30 Weeks - Sleep Deprived

Well, here we are...30 weeks. I'm not entirely sure why this feels like such a huge milestone to me, but it does. Maybe because I'm now 3/4 of the way through this pregnancy. Maybe it is because the count down is now into single digit weeks (9 weeks 6 days left until due date). Maybe because 30 sounds so much farther along than 29 for some reason. Probably all of the above.

Everything is fine. I lead with that when there is a story to tell that may have you worried. I'm fine. Q is fine. J and M are fine. Everything and everyone is fine. :) So now the update. Sunday after church, I noticed that I hadn't been feeling Q as much. I've mentioned how active he is, so that is rare. Even in the morning, he is usually pretty active. I got a little nervous, but he "woke up" around 3-4ish and started his usual levels of movement. So when I noticed that he wasn't moving as much Monday morning, I got a little concerned, but figured he'd wake up and be back at it around the same time. Except he didn't. 4:00 came, then 5:00. I got worried. I called my ob/gyn's office and spoke to a receptionist who I am sure meant well. She told me Q was probably asleep and that she could put me through to leave a message with a nurse, but that they might not get back to me until Tuesday morning. Seeing as I had an appointment scheduled with my ob/gyn Tuesday morning, it didn't make much sense to wait for a phone call that would likely come an hour or so before I'd see the doctor himself. J got home around 5:30 and Q still wasn't moving much. He'd half-heartedly respond to a poke with a lazy kick if anything. He barely responded to juice at all, same with me laying on my left side. All those are the go-to's for "waking up" baby. His movement was within the thresholds for "safe" but it was such a drastic change for him that I was worried.

When J got home, we decided to go to a local "ambulatory care center" (read: ER w/o a hospital) that is about 5 minutes away from our house. The staff there were nice and didn't make me feel silly for coming to get checked. They did a Doppler and got the heartbeat right away. His heart rate was healthy and well within normal ranges at 145-150. That got me feeling better. He is far enough along that even if this was an emergency, he could be delivered and have a near-100% chance of survival. At this point, his development is almost entirely weight gain and practicing daily bodily functions. They did an ultrasound, but I wasn't allowed to look at the screen and never did get to see any of the images. Everything looked fine, though, from what we heard and the tech let me know that his weight looked to be 3lbs 9 oz. (which would be around 2 weeks ahead, but weight in ultrasound can be very off). However, the doctor on staff wanted to call my ob/gyn to make sure they didn't want me to go in to the hospital for a non-stress test (NST). The ambulatory care center doesn't have fetal monitors, so they couldn't do one there. The on-call for my ob/gyn's practice felt that an NST was the only real way to ensure that Q was truly fine and not in distress. The ultrasound gives us a snapshot, but an NST is done over a longer time and can better monitor heart rate and movement. This meant heading off to the hospital's new labor and delivery ward.

M was with us at the ambulatory care center and she was amazing. We brought her Kindle, some toys, books, and snacks. She was well-behaved and sweet the entire time. We didn't want her to have to be at the hospital, since she probably wouldn't sleep and had school the next morning. So we called J's mom. She came over to our house bearing a Happy Meal for M and put her to bed after she ate. We are very grateful that she was able to come on such short notice. The ambulatory care staff called ahead, so L&D was expecting us. We got to go straight there and right in to a room. The nurse strapped me up to the monitors and before she could get all my info in the computer, she had to re-position one because Q kept wiggling out from underneath it. His heart rate was fine again and his movement was great. However, my blood pressure was higher than they wanted. So then, I got focused on making myself relax every time I felt the cuff go off (every 15 minutes...ugh) which only made my blood pressure higher. The first test for pre-eclampsia was negative, but they wanted to be sure, so blood work was ordered. The blood work came back fine and I was able to calm myself down, which brought my blood pressure back to within normal range. It was nice listening to Q's heartbeat for 4ish hours, though it was late when we got home. The funniest was when he got the hiccups and we could hear them over the monitor. I have been able to feel them for several weeks now, but this was new for J. We both shared a few smiles and laughs as he hiccuped on and off for around 15 minutes.

Honestly, the best part, and this may seem strange, was the staff. Our nurse was the nurse-in-training who cared for us all day the day Puff was born. We remembered her immediately and once we told her our story, she remembered us, too. We laughed and teared up a bit remembering that day. I made sure to tell her how much her kindness that day meant to us. She and her co-worker really made such a huge difference to us and left a lasting impact. She just had a baby of her own and has only been back at work 3 weeks, so she said it meant a lot to her to know that she was making an impact when she was away from her baby. It was like being cared for by a good friend, which was hugely comforting. The on-call doctor in L&D was the same doctor who delivered Puff, also. That may have something to do with why my blood pressure was higher when he was in the room...just a thought. He was also very nice and comforting, as he was that night with Puff, too. He told me that he was glad I came in and to always come in if I'm worried. They would rather have me in L&D on monitors for a few hours than anxious at home. He also told me that, given my history, I definitely get extra points in my "crazy allowance." He smiled as he said it and made sure I knew that he was joking...but also serious. He reminded me that any woman who has been in my shoes has the right to freak out now and then and that I should always feel free to come in to L&D, but not to bother going to the ambulatory care center.

So we were released around 1:30 am and drove home. J's mom headed back to her house, despite our insistence that she sleep in our guest room for the night. Later I saw that she had washed a bunch of the larger dishes in my sink. If you read this, thank you a ton! It was so helpful! So in bed a bit after 2:00, and back up at 6:00 to get J ready for work and M ready for school. I had an appointment scheduled with my ob/gyn for 9:20, so I went pretty much straight there. He wasn't very worried about my blood pressure readings from the night before, chalking it up to anxiety, especially since it got back down to normal last night and was normal at his office that morning. He did want to see me in one week instead of the usual two just to be safe. I'm ok with that! He wasn't happy with what the receptionist told me the day before, but his nurse was especially angry when I told her. "Of course we would have called you back yesterday! Reduced fetal movement is an emergency! She should know that. Next time, you don't bother with her, sweetie! You just tell her you want to talk to me or the other nurse and we'll call you right back. I'm so sorry!!" She was really upset! My ob/gyn said the reduced movement was likely because Q has shifted positions and sleeps more, though he also said I did the right thing by coming in. "Always get checked if you're worried!"

So the walk continues, though much slower today since we're all so tired. Early bedtimes for the whole family tonight. I may walk slower, but I walk a little more confidently. I am proud that I listened to my gut, even if Q ended up being fine. I am proud of J for standing with me and helping me decide to go, and for reinforcing that there is no cost too high for my piece of mind. I am glad for good interactions with hospital and office staff. And I'm mostly glad that Q is doing so well. 9 weeks and 6 days until due date, sweet boy!