NSTs -- Non-stop testing

I went in this morning for my fifth non-stress test (NSTs). For four out of five of the tests I have been with Nurse Julie -- who is great. She asks me questions about Clark and my family and we pass the 20 minutes in relative uneventfulness. Boston has a tendency to fall asleep during these tests -- probably because I am reclining and giving him plenty of room to relax. I don't blame him -- if the tests were longer I would probably fall asleep too -- after all, it is 7:30 in the morning. For every NST except the first one we have had to use the fetal movement stimulator, which is a handheld buzzer that Julie presses against my abdomen. It is basically a baby alarm clock and gets Boston to jump and hopefully wake up and move around so we can record the necessary heart accelerations. We have not had any problems with the testing -- his heart responds effectively every time he moves; it's just the getting him to move that is the problem. Because of this, we have a tendency to go beyond the minimum 20 minutes into the 30 minute range.

This morning I also had an office visit with Lynne, the nurse practitioner. I was happy to report that I was experiencing some relief from such bad heartburn and that I had no issues to report other than the run-of-the mill pregnancy woes. She measured my abdomen and said I was right on track. She also used a portable ultrasound machine to check out Boston's position and fluid level. That was really cool. The picture on the machine was grainy, but she was able to find out essential information in just a couple of minutes, like the fact that he had plenty of fluid surrounding him and that he was almost head down, but not quite. If you painted a clock on me, with 12 at my head, he would be between 7 and 8.

I have another NST on Thursday, and two more next week, and then a growth scan on the 19th. Those are my favorite, because it is basically a 45 minute show all about Boston. I will keep everyone updated on the testing -- and hopefully there won't be too much more before Boston arrives!