Monday, December 04, 2006

Little update

Friday's NST went well enough. It took us 2 hours to get 20 minutes of good strip - the Babe apparently joined Cirque de Soliel and was showing off. I had to keep moving the transducer-thingy to find the heartbeat again every time s/he moved. This is also one of those fun little side effects of polyhydramnios - gives more fluid to play around in, making things like NSTs and Doppler-ing more difficult.

Secondly, it is actually quite horrifying to listen to a heartbeat (for the better part of 2 hours) that has an arrhythmia. badump, badump, badump, badump (130 bpm)... pause... badump, badump, badump, badump (130 bpm)... Sorry, but I am not crazy for listening to my kid's heart skip a beat.

Saturday was a barrel of monkeys, when we went out to a movie (Stranger Than Fiction - LOVED it) and I sat there with Braxton Hicks contraction after BHC. It took about 2 hours after we got home from the movie for things to settle down. They were strong enough and regular enough for me to time them - 12 minutes apart for 90 minutes. Oh fun.

Felt fine on Sunday, but discovered when I slipped out to renew my cell phone contract that any time spent on my feet is inducing strong BHC. Which will stop when I lie down. This is "cramping" my style (hardy, har, har).

So, with the added worry of BHC when I have already been informed about my increased chance of pre-term labour from the polyhydramnios... well, we are a little stressed around our house. Ever pain I feel, I imagine to be placental abruption. Every contraction: pre-term labour. Every time I pee: has my water broken?

Oh, this is fuuunnnnn...

5 more weeks.

6 comments:

Rosepetal said...

2 hours of NSTs!

I completely understand the worries about every little pain and contraction. Hoping and hoping with you for the next five weeks...

I was wondering about your exams and stuff - are they over now? Just wondering in case that's at least one stress that has gone now. Are you able to take some time off work already to rest?

LOTS of love to you and the Babe.

delphi said...

My exams are on Friday. I studied hard in the months leading up to now, and have barely studied at all this week. I suppose I will crack the books Wed or Thurs...

If life were different, I would be swilling a bottle of wine on Friday night in celebration of finishing (I am NOT complaining, though). So I am putting that on hold until Jan. or Feb. and will do my celebration then!

whatthef*ck said...

thank god you've only got 5 more weeks. easy for me to say i know. 5 weeks is practically an eternity. is it any comfort to think that your baby will be fine if he/she is born any day now or is that also easy for me to say? 5 weeks early is premature and that's some scary shit. lord knows you need that baby in your arms directly not in the NICU. i'm not helping here am I?

what's up with the gender? are you relieved or not relieved byu the gender? i find myself imagining who you might be having and how that could feel?

what the hell does the arrhythmia mean? hang in there. have you watched all of sex and the city, six feet under, sopranos.... nothing like the idiot box to distract oneself and pass the time.

5 weeks. holy crap.

delphi said...

WTF - I must be clear - 5 weeks until 37 weeks. And I will be hard pressed to continue at the point. My OB claims to be open to induction as soon as the Babe is ready, and I am having long talks with her/him about getting busy maturing her/his lungs. C'mon practice breathing movements!

I am inordinately pleased about the sex of this baby. I know I am being all coy about not telling here (who would you all tell?), but it seems too intimate a detail to have it written up on the internet for all to see. Remind me in 5 weeks to write a post regarding my feelings about the sex. (ha, ha, I am the niave one thinking I will have time for things like writing blog posts, but a girl can dream, right?)

Thirdly - the arrhythmia. We know nothing. I don't know if we will know anything any time soon. We see our GP this week and our OB next week. We will discuss. There is small possibility of having a fetal echocardiogram done or putting me on medications. However, I would have to see a cardiologist for both options and there is typically a 3 month wait-list to see them around here. The downside of free healthcare. I have no idea what the risks are to the Babe, but I am given to understand that many, many people have arrhythmias and are okay. I am trying not to stress too much.

:)

Rosepetal said...

GOOD LUCK with your exams this week! That will be one thing off your plate. You can celebrate by taking a long and well-deserved nap!

kate said...

Good luck with the exams and stay off your feet! 5 weeks is not that long, really -- really it is not! Those last weeks are SOOOOO long...but you can do it, i know!

Glad the NST went well, even after 2 hours....oy. After awhile, don't they just give up and give you an u/s & BPP ? That's what they did when i was pg with Chloe. Of course, our hospital charges for NST's in increments of 15 minutes. I dare not imagine what a 2 hour one would cost. And yeah, they charge $50 for an Advil too. Thank god for insurance!