Adventures in NSTs: week 2

So I had two more non-stress tests this week, one on Tuesday and another on Friday.

Tuesday's test was a walk in the park compared to the inaugural test last Friday. I was back in the recliner, but resigned to not get on my side as much as last time and had to defend my choice to the nurse. She got the heart rate right away and Harper kicked and rolled his movements onto the printer and we were in and out of the office in a little under an hour,
cutting our previous experience in half.

Friday, I knew I was going to have to see the nurser practitioner because my doctor was out of town. This was altogether a different experience than any of my other appointments over the last eight months. There are five doctors and about three nurse practitioners and three sonogram technicians, which translates to a lot of patients and a lot of traffic. I am usually having to wait to see the doctor or the sonogram tech for about 15 minutes each at least. I don't think I have ever gotten in there before that. However, on Friday, I wasn't even seated for a minute before getting called up (knowing the stares and sneers coming from the rest of the ladies waiting for who knows how long...I only know this because I do the same thing, thinking, "who the heck is she and how come she gets to go in so fast?") So this time I'm on the other side of the office and have my NST in a regular exam room and get to lay down on the padded exam table. By now, you've got to know I am feeling so justified, so wide-eyed (almost like Georgie on a Christmas Story) you know, all the things you feel just before reality sets in that there is no such thing as greener grass, just a different a different type that still needs regular maintenance and still has it's share of weeds. To all appearances, laying on a bed would seem easier and much more comfortable than the recliner, but the receptor gelled up on my belly was sitting right on the rounded edge of my prego belly and was having difficulty staying flat to pick up Harper's heartbeat. Finally the nurse practitioner had to come in to find a solution, which was to go get another Velcro strip to attach across the top to keep it flat. "Can you raise up your hips so I can slide this under you?" she asks. I begin to say sure as I attempt to follow her instructions only to find out that lying flat on my back in a presumably more comfortable position has sent my sciatica into twitching and lifting my hips seems to be much more difficult than I had thought....good grief!! He did very well and my appointment with the nurse practitioner was good and brief.

All this a reminder of the suffering Christ did for us so that we may know live life abundantly. And although it is no comparison, I must remember that this momentary suffering is all to benefit this baby boy thumping in my belly so that he can have the safest arrival possible and it is sooooo worth it!