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Hospital Saga Yesterday

678 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  violet_ 
#1 ·
I had my weekly midwife appt yesterday. I'm 38 weeks tomorrow, and because I am 37 years old, they have me do a weekly NST as well. And their machine is busted so I have to go to the hospital's Labor and Delivery for my NST.

Anyway, appt went fine, everything looked good. Went to NST. Baby was reactive right away, and the nurse said she was passing the test, but I had to stay on for 20 minutes anyway. Well, just before the 20 minutes was up, her heart rate dropped substantially after a movement. Came back up, but it did look out of place on an otherwise good chart. Nurse came in, said this happens sometimes, so we have to keep going 20 more minutes. Baby did it again, just a few minutes later -- it dropped right after a movement and then came back to baseline. So the nurse suggested I lie on my side, in case we were in a weird position with respect to the cord, and she called my midwife.

Then they decided to ultrasound me to see if baby had enough fluid. I waited 45 min for this test, and another half hour for someone to read it. While waiting for the test, though, Baby's heart rate went up (like 175-180?) for about 20 minutes before coming back down. So they told me I might have to stay over, but they'd wait to see how the U/S came out.

U/S happened. They decided she has plenty of fluid, looks great. Heart rate was back to normal, she looked great, and if that had been my only NST data, I'd have been on my way home.

Then midwife came to the hospital. And she called OB for backup. They decided to do a biophysical profile, so U/S came back upstairs and they did that. Baby passed. Midwife told me that if we monitored pregnant women every day we'd go into cardiac arrest every day, and all other signs show my baby is fine. But, she said, Baby was behaving pretty weirdly for a while so we really need to monitor us more.

She and OB consulted, and decided to send me home last night (I finally got to leave just after 10pm, after having left for my appt around 3), but I have another NST Sunday.

Anyone have experience with this? This is my first baby, and so far everything has looked promising. I figure for this next NST, I'll make sure my bag is packed just in case, and DH will come with me.
 
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#3 ·
Ugh. Not the same exact situation, but I was evaluated for pre-eclampsia at 38 weeks (which was ridiculous and unnecessary and a long story in and of itself). While I was on the monitors (for THREE HOURS OMG!) waiting for tests results, etc, there was a positioning issue and the cord must have gotten pinched. Deceleration, LOTS of vigorous, uncomfortable (for me) baby movement, like "Mama, MOVE NOW!" and I turned over. Baby recovered immediately and was fine the rest of time we were there. Resident came back said, "Your labs came back fine, you don't have pre-eclampsia but due to that little episode with the baby, we think it's best that you stay overnight for more monitoring." I declined, and I had to sign out AMA.

"Midwife told me that if we monitored pregnant women every day we'd go into cardiac arrest every day, and all other signs show my baby is fine." This is so true, and it's why I didn't freak out at all over ONE decel in a 3 hour otherwise perfect period of monitoring.

((HUGS)) I'm sorry to hear about it, I'm sure everything will work out just fine!
 
#4 ·
This is kind of why I've been refusing the NST. I'm 37 and due on Tuesday and have had a perfectly healthy pregnancy. I feel my baby moving plenty, I'm trying to drink a lot of fluid and not over tire myself, etc. All that said, I'm starting to worry about going over the 40 weeks, cuz I really *don't* know, ya know? It's my first too and I have nothing to compare to, other than what I've read here. I hope I don't go over and actually have to make decisions about all this!
 
#6 ·
I had a NST after my version attempt. I have no idea how anyone can relax watching that hb number pop all around the place. Baby would go from 160's to 115 then 130's. All over! I really agree with your MW. If we could see a baby's hb all the time, or cord location, we'd all be having heart attacks.
 
#7 ·
Thanks. And I do wonder if part of the reason for her heart rate going up for a while was my own stress hormones while I was waiting for the ultrasound. I don't know. I'm glad my midwife both takes it seriously but is also reassuring. I go again Sunday, so we'll see how that one looks.
 
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