NST #2

(Caution: this one is more graphic than the last so don't feel obligated to read, just know it was a rough day!)

I was scheduled for my 2nd NST Tuesday morning at 11am. Alas, I woke up yet again at 3am. This time I had soaked a super pad in addition to myself. Yes, I freaked out at having lost that much fluid and blood again. Especially since I hadn't wanted to go to sleep the night before for fear of a repeat and had stayed up watching "