32 Weeks Doctor's Appointment Part 2 with a Little Suprise

Derek and I had fun with another couple sitting next to us in the waiting room today. They asked me if this was our first baby.  This is one of my favorite questions people ask because my response is, "No, it's our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th."  I get a look of confusion and shock as they process what that means.  This particular couple was waiting for their first ultrasound.  The same tech who did our first ultrasound came to get them.  We told them to be careful because she was the one who told us we were having triplets.  They laughed nervously as they followed the tech to the ultrasound room.  When they came back they were quick to tell us it was just one baby.

Baby A's Profile

Baby B's Profile

Baby C has hair!!!!

My appointment went well.  My regular OB was at a different office so I saw the on-call doctor.  He was happy with my progress and then told us that I would be going to the hospital right then to have a Non-Stress Test.  We were taken of guard as we heard this news.  The doctor and nurse reassured us that nothing was wrong.  This is a rountine weekly test they perform starting at 32 weeks with all pregnancies of multiples.  What we couldn't figure out is why our regular OB had not even mentioned this test to us.  Derek quickly got on the phone and rearranged his schedule so he could go with me to the hospital.  They also could not tell us how long the test would take because it depends on the babies and their cooperation.  The nurse got a wheel chair and wheeled me from the doctor's office over to Labor and Delivery for the test.

A Non-Stress test consists of putting all three babies on fetal heart monitors as well as a contraction monitor for me.  Finding all three babies heartbeats and keeping them on the monitors is no easy task.  It took two monitoring machines because the ones in the L&D rooms can only monitor two babies heartrates at a time.  It was quite a sight to see four monitors strapped to my belly!  One of the nurses had to sit on the bed with me a hold Baby C's monitor at a strange angle to keep him on the monitor.  They monitored their heart rates and my contractions for about 30 minutes. The babies' heartrates are supposed to stay between 120-160.  They also look for certain peaks in their hear rates.  This test allows them to tell if the babies are getting enough oxygen and if they are under any stress.  The babies all did great! They also look to see how much I'm contracting.  I only had one real contraction while on the monitors, but she did say I have an "irritable uterus" probably due to it being overstretched by three babies.  Totally normal in my situation and nothing to worry about.  It was a long day.  We arrived at the doctor's office at 9:00am and left about 12:00pm, but we were glad to know the babies were all doing great!  I guess we can look forward to the same test next Friday, but atleast we'll have a heads up.