Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Testing, Testing

Yesterday was the day of tests. I dropped off my 24-hour urine collection at the lab and got another stick for my trouble. Then Scott and I made the trek to the BFH for fetal monitoring. The wonderful Susan did a amniotic fluid index (AFI) and found basically what my doc found last week -- fluid is at about 6.8. She said normal is 8-18 so we are definitely low. She also did a doppler of his umbilical cord. It was frightening to listen to -- it had a lot of breaks and flat lines that freaked me out. But once she got into the right spot it sounded fine according to her.

I was slated to come back in three weeks but she decided she wanted to advise my doc to have me come in once a week. She also wanted to do a NST on him since I hadn't felt him move much that morning. We waited while she called the doc and then called us back in to do the NST. Ah, what a sweet sound that is. I could listen to his little heart beating all day long! And as soon as the monitors are strapped on he goes wild, kicking and nudging as best he can. It never ceases to amaze me. I love his so much already. I laid there for almost 30 minutes listen to him and feeling him move and holding Scott's hand while tears ran down my face.

Today I have an appointment with my OB. We were scheduled for another NST and AFI but I think it may get skipped since we just did them yesterday. But I have questions. Loads of questions. Like, what can we expect from here on out? Can we expect a full term (even 37 weeks) vaginal delivery? Or should I be preparing for something earlier? And does his low fluid mean we need to do a c-section? Mom's coming with me so this should be interesting.

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Hang in there!

E. Phantzi said...

From my limited experience (I'm scheduled for a cesarean on Thursday due to gestational hypertension), it all depends on how the monitoring goes. They're probably going to want to keep you going until 37 weeks if they can do so without putting either you or the baby at risk. Then they'll probably want to induce labor. But if you have any contraindications (e.g. breech position, like me) they'll probably want to do a cesarean.

I don't know much about the amnio since I haven't had that issue. But they'll keep checking on the baby to make sure it's not in distress, and keep a very close eye on your BP.

Best wishes for you both.

Dr. Grumbles said...

Hope the appt goes well.