We passed our first non-stress test today! Woot!
I have to admit I was pretty nervous about this, not the test so much but the results. Had baby not passed it could have meant an earlier or immediate induction depending on how things went. Not that I would be a terribly difficult induction at this point but I’d still rather avoid it if possible. But all my stress was for no reason. :)
They hook you up to two monitors, one “listening” for baby’s heartbeat and the other monitoring pressure for your belly. They then chart the heart rate, baby’s movements and pressure. They’re looking for at least 2 increases in heart rate and good movement over a 20 minute period of time. Since they can also see contractions they also watch to see how baby is tolerating any contractions.
We had more than 2 accelerations in heart rate, plenty of movement (which is funny because I didn’t feel most of it), and a couple contractions that baby tolerated just fine.
Then they do an ultrasound to check fluid levels. They expect to see between 10 and 20 cm of fluid during pregnancy but at this point and for this purpose they’ll settle for at least 5cm without pushing for an induction. She starts out by dividing your belly into 4 quadrants and measuring the fluid levels. We passed 5cm within the first quadrant so we were good to go on that portion too.
Now we wait some more. I have an appointment with the midwives on Thursday and another NST on Friday. Hopefully there will be a baby before then! Chapel Hill is a long drive!
