Dr Appt Update...

Today was my 28 wk appointment along with my glucose test. The glucose test is where one has to drink this orange "drink" & then they draw blood to test my blood for sugar levels & gestational diabetes. You have to time it correctly otherwise you have to do the test again. You have to drink the orange "drink" within 10 minutes and then from the time you finish, you have to make sure that you have your blood drawn an hour after.
The drink wasn't necessarily has bad as I anticipated. I anticpated drinking soda-like syrup but it was like drinking orange soda with a different after-taste. The first few minutes were fine, but it was sugary. Then as I was finishing up, I didn't feel that great. I was getting a headache and felt as if I had an entire 2 liter bottle of soda.
I got to my doctor's office with 10 minutes before 11am which was when I had to have my blood drawn, and when the technician called me in, that part was the easiest of the day.

I'm called in for my appointment with the doctor (this time I saw Dr. J as Dr. E was on vacation this week). The nurse checks blood pressure & weight which are both good, no complaints. I sit on the table and wait for the doctor. She comes in about 15 minutes later (why they schedule times is beyond me). She says that she's happy with my weight & blood pressure. She measures my belly and says that the measurement is perfect for 28 weeks. I ask if she can tell where his head is and she feels around and says that how he's positioned makes it difficult to tell. She listens to his heartbeat and says he's around 140s which is fantastic.

She asks how I've been feeling and how the baby is. And this is where the appointment began the LONG phase. I told her, conversationally - not in panic-mode, that I've noticed that the baby's movement pattern has seemed to changed from being very active at night to being very active during the day. He even kicked as she was listening to his heartbeat. I told her that he's still active just not necessarily at night. So she looked at me and said "well we need to send you to Biocare for a Non-Stress Test". I explained that he is still active, but she said that the NST (non-stress test) will only take 20 minutes. She wrote it on my sheet so now there's no turning back. She told me to come back in 4 weeks. And then we were done. Umm, okay. I asked about 4 weeks because Dr E told me every 2 now. Dr. J said "no 4 is good because everything looks great". Ummmmmm...

I'm now at checkout and we schedule the next appointment for 32 weeks. I still feel as though it should be every 2 weeks - Dr E said it would be and every book, article, or online says it would be every 2 weeks beginning with week 28. I think I'll call the office on Monday when Dr. E is back and play "dumb". I digress. The woman then calls Biocare to tell them that she's sending me over for a NST for decreased fetal movement. They put her on hold (afterall, it's now lunch time). I explained to the woman that there is no decreased fetal movement just a change in pattern and she said that the doctor ordered it so now there's nothing that we can do.

They ask what I had for breakfast, I replied with oatmeal and milk. She then sends me over to Biocare after telling me that it's going to be a wait. Yeah, I figured with it well being into the lunch hour and all...

I check in at Biocare and the nurse asks me about decreased fetal movement and when the last time I felt the baby move. I explained to her that I was merely telling the doctor about what I believed to be a change in his moving pattern but he's still quite active, in fact he was kicking up a storm as I was telling the nurse. She asked about the oatmeal, and I explained that the baby is moving quite often. And then she finally gets it and asks which doctor ordered the NST and I tell her Dr. J. She nods her head and tells me to take a seat. I was annoyed with having to wait but I did keep thinking that well at least I'll get to spend 20+ minutes just listening to Alexander without being worried that something was wrong.

(Mom - remember how you were hearing a heartbeat when you guys were in the waiting room at Biocare, well that would have been me today...)

They finally call me in and I have to explain the whole situation again to the technician. At first she seemed really annoyed that I was interrupting her lunch. I told her that I told many people that he's quite active so I didn't think this was a huge necessity. She strapped me up to the machine and told me to recline back. She put the monitors on and once she found his heartbeat she handed me a clicker that I was to push every time I felt him move. The rule of fetal movement is that you should do a fetal kick count 2-3 times a day and look for 10 movements in an hour. Keep that in mind: 10 movements in 1 hour.

She left me to relax in the chair and listen to the baby's heartbeat. This picture on the right is one I took with my phone looking down on my belly. I did it fairly quickly because I didn't want to get in trouble. I was getting hungry because afterall I couldn't eat or drink anything since 10am and it's now past lunch time, so I was suprised that he was as active as he was without food. But, oh was he active. She came in to check on me a couple times and commented that he was an active baby. Yes, I know! :) Watching the screen, I would say that his heartbeat averages anywhere from 140-145 and it sounds very strong & consistent (as shown on the left). With 10 minutes left, she came in again to check on me and said that everything looks great but I still have 10 or so minutes to go. By this point, I'm so relaxed that the heartbeat is putting me to sleep as I recline. I looked at the slip coming out of the machine and decided to count how many movements there were.

Any guesses??? C'mon - anyone???

Yup - our active little baby had 50 (FIFTY) movements in 20 minutes. And what was the target, right - 10 movements in One hour. Yeah, I don't think our little baby has any problems moving. She came in at the end and looked at the markers, and she said with a little chuckle well just remember that any comments you make about movement, you'll find yourself right here in this chair. I'll have to remember that.

It wasn't a bad thing to sit there and listen to him at all, and it was very nice and peaceful. But I think if the doctor just listened to what I said rather than immediately making a decision, we could have saved everyone some time today. I ended up spending a good portion at the doctor's office when it should have been a very quick check in. Oh well - I just look at it as quality time with the baby.

We'll see what (& when) the next appointment brings... but all in all things are GREAT.