Week 32, Appointment 1

Today I had my first non-stress test (NST), biophysical exam, and normal 32 week appointment. The title of today's post says appointment 1 because on Friday I have my growth scan at Maternal Fetal Medicine, and directly following that I have another NST and biophysical.

I would be lying if I said the NST and biophysical were as exciting than I hoped... but the good news is, the babies are doing GREAT! We started with the NST, and I sat in a funny shaped chair and they strapped 3 sensors to my stomach. The sensors recorded their heart rates, which are apparently supposed to spike at least twice every ten minutes. Then I had to hold what looked like a Jeopardy buzzer and press the button every time I felt them move. Apparently, they are watching to see if there is any heart rate reaction to movement.

We need a chair like this at home... I might actually sleep!

So anyways, they strap me up, and tighten the straps so that the sensors stay in place. Well, Riley did not like this.... not one bit. He proceeded to try to kick the sensor off of him... through most of the 20 minute test. When I go back on Friday, I plan to bring the Flip and see if we can catch it on film (although they often cease all movement at the sound of the Flip turning on). It was amusing because as they moved, the sensors would pick up the sound.... and man, they did not stop moving! The chart the machine printed out looked a whole lot like a lie detector test. The two different colored lines on the left are the two babies' heartbeats.

It didn't mean a whole heck of a lot to us, but the nurse said it was the best you could possibly ask of them.

Next, it was time for an ultrasound. Sorry, she did not even offer us pics... but I'm sure MFM will give us some Friday. In the ultrasound, they measured the amniotic fluid and showed us how they can tell the boys are breathing. They also showed us that despite my suspicions, Logan is still head up. She said their heads are pretty much on the same level, but Logan is head up and Riley is head down, which means Riley is a lot higher. I had suspected otherwise because I have felt Logan move significantly more lately and he has had a lot of alien baby moments, which were previously Riley's thing. Also, my stomach is definitely lower than it used to be. I guess Logan has just moved down and forward a bit.

When we met with the doctor, we just chatted a bit, he asked about their movements, and I shared that Riley is the trouble maker of the two. That part of the appt was mostly question/answer, but the important news he gave was that both babies scored a 10 out of 10 on the biophysical exam. He said that they were both doing wonderfully.

How am I, you ask? One word: tired. These boys do not want to let me sleep, and they have not even been born yet! Infants may be a relief! I don't seem to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time these days anyway. Laying on my side becomes less comfortable daily - it hurts my hips and back and causes a lot of tossing and turning (poor Penguin). I had tried propping myself up into an almost sitting position, which worked great the first night (I slept almost 5 hrs straight) but now the boys have decided that that position means its play time. They move so much that it becomes impossible to fall asleep. They are strong boys! They hit hard! Oh well... only 8 school days left! (And 3 IEPs and 2 ERs).