An Update

Thank goodness, no baby yet. This past week I saw the doctor three times a week (isn't it sad that I was actually excited to be able to get out of the house off bed rest to see the doctor three times, not two?) and had two ultrasounds and three non-stress tests. Actually, the ultrasounds are bio-physical profiles where they measure four aspects like fluid levels, fetal breathing, fetal movement and heart rate, not all of the measurements of a normal ultrasound. The baby has scored 8 out of 8 (2 points per category or 0, no half credit) both times. My fluid levels went up from 5cm last week to 10 cm Monday to 8 cm yesterday. The doctor is happy to see improvement and is not concerned so much on the drop at the end of this week - it is a somewhat "fluid" measurement subject to position, etc.

The baby had looked really great on the monitors this week, so I was pretty confident Friday that it would be the same too. Except as I was laying there, the baby just had a consistent heart rate, not the accelerations accompanied by movement that they look for. And I wasn't really feeling any movement during that time. So that was concerning to the doctor, and at the very end of the test, the baby's heart rate dropped from average of 130s down to 70s. That was pretty scary, and I'm glad the doctor walked in when he did! I can't tell if the monitors in the office are hooked up to the nurses' desk like they are in the hospital. So with that picture, he sent me to the hospital for further monitoring. I was on the monitors for 2 hours, and the baby looked great, so I'm not sure what happened at the doctor's office, but I'm glad that we played it safe. I'll be going back to the hospital today for another NST just to make sure - my fourth this week! And next week the same pattern, three times a week NST and twice a week bio-physical profile. And bed rest of course.

And I have an induction date set for 39 weeks - March 7! So we'll see if that actually happens or not. They could always move it up if something looks bad on the monitoring. Or if I go into labor naturally. I'm not sure if they would push it back, but I'm going to ask today, and they might, you never know! This baby seems to like to make things interesting :)

So that's the story. Bed rest is actually going okay. I'm reading my first book on Gabe's work ipad. I caught up on all the movies I'd like to watch from Red Box. The internet has kept me in touch. I've been able to fight boredom pretty well. My mom has been a great help with the laundry and cooking and cleaning (she has to leave today, boo). I've got more family coming in and lots of friends who are helping out with watching Henry when we don't have family here. The hardest part (besides feeling like the biggest bum in the world and not being able to take care of my family and home) is that it is hard for Henry when he wants me to do something and I can't. He's had some meltdowns, and some defiant behaviors we haven't seen as much of before - but overall he's handling everything well, as best he can. He knows he has to bring me his toys to play with on the couch, but we've been managing. I'm allowed one hour in the am and one hour in the pm off bed rest to do mild activity, which mostly just means playing on the floor with Henry rather than the couch. But that is nice, and pretty much how I choose to spend that precious hour.