Non-stress Test

Today, little Qwanesha had her first test, an NST or Non-stress Test. Around 40 weeks of pregnancy the placenta, which has been transferring sustenance between me and baby, can start to deteriorate. So my doctor's office just wanted to make sure she was still healthy by checking that her heart rate elevates with movement and subsides with rest.

The nurse reclined me on the examination table and then rolled in a cart with a little machine on it and strapped a heart monitor to my belly. I was handed a glass of ice water with a straw and a button to push whenever the baby moved. Brian thought I looked kind of funny, like a beach bum about to detonate her belly. The nurse left the room and the machine started spitting out a line graph of little baby's fluctuating heart rate.

A few minutes later, the nurse popped her head back in and asked "Is she doing gynamstics in there?!" I told her she is always VERY active. She told me that I could stop pushing the button because she could hear her moving all the way in the hall. Then the nurse looked at the print out and proclaimed that it was already a "beautiful NST," but we would give it a few more minutes for good measure.

That's the good news. Our girl is very healthy and reactive. The bad news is that she is still inside me. I know that many of you are checking our blog or calling to hear news of her grand entrance. But true to Rush form, she is starting out life late. At least she is not stressed about it.

Brian has been incredibly supportive as I have battled roller-coaster emotions as the days go by. He keeps reminding me that the average first pregnancy is 41 weeks and a day. I don't know what he is going to say after tomorrow.

The doctor I was supposed to see had four women in labor at the hospital. (I guess some babies did respond to the lunar eclipse, Mom) But kindly enough another doctor stepped in to talk to us about our options. They are pretty respectful of the fact that Brian and I would like to have a natural non-medicated childbirth. But since induction is non-natural she talked us through each option and tried to prepare us for needing to deviate from our plan. According to her, after 42 weeks the probability of complications due to placental decline significantly increases, but the induction process for first time moms is not always easy. So our doctor's office likes to avoid it if possible and they hope to give us the natural birth we desire.

Our next steps are to do another NST and see the doctor on Monday. At that point we will decide on our method of induction and schedule it at the childbirth center, later that week. Hopefully, we will have a birthday party before that.