Roll with the Punches
April 18, 2010
Declan hates the doppler, I think I’ve mentioned. He tries to roll away from it. In the mornings, and at night, we can usually count at least 10 kicks in less than 5 minutes.
Today, though, he decided to be really lethargic. I know they slow down their moving as they run out of room, and I know some days are slower than others, but all the things we usually do to get him bumping were useless today. It was nerve wracking, to say the least.
Ultimately we went to the Labor and Delivery ward at our hospital and had them do what’s called a Non-Stress-Test. They hook up dopplers to Donna’s belly and trace his heart rate over a period of time, and then have her drink ice water, and sometimes they use a “zapper” which is a thing that vibrates like an electric razor, to get him to react.
Last time we had an NST, he punched at the doppler and kicked at the zapper. This time he tolerated the doppler, but we could tell by his heart rate and such that he was reacting just to the ice water…eventually.
It’s still a bit weird, but the L&D girls said he had a “beautiful trace, just perfect” and our OB had them send us home after only about 40 minutes. I guess I’m happy with that, but it’s still a bit unnerving to have these slow downs.
35 weeks and 4 days down, only 1 week and 3 days til he’s officially “full term”. Fingers crossed.
