Cotton gave us a scare this week!
I got worried when I hadn't felt him or her trying to beat me up, like usual, for a little over a day and had been contemplating on whether or not to call the doctor about it. Subtle weak movements here and there with few in-between just isn't the typical for this baby and several thoughts started racing through my over-active NICU nurse mind. What if something really is wrong with the baby and me not saying anything in fear of it being "silly" resulted in a fetal compromise?
Knowing Dr. B's office closes early on Friday's, I decided to not waste anymore time or effort worrying and just gave them quick call, which resulted in me be being at his office less than an hour later for an ultrasound to check things out......which resulted in more thoughts. Oh crap, what if this is the day I end up delivering? Cotton would be a late pre-term baby, which would probably be fine if we had a girl, but if we had a whimpy white boy could end up in a NICU admission. I don't even have my GBS screening for 4 more days, so I'd be GBS unknown! Will there be enough time to get the proper doses of IV antibiotics before the baby is born so he/she doesn't have to have blood drawn and get an IV? What if they decided to admit me for further fetal monitoring? I don't even have a bag packed, which would mean Patrick would have to do it later and that would be the opposite of ideal. We don't even have our prenatal-pediatrician appointment for 6 more days.....I'll miss my shower this week.....We won't get to see Dave Matthews next Saturday.....
I called Patrick to give him the scoop and crossed my fingers and toes he wouldn't have a heart attack with worry before we were able to get some answers. (I think his heart is okay, but when he finally made it to the ultrasound room, I heard him take about a million deep breaths and I'm pretty sure I noticed a couple of new grey hairs on his head.)
Whatever the case, Cotton decided to perk up for the camera, although still refusing to reveal his/her face. The ultrasound even went a little long since the tech couldn't measure the the total biophysical profile until Cotton moved his/her hands away from his/her nose so we could get visual evidence of practice breathing. The BPP, biophysical profile (a collaborative calculation of baby's health based on a non-stress test, breathing movement, body movement, muscle tone, and amniotic fluid index), was 8, which is about as good as it gets and Dr. B confirmed everything looked great. At this point in the game, any movement counts as good movement, and the normal jabs and kicks may start to feel more like nudges due to the increase in the baby's size/running out of "womb". Regardless, he assured us calling was the right thing to do. "Call about anything, everything. Never just worry. When in doubt, I want you to call."
"We really need to pack our hospital bag," Patrick sighed. For real.........
Since that little episode, he/she has been back to his/her normal crazy moving self, I've pre-registered at the hospital, started putting my hospital bag together, and had my GBS screening/cervical check done (which I'd heard from multiple sources was a painful thing, but I used the finger drop method I learned from Hypnobabies, told myself it wasn't going to hurt, took a deep breath, and didn't feel a thing).
Although I'm beyond excited to meet our little one, I'd rather him/her wait until at least 38 weeks to make an appearance into this world......but every day I get a little more ready to see what this phenomenon called motherhood is all about!!!!
I got worried when I hadn't felt him or her trying to beat me up, like usual, for a little over a day and had been contemplating on whether or not to call the doctor about it. Subtle weak movements here and there with few in-between just isn't the typical for this baby and several thoughts started racing through my over-active NICU nurse mind. What if something really is wrong with the baby and me not saying anything in fear of it being "silly" resulted in a fetal compromise?
"We really need to pack our hospital bag," Patrick sighed. For real.........
Since that little episode, he/she has been back to his/her normal crazy moving self, I've pre-registered at the hospital, started putting my hospital bag together, and had my GBS screening/cervical check done (which I'd heard from multiple sources was a painful thing, but I used the finger drop method I learned from Hypnobabies, told myself it wasn't going to hurt, took a deep breath, and didn't feel a thing).
Although I'm beyond excited to meet our little one, I'd rather him/her wait until at least 38 weeks to make an appearance into this world......but every day I get a little more ready to see what this phenomenon called motherhood is all about!!!!
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