Pregnancy Info HOME

Perl...AFI is the amniotic fluid index. You get an ultrasound to measure the 4 pockets of fluid to see if there is too much or too little. The NST is a non stress test where you sit in a comfy spot with the fetal moitor on and it records babies hr and contractions and sees the variability in their HR. It can tell them if the baby is doing well or in distress. a fFN is a fetal fibronectin test and is a Q-tip in the v____a and the discharge is sampled and sent off to lab. I guess a negative says you will still be preggers in 2 weeks and a + could indicate preterm labor but is less accurate then a negative. All are very simple tests. I think because I see a perinatal group that they are overly cautious. And yes, I will try for a VBAC but am not holding to hard and fast to that...if a csection is even hinted at baby then I will opt for it right away. I need to be healthy and I need a healthy baby more so then I need to give birth v____ally and I didn't feel a dang thing with my prior section. I was so medicated! As for the work hours...I work in a cardiac cath lab...we work 12 hr shifts and have to take call once a week. This can make for some very long days if we get backed up or have emergencies. The longest day I put in was 20.5 hrs and another crew a month or 2 before did a full 24 hrs...The patients just never stopped coming! I wont be doing that much longer...trust me!

Thanks Christa and Angelswim for the info. I have to figure out some way to relax about the possibility of having a c-section or a v____al birth. Whatever happens happens. I'll just have to focus on getting through it without too much stress one way or another. So the NST sounds exactly like what I did on Sunday night at the hospital except I didn't know what it was called. They were looking for specific patterns in baby's heartrate, etc. I wonder if we all do that from now on at our 2 week appointments or just you Christa because you have a perinatologist. . .I'll find out soon.

Perl...I think they are done at physician discretion. In "normal" pregnancies (ie: young moms) they are less likely but more likely in us "mature" women and higher risk pregnancies. Either way it is a nice relaxing thing t o do anyway :)

Perl: Sorry about your scare :(. Glad everything is okay, and I think I mentioned, I HAVE to have a C-section, so I"m also preparing......my peri only does stress tests after 36 weeks or if there is something like lack of movement, or too much movement, etc. I know, because I'm so paranoid I wanted one and was told I didn't need it. Urgh. My friend just had pre-term labor at 36 weeks because she noticed a weird pain in her side. Turns out baby had cord around neck...it's SOOOO scary, I'm parnaoid, now...mom and baby are just fine, in fact her girl weighed in at 5 pounds 6 ounces and will be out of NICU in a day or so...still. I"m sorry of I've scared anyone, just I'm getting worried. My baby had "turned" and I just want him to stay in at LEAST 7 more weeks when he'll be considered full-term at 37. Anyone else told their babes have "turned." It's a bit of a pain since peeing is more frequent and he seems to be pressing on all the wrong places and causing nerve pains in my legs and tummy.

Happy...my baby has been head down since atleast week 18.(via ultra sound) My other son was always head down too. At my appt yesyerday the NP did mention his head is low...but not TOO LOW. Oh and my fFN came back negative so I am pretty pleased (I suspected it would anyway) Talk at y'all later

Went to the docs today..said my baby is head down back to the right..which is the opposite to last appointment where the head was down but was back left. My blood pressure was normal..The babies heartbeat had gone down quite a bit to 126..I was shocked because it had never been lower than 156. I mentioned my headaches again (5 weeks running) and they are going to get me in to see a neurologist when I return from my trip. I am a little paranoid about the cord around the neck thing too..I just try to monitor the movements..and they do seem to be a bit less. I have started to count on my own accord..not by doctors orders. Anyway talk to you all later..my head is killing me.

