Non-stress Tests 1 and 2

On Tuesday, we went to the hospital for our first non-stress test (NST) with Baby Girl.  The testing went fairly well.  She was quite relaxed that morning, so it took a while to enough movement and heart rate increases to meet the test criteria (about 6 movements within an hour where each movement results in a heart rate increase of at least 15 beats). 

Amniotic fluid was measuring a little low in the initial ultrasound, so I was sent over to have the ultrasound done by a sonographer who has more accurate equipment.  The fluid level was still within an acceptable range (7), but dropping under 6 would mean an earlier c-section.

Our next appointment was scheduled for Friday morning.  My goal was to get the amniotic fluid level up by the next NST appointment so that our daughter would get as much time as possible to develop.  Although, she is considered full-term, every extra day she has in the womb goes to developing her brain and lungs.  Every extra day we can give her is important.

I spent the days between Tuesday and Friday, keeping my water intake around 160oz of water per 24 hours.  I normally drink a lot of water and when I got my cold, my water intake went up to 256oz.  I think, I was coming close to dehydrating myself.  I decided to stay close to 160 and to add 20oz of Gatorade to replenish electrolytes.  I also meditated with positive words and focused my thoughts on building up amniotic fluid.  And I prayed.

On Thursday, I had an OB check-up.  My vitals remain good and I gained 3 pounds.  My doctor also found that I am 2cm dilated.  Baby is still high up, so she hasn't dropped yet.  So far, so good.

This morning, Matt and I returned to the hospital for our second NST appointment.  Baby started moving before we even got started testing.  The ultrasound results were great.  Amniotic fluid was up to 8! 

The NST results were also good, but boy did it take a long time to get her baseline heart rate.  It took almost 2 hours for Baby Girl to calm down.  I had eaten a big breakfast, hoping to give her the extra energy she seemed to lack during Tuesday's test.  Oh, my!  She wriggled and shifted and rolled and kicked and moved her arms all around for nearly 2 hours.  During the testing she also had the hiccups.

The maternity triage area was super busy today, so people were coming in and out of the testing area and every time a monitor made noise, she was kicking and rolling again.  She even got excited when she heard the voice of a male staff member talking a few feet away.  At one point, a patient came in with her toddler-aged daughter and I was hoping, hoping, Baby could not hear her talking, because when she hear Adam talks she gets really animated.  Finally, things seemed to settle down a bit in triage and our baby girl settled down, too.  We're happy to have an active little girl and a healthy one.

My doctor mentioned that based on our ultrasound last week, little girl is measuring in the 64th percentile.

Our third NST appointment is on Tuesday.

Painting on the Computer and Trike Milestone

Last Thursday, Adam accomplished a milestone that had eluded him for months.  He rode his tricycle unassisted.  For a long time, he didn't understand how to pedal his tricycle in order to ride it.  He'd sit on it, walk it a little, carry it or push both pedals at once, but he couldn't quite get his legs to coordinate cycling.  On a whim, I asked him if he wanted to give it a go in the kitchen and he said yes.  He got on the tricycle and started pedaling on his own, albeit with some struggle.  Yay, Adam!  I was more excited about it than he was.

Here are some of the paintings he's done on the computer:

Adam's first computer painting

Fall colors

Filling in black spot

Practicing longer brush strokes

I'll have to start asking him to name his paintings.

Adam's imagination and humor are flourishing.  He's often joking or saying something silly to amuse himself and others. Last week, after I got off the phone with my OB office...

Adam:  Sushi on Oracle called.
Mom:  You think that was Sushi on Oracle calling?
Adam:  Yes.
Mom:  Well, what did they say?
Adam:  Come sushi soon!

What a silly! 

Right Before Baby Girl is Born

Practicing mouse skills

Adam continues to surprise us as a quick learner.  His language is developing everyday, as well as, his fine motor skills.  He's learning to use the computer mouse, switching between his left and right hands.  He understands that he needs to click mouse buttons to invoke certain behaviors on the computer and has recently discovered that mouseover on my laptop will display a small preview window at the desktop toolbar.  He thinks it's especially amusing to see a little version of his paintings in these preview windows.


