Good news/bad news

Firstly, Merry Christmas from brown and rainy Ohio. :)

Second, the whole good news/bad news thing. For the most part the bad news really isn't all that bad. Basically, I had another doctor's appointment on Monday and they rechecked my amniotic fluid levels and they were still lower than what the doctors want to see. As a result, I have to start having weekly non-stress tests (where they monitor the baby's heart rate) until the end of the pregnancy. I had the first one today.

Since it's the holidays, I had to go to the hospital for this one (the rest will be at the doctor's office). I got there at 8 and they strapped the monitor on and found the baby's heart beat and gave me a little clicker thing and told me to push the button every time I felt the baby move. Well, he's not exactly a morning baby, so for awhile, I was just sitting there, listening to the heart beat. The nurse came back over and I told her he wasn't up yet, and she got this little device that they put on my belly and it made this loud buzzing noise (basically, it's like an alarm clock). That got his attention! The nurse said they used to bang pots and pans together, but the technology has now evolved. :) After getting some good kicks in, he got the hiccups, which made it a bit harder to figure out what was hiccup movement and what was a kick, but after 20 minutes, he'd made enough movement and they got good readings, and I was able to go home. Nothing too taxing, but I'm still not thrilled at having to be doing it.

The other downside is that if the fluid levels don't increase, my doctor said they'd have to induce labor between 37-39 weeks. I'm at 34 currently, so 37's not far away! I want to avoid being induced if at all possible, and I'd be more than happy to carry this to my due date. Oh well, I'm willing to do whatever is necessary for a safe and healthy baby - I just hope we can get this under control. The doctor told me to rest and keep drinking fluids. Of course, with the holidays here, plus working and tutoring, resting is easier said than done.

Which brings me to the good news - when I told my supervisor that I was going to the hospital for these tests, she told me to just take the whole day off and not worry about coming in today. After running the last of my Christmas errands this morning, I came home, read, and then fell asleep on the couch, from which I just awoke. So that was nice. The other good news is that everything seems to be going well with the baby - he's growing well, according to the doctor and everything aside from the fluid looks normal, and even the fluid levels are still within the normal range - just kind of borderline. But it's not like there's no fluid whatsoever.

So anyway, that's what's going on now. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. I wish I could see all of you, but know that I'm thinking of you!