PERL~NST are usually done on woman at high risk or who have complications. Other than that, they are not usually performed. Also, don't worry about the section. It really is not as bad as it looks on video. You don't feel a thing, but the recovery sucks and is painful. Also, my anesth guy was awesome who gave me the spinal. I didn't feel a thing. Usually they numb the area first before giving you the spinal. What freaked me out the most was the shakes I had after in the recovery room, scary stuff, but all normal. It's the effects from the spinal wearing off I guess. CHRISTA~I'm glad to hear that your FFN came back negative. You really need to cut those hours down girl, because that definitely will not help with swelling and b/p, etc. You are working too many hours and I hope you cut them before the end of October. You really should especially during our last trimester. KRISTIN~My baby has been head down since my ultrasound. They call it the cephalic position on the u/s report. I can feel it too, because alot of the movements I feel are in my upper belly , which I think are her feet moving around all the time from left to right and right to left. LOL. Sometimes she gives me these quick jerky tugs and it scares the c___p out of me, but I'm a__suming it's all normal movement since she is still moving just fine by my counts. After Happygal's post, I'm paranoid again about the cord thing. I'm afraid that may happen to my baby too, but I'm trying not to think about it. I always worried about it, but started doing better until I read that story and now I'm scared again. It's so scary that we can't do a thing about it if it happened either, unless the doctor's know beforehand, then that is a different story, but what if they don't? Either way, whatever happens is God's will and there is nothing anyone can do about it. All we can do is pray for healthy babies and ask God to keep them safe while they are in our womb, and I do this everyday a few times a day. Anyway, I'm glad everyone is doing well and healthy. Have my shower Sunday and can't wait. Talk later ladies...xo

Happygal: I was told I MIGHT have to have a c-section (instead of like you where you've been told you HAVE to have one) and in a way I wish I knew for sure which way it's going to be--section or v____al birth--that might help me better prepare myself. Oh well. Good thing your friend paid attention to that weird pain on her side especially if that's what got her to the hospital in time. I'm glad she and baby are fine. My OB told me only 2 weeks ago that my baby was in breech position but then last week she felt that his head was down low. I already suspected it because I felt a good sommersault and I saw my entire belly area moving when it happened! The pressure is much worse now especially since he's growing and I feel his weight or punches or kicks on my bladder. The maternity belt I bought last weekend helps a whole lot to support my lower belly in place, I'm so glad I bought it even though the price of it was a rip off.*** Christa: That's good news on your fFN results! I didn't even know there was such a test so I'm glad you mentioned it and explained what it is. ***Kristin: sorry you're still getting those awful headaches. Not that I want the cause of your pain to stay a mystery but I hope the neurologist finds nothing or at least nothing serious. Any possibility it could be vision-related?? I know some people get headaches when their vision changes. Vision in my left eye has gotten so bad that I had to go get an eye exam for new contact lenses. Optometrist told me my vision can continue to fluctuate as long as I'm pregnant and suggested I wait until after the baby is born to get new contacts and gla__ses, but I could not wait any longer for new contacts. ***Mel: my friend told me about the shakes she got after she had her baby last year and how she had no idea that might happen. I'm so thankful for the information I'm getting from you ladies as well as friends who delivered babies recently.

Mellymel--Oh, I so hope that I don't feel the spinal epidural this time around. Hopefully they've improved the technique in the past ten years (since my last one). I had an emergency section last time, so hopefully they'll be more gentle with me this time and numb the area first. =) I think I'll mention it. I'm very pain tolerant, but the spinal they gave me was extremely painful and brought tears to my eyes for about five seconds. ***Is anyone else having a tubal ligation? I have decided to get one.

Aalexand, How are you and baby Kenndedy doing? If you get a chance update us. Hope you and family are doing well. I still cannot believe one of our November Mommies is already a Mommy. XO Kristin

Hi Girls! I am off for a 5 day holiday to Florida. Hope you all have a great week!! XO Kristin

Angelswim~My last section was emergency also, but it sounds like I may have had a more gentle anthes that gave me mine, because he was wonderful. I hope this time around is much better for you too! Did you also know that they can numb your hand before you get the I.V. put in? They don't tell anyone about this, but if you request it, they can do it. HEHE. I am not having a tubal done. The hospital I am delivering at is a Catholic hospital and don't allow them anyway. So even if I wanted one right after my section, the answer is no. Of course, unless I go to a different hospital, but this is the same one I had my son at and they are wonderful, so I don't really want to change just so I can have a tubal done. My hubby said he will go and get the vesectomy done so I didn't have to switch hospitals. He doesn't mind at all. It's so common for woman to have this done right after her section nowadays. KRISTIN~I hope you are having a blast and Florida and can't wait to hear about it when you get back. PERL~how are you doing? All the other November mommies also, how are you all doing? I had my shower yesterday and it was great. I got alot of nice things for the baby and my sister, who is the Godmother, did a great job at throwing it. I had the cutest favors. They were like porclein baby carriages with pink rattles and pink candies in netting attached to them. They were just adorable. The food, the cake, the gifts, my family; it was all so wonderful. My cake read something cute, but I forget what it said. LOL. I think it said Hello new mummy and goodbye big tummy or something like that anyway. Well, I am officially 30 weeks yesterday. Only 9 more weeks until my section!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XO