He's created a few pictures using Microsoft Paint (I'll upload them in a follow-up post).  He can't quite select the colors himself, so he asks Mommy or Daddy for help selecting the color he wants.

Adam also likes to borrow my laptop to view slideshows of family pictures.  He typically wants to see the Easter pictures, verbalized by "Want to see pictures [from] Papa's house in mountains."  Over the weekend, I demonstrated to him how he can start the slideshow himself by clicking on the Pictures folder and by clicking on Slide Show.  I didn't expect him to "get it," but he shocks me all the time, I figured why not show him and see if he'll give it a try sometime.

Two weekends ago, we took Adam to the zoo.  I'd been promising to take him to feed the ducks and giraffes (and eat ice cream) for several days.  Unfortunately, he got sick earlier in the week with an ear infection.  He started taking antibiotics that Friday night and seemed to be doing well on Sunday morning.  We'd originally planned to take him to the Ice Cream Safari (a special event in the late afternoon/early evening), but the temperature was predicted for 108 during the event.  Too hot for our toddler and way, way too hot for pregnant Mommy.  Actually, too hot for most people.

Aunt Lesia and Aunt Shell were visiting over the weekend, so the 5 of us (6 including Baby) went to the zoo in the morning when the temperature was hot, but not yet deadly.  We got to see the tigers and lions much more closely than in previous visits.  The tiger paced along the glass window looking like he could easily have Adam for breakfast.  Or all of us.

Giraffe!

The timing worked out so that Adam could feed one of the giraffes while we were there.  About the time we made it to the elephant exhibit, I needed to get out of the heat and rest.  I went to the cafeteria for a snack and drinks while Matt, Shell, Lesia and Adam continued to tour the zoo.

Baby Elephant at new exhibit

Small turtle, big shell

Apparently, Adam was far more interested in the frog fountain next to the pond than the ducks he'd been asking to go feed for over two weeks.

Playing with frog fountain

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He got to cool off a bit in the splash area before I met the group at the giraffe feeding.  We stopped by the cafeteria for Adam's ice cream.  We didn't have a change of clothes for him and he was soaked from the splash area, so I had him undressed and wrapped in a towel in the cafeteria while he ate ice cream.

The visit was great, but probably ill-timed.  By the next Tuesday night, Adam had a fever and was feeling rotten.  We're not sure if we had fatigued his immune system in that outing or if it was the cold virus that hit him that following week.  Either way, rotten Mom and Dad, because the poor guy was fighting a fever for two days.  We could bring it down with Ibuprofen and he was drinking plenty of water, so we just kept an eye on him and made him rest at home.  On day three of his fever, we let it go without Ibuprofen and just monitored it periodically to make sure it did not reach 102.  By the end of the day, his fever went away on it's own and he settled into a solid cold illness.  So did I.

In total, Adam was sick for almost 3 weeks.  First with the ear infection then with a cold.  I'm going on my second week with this cold, but gradually getting better.  I'm hoping to be back to full health before Baby is born.  I also threw my back out last Friday, so I'm hoping to also get that fixed before her birth day.

Baby Girl is growing.  I didn't have any weight gain at my last appointment, but Little Sister seems to be growing anyway.  At our 32 week ultrasound, she was estimated at 4lbs 8oz, more than double her size from the 28 week ultrasound.  She was estimated in the 54th percentile.

At our 36 week ultrasound, she was estimated at 6lbs 15oz.  The appointment went well.  She is a good size and appears to be developing as expected.  We didn't get to see too much of her this last time, because laying on my back makes me nauseated and feel faint very quickly.  The technician focused on getting the stats she needed as fast as she could and getting me out off my back.  

at 36 weeks

This week, we start non-stress testing twice a week.  We are starting the testing a week earlier than we did with Adam.  With Adam, NST started in week 38 and during that first appointment, they found that my amniotic fluid was a little low AND the placenta was starting to calcify.  This prompted the decision to induce early.  We are all hoping that we can make it to the scheduled c-section date at 39 weeks, so that Girl has as much development time as possible.  None of this can be controlled or predicted though.  We're planning on that 39 weeks date, but preparing that it might be as soon as this week.