Simpler complications
Made another visit to good 'ol Labor and Delivery last night. I should just tell you now that I am fine, and the baby is fine, and it's still inside of me.
We had our weekly OB visit at 4:45 yesterday, and when the nurse asked her routine, "And has the baby been moving well?" I realized no, no it wasn't. Fez usually seems to be moving more often than not, but that day I hadn't noted any movement at all. In fact, I'd treated myself to a large decaf iced coffee with cream and sugar an hour before. The sugar portion consistency signals a party down mosh pit reaction from Fez, but I hadn't felt a thing. When I repeated this info for my doctor, the smile didn't leave her face, but she immediately started writing a script and said, "OK, then, we're going to get you up to Labor and Delivery for some fetal monitoring and see what's going on." Carey and I looked at each other in an "Did that just happen?" exchange.
What up, L&D? Wish I could say it was nice to see you again! I remember taking a tour of the birthing suites during our birthing class and excitedly whispering to Carey, "Next time we're here, it will be to meet our baby!" Not so much.
I gowned up and they strapped the monitors to me. The first part was a stress test for the baby http://pregnancy.about.com/od/oxytocinchallengetest/a/stresstest.htm. One lucky thing was that I started having BH contractions pretty much as soon as I got into the bed, so they didn't have to administer pitocin to induce them. The baby still wasn't moving, and its blood pressure was the lowest we've seen it. It's been in the high 120s to mid 130s lately, and it was below 110 for most of the session. So the next step was for me to drink some soda or juice and see if we couldn't stimulate some movement. I downed a big cup of cranberry cocktail and we waited and waited. Nothing. Then a big sneeze from me set off a pretty juicy contraction, and Fez finally dragged its baby butt out of sleepytime. As relieving as it was to feel that wiggle, it wasn't quite enough to clear us medically. Next, I was wheeled (as in, in a wheelchair- so weird) down to ultrasound, where, after a long wait, they did a biophysical profile of Fez. The baby is given a score of 0 (abnormal) or 2 (normal) for muscle tone, body movements, breathing movements, amniotic fluid levels, and heart rate. A score of below 6 is worrisome and action will probably be taken, which may include induction or cesarean section. A score of 6 is considered borderline. Fez scored a perfect 10 out of 10. I immediately high-fived Carey. After we got the official all-clear and discharge from L&D, Carey and I headed home. We popped in a frozen pizza and Carey made a big salad from our first CSA haul (a variety of greens, fresh eggs and radishes). I contributed some delectable French macarons and a grapefruit pate de fruit from PampleMousse bakery in Wheaton. http://www.pamplemoussebakery.com/index.html I have a client who lives right near the bakery, and I stop by there after our sessions. Their stuff is just BEYOND.
Of course, all through dinner, dessert, and our viewing of the BBC "Sherlock," Fez was rollin and pokin and kickin and MOCKING. You can bet he/she will hear about this little fakeout more than once.
We had our weekly OB visit at 4:45 yesterday, and when the nurse asked her routine, "And has the baby been moving well?" I realized no, no it wasn't. Fez usually seems to be moving more often than not, but that day I hadn't noted any movement at all. In fact, I'd treated myself to a large decaf iced coffee with cream and sugar an hour before. The sugar portion consistency signals a party down mosh pit reaction from Fez, but I hadn't felt a thing. When I repeated this info for my doctor, the smile didn't leave her face, but she immediately started writing a script and said, "OK, then, we're going to get you up to Labor and Delivery for some fetal monitoring and see what's going on." Carey and I looked at each other in an "Did that just happen?" exchange.
What up, L&D? Wish I could say it was nice to see you again! I remember taking a tour of the birthing suites during our birthing class and excitedly whispering to Carey, "Next time we're here, it will be to meet our baby!" Not so much.
I gowned up and they strapped the monitors to me. The first part was a stress test for the baby http://pregnancy.about.com/od/oxytocinchallengetest/a/stresstest.htm. One lucky thing was that I started having BH contractions pretty much as soon as I got into the bed, so they didn't have to administer pitocin to induce them. The baby still wasn't moving, and its blood pressure was the lowest we've seen it. It's been in the high 120s to mid 130s lately, and it was below 110 for most of the session. So the next step was for me to drink some soda or juice and see if we couldn't stimulate some movement. I downed a big cup of cranberry cocktail and we waited and waited. Nothing. Then a big sneeze from me set off a pretty juicy contraction, and Fez finally dragged its baby butt out of sleepytime. As relieving as it was to feel that wiggle, it wasn't quite enough to clear us medically. Next, I was wheeled (as in, in a wheelchair- so weird) down to ultrasound, where, after a long wait, they did a biophysical profile of Fez. The baby is given a score of 0 (abnormal) or 2 (normal) for muscle tone, body movements, breathing movements, amniotic fluid levels, and heart rate. A score of below 6 is worrisome and action will probably be taken, which may include induction or cesarean section. A score of 6 is considered borderline. Fez scored a perfect 10 out of 10. I immediately high-fived Carey. After we got the official all-clear and discharge from L&D, Carey and I headed home. We popped in a frozen pizza and Carey made a big salad from our first CSA haul (a variety of greens, fresh eggs and radishes). I contributed some delectable French macarons and a grapefruit pate de fruit from PampleMousse bakery in Wheaton. http://www.pamplemoussebakery.com/index.html I have a client who lives right near the bakery, and I stop by there after our sessions. Their stuff is just BEYOND.
Of course, all through dinner, dessert, and our viewing of the BBC "Sherlock," Fez was rollin and pokin and kickin and MOCKING. You can bet he/she will hear about this little fakeout more than once.