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NST is when they place a couple little monitors on the outside of your belly to monitor the baby's heart rate and your contractions. It's not anything too big where they do and u/s or poke you with needles or they usually don't do that. You can eat too unless your doctor advises you not to. Relax it's just more time to hear your lo's heartbeat like the doppler and know he/she is ok. GL and let us know how it goes.

You dont need to take anything with you just yourself you will be monitored for at least 20 min and they monitor your babys heartrate, contractions. I have had tons of them no biggie whatsoever its the same thing they will hook you up to when you are going to deliver. Good luck

txs mahagen and robyn.

There isnt really anything you can do to get ready for an NST.. except maybe get dressed that morning, and eat some breakfast. Its really no big deal.. you sit in a comfy chair they strap some monitors to your belly and they watch the heartrate, and your contractions. When I have my NST's I also have a biophysical fetal profile at the same time, that includes an u/s. They just check for the amount of fluid, and if your baby is "practice breathing" and that he/she is moving around in there. Im not sure if youll have a biophysical or not, but I do. ~Kristin~

they are no biggie at all, i have to have them every week and i personally think they are cool. all you have to do is kick back and relax for 30 mins or so. you can eat, drink, talk on the phone, whatever. it doesnt measure moms stress (i think the name of the thing is missleading really) all it does is listen to babys heart and feel your contractions (the nurse freaked out because i was having practice contractions like crazy, 4 in 5 minutes!) its 2 belts with monitors on them, one has goop on it, one doesnt. from what i understand its to see if baby is handling practice contractions ok (according to heart rate) so that there isnt stress on baby during the real ones. no need to be anxious, it doesnt hurt and its really cool to find out how many practice contractions you are having and not realizing it!! i think nst are almost as awsome as ultrasounds!!

Another thing they look for on the NST is the baby's heart rate in response to its own movement. They want to see a rise in the heart rate each time it has a big movement, then watch it go back down, just like when we exercise - our heart rates should increase too when we move around. With the NST's I had (many, many!) they want to see three rises from the baby's own movement, and no flat lines or major drops in the baby's heart rate during a contraction. You might be asked to press a little b___ton each time you feel the baby move so they know where to look for the rises, and also so they can see that the baby is active. Sometimes you have to concentrate to feel each movement, so don't necessarily plan on chatting with the nurse or anyone else in the room during the test. I'm a diabetic too (type 1), so I understand your not wanting to drink juice beforehand. Ice cold water worked well for me, and if necessary the nurse can poke your belly or use a sound buzzer to help wake the baby up. Don't worry about this bothering the baby. It's completely harmless. If you don't pa__s the NST in the doctor's office, don't panic. You might be sent to the L & D triage dept. for monitoring, which is simply the hospital's version of an NST where you'll be on the belts for a longer period of time, longer than your doctor's office can keep you on the machine since they have other patients to see. I went to L & D twice for this and both times I pa__sed the NST once I was there for a couple hours, and sent home with a clean bill of health. My baby was born Dec. 6 after 37 weeks 1 day, healthy as a horse.