of I might have thought differently, but at my clinic a lot of moms brought their children in with them every week.
That seems weird to me that they would take so long. It kinda defeats the purpose of the scoring system if they just keep extending the test time. You wouldn't be able to compare between tests if different techs gave different allowances. Now, my clinic would extend the NST if they didn't see enough, but that never really happened to me and usually things were so good that I got done with that in 20 mins too. I was usually in and out in less than an hour.
I had 3 BPPs a week when I was in the hospital (and 2 NSTs a day) but they're quick...like 5 minutes if the baby is cooperating and the nurse/tech is good. They measure 4 things: small movement (fingers, toes), big movement (rolls, etc.), breathing movements, and the amniotic fluid index or AFI which is where they measure the 4 quadrants of fluid and add them together (it's obviously the easiest part). But the NSTs can take a while if they're running behind or if your baby isn't reactive with appropriate accelerations. I fancy myself a bit of an NST expert at this point...
I completely understand your frustration as I've just begun having NSTs in the office and scheduling is a pain. Do you have an option of doing it at a hospital's ante partum testing unit? That's where I did it in the hospital and doctors who don't have the equipment in their offices send their patients there. They seem to be far less busy than my doctor's office.
In any event, I hope you find a way to work it out for the next few weeks.
I found this PPT of how to score a BPP (http://www.aheconline.com/MKTG/Course_Materials/Woman_Health/OB_US/8-OB_US.pdf). It's simple and quick to browse through.
Thank you! I agree that all this technology does sometimes create more worry than needed- just imagine how 'easy' our moms had it when it was just 'wait 9 months- try not to smoke too much.' Hopefully all this monitoring means for us is a slight scheduling hassle & more peeks at our little guys.
And thank you for the offer! I may be tempted to take you up on it. I have a pretty sizeable bag full of clothes from 0-18 months, pretty good on sleepers & onesies in the new baby sizes, but I will let you know!
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