NST (stands for Nasty Stupid Test)

So I started seeing the doctor this week for my twice a week appointments. I have NSTs (Nonstress Test) twice a week and BPPs (Biophysical Profile) once a week. This is standard practice for high risk pregnancies. Well, I kind of knew what was going to happen in the tests from what I had heard from others and researching online. An NST is basically where they hook you up to a machine and monitor the baby’s movements. The heart rate should increase when the baby moves. The BPP measures the health of your baby and is done by ultrasound.



I started with my NST at 9am. They put a strap around the top of my belly with a round monitor attached to it to monitor movement and another strap down lower with another round monitor to monitor heart rate. I was given a “clicker” to click when I felt movement. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, I figured “this kid moves all the time, this will be a breeze.” Boy was I wrong. They hooked my up and the heart rate monitor was so crappy that I had to actually push it into my belly and hold it to get a good reading….for 20 minutes…my hand was cramping. It was awful. She came back to check on me and looked at the results. She said “oh, looks like baby is sleeping.” “We’ll have to do another 5 mintues,” then proceeded to “buzz” my baby to wake him up. She left the room for another 20 minutes. She came back, looked at the test results and left the room. When she returned, she said “you’ll have to see Dr. Koontz after your BPP.” For some reason, I didn’t even ask any questions, I just sat there in stunned, scared silence. She said “we’ll have to monitor you another 10 minutes.” So we continued the fun. She returned and released me to go to my BPP.


The BPP was OK, it was basically just an ultrasound. She did try to poke at the baby to get him to move and he reluctantly kicked, but she said he was asleep. (Obviously he’s not a morning person, just like his mother). I commented that he’s really active from about 11:30pm -1am and tried to laugh it off, all the while feeling like something was wrong. She told me that everything looked fine, but I was scared she was hiding something from me and didn’t want me to freak out. I was seeing the doctor next and she would let him discuss the results with me.


I went to the waiting room to see the doctor, by this point, it was about 10:30am. I checked in and sat down. The nurse called me immediately and then said that Dr. Koontz doesn’t get in until 11am, so I would have to wait. They called me back a little after 11am and there was one appointment ahead of me. I waited in the room, trying not to freak out. He came in and said “everything is fine, they worried you for nothing.” (I love how “chill” my doctor is, it is quite comforting.) He said the BPP was perfect and the NST was fine. “No need to worry.” And that was that.


I checked out and got to the car to call Cary. When I started telling him what happened, I lost it. I started bawling. He was very supportive and said he would never miss an appointment again. I told him that was completely unrealistic as I have to go to the doctor twice a week for at least 2 hours at a time, but I did appreciate the support. :)


I have another NST on Friday, hopefully it will go better, but I doubt it. I read that the baby already has natural sleeping and waking patterns and I think those morning times are his sleep time, so this may be a problem. We’ll see. All I know is that “nonstress test” was one of the most stressFUL tests I have had…Nasty Stupid Test!