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great weekend. MEL: How was the baby shower? Tell us about it, I hope you had fun and got lots of good goodies. ANGELSWIM: no tubal for me, this is my first baby and I hope to have one more as soon as I can if possible after this one. Sorry to hear that your spinal hurt last time. I haven't heard from friends who went through it recently that it was terribly painful so I'm hoping that things have improved so it won't be so bad for any of us. I welcome the brief pain of a needle if it will relieve hours of pain in my pelvis and back. I just hope the anesthesiologist will get to me in time and that my spinal and/or epidural will do what it's supposed to do. For one of my friends, the epidural worked only on her left but not her right side-yikes. But she said it was not so bad. Another friend told me that the narcotic did nothing for her pain during her contractions (except make her feel dopey). She highly recommends skipping the narcotic and going with the epidural. ****My feet are STILL swollen. DH took me to a few shoe factory outlets yesterday until I found some pairs of comfy shoes. We were looking for comfy and sort of cute (even though comfort shoes are generally not cute) as well as shoe soles with solid traction to prevent any more slipping and falling in case I happen to step in a puddle of water again. In addition to swollen feet, as of yesterday I'm feeling baby movements behind my ribs and very close to my stomach and of course the acid reflux is worse now. My belly is very LARGE now, I had a tough time maneuvering through a crowd at a party Friday night. Amazing how strangers will just walk up and put their hands on my belly--what's that all about?!!! I guess it's an uncontrollable urge for some people--ha ha--it really makes me laugh. I hope Kristin is having fun in Florida and that everyone is doing well.

Oops, it looks like I just started typing my response as Mel was sending hers. Mel: sounds like you had a great baby shower. You're very lucky to have a sister and family that is thoughtful and cares about you. Your favors sound like they were adorable and the cake as well. I can't wait for my shower this weekend--I'm just looking forward to being in a houseful of good friends and family--a few of them of them are driving in from quite a distance so it will extend to them into sort of a slumber party and/or Sunday morning brunch at my house afterwards. You mentioned you're delivering at a Catholic hospital and so am I. It's true for my hospital too but I hadn't even considered that they would refuse to do certain procedures.

Perl--that's funny about your tough time moving through the crowd. I had a similar situation just yesterday. I went out to eat with some friends and the waitress sat everyone at a booth table. Everyone else was able to get in but me. I tried though. I was so embarra__sed. haha. So we all had to move to a table in the back sunroom. I also found out that I am getting a baby shower next week. =) I didn't think I was going to get one.******Mellymel---Thanks for the info. I am going to request the anesthetic for the spinal. I've been stuck so much in the arms though that it most likely won't bother me with the IV. I wanted my husband to go in for a vasectomy, but I figured since I am already getting a section, might as well have it all done at once. My mother had an entire hysterectomy done and said that it was no big deal for her. So I imagine a tubal won't be that big of a deal. It's still a little scary, but it'll be worth it. =)

Hi all: everyone is just buzzing with energy..where do you find it??? My shower is mid-October, hope I make it. I'ts a co-ed 'dinner' shower sponsered by B & S in law. There will be about 30 people there! Also, I'm getting one for work a few days earlier. I"m really touched by such generosity, and we REALLY need baby things, so this is just great. I too, am getting really a bit uncomfortable with people saying "Any day, now".....No, actually 6 to 9 weeks or so. They just can't believe it. I mean, I know I'm big, but compared to others I know, I"m by no means ready to 'pop.' Well, hope all of you are hanging in there...I've begun getting a few of the "symptoms" that aren't often talked about......you know, that ailment that is mostly more common to the geriatric population...and which a certain ointment with "H" in the t_tle can help.......hehehe.