Hooked up to monitors for the non-stress test.
Queens Hospital, Labor & Delivery Unit

I went in today for my second NST (non-stress test) at Queens Hospital, 10th floor Labor & Delivery Unit. The room they set me up in today was a bit smaller than previously, but comfortable enough. This time, the nurse showed me how to use the TV controller, so Hubby and I watched The Price is Right, hosted by Drew Carey. (Somehow, the show doesn’t have the same energy it had when Bob Barker was host.) Sadly, there really isn’t much of interest on daytime TV.

The nurse offered me ice water, which I graciously accepted. When I drank it, almost immediately, Baby Champuru started moving and her heart rate increased to 170 bpm. (Normal fetal heart rate is 120 - 160 bpm.) It appears that the dousing of ice cold water startled her and rudely awakened her from her slumber. After that, it seemed that she settled back in and went back to sleep, because she was pretty still for most of the test and her heart rate went back down to ~150 bpm.

About 15 minutes through the test, the nurse came in and studied the scroll of paper that the monitor was spitting out. “Hmm… is baby sleeping?”

“I think so,” I replied. “She was moving earlier, after I drank the water.”

“Try switching positions, maybe it’ll wake baby up,” she recommended. “Shift to your right, then come back this way.”

I did, but Baby Champuru didn’t budge. The nurse shook my tummy a bit, then put the TV remote (which contained a speaker) against my stomach, hoping that it would rouse my sleepy baby. Still nothing.

“I hate to do this, but I think we’ll need the buzzer,” she said and left the room.

I looked over at Hubby. “The buzzer?”

She returned with a handheld gadget. “Where did they say baby’s head was?” she asked. I indicated that at the last ultrasound on Tuesday, they said that her head was down. So, she positioned the buzzer against the top part of my abdomen and pushed the button. A sharp buzzing noise and vibration hit my tummy. Although it was not painful or uncomfortable to me, it was enough to scare the living daylights out of Baby Champuru because she kicked suddenly and started moving around.

Satisfied, the nurse left and returned a few minutes later with my OB who had been doing her morning rounds. The doc took a quick glance at the results and said everything looked fine.

So, unless Baby Champuru decides to come over the weekend, we’ll be seeing the OB on Monday again. I wonder if there’s been any dilation/effacement in the past week?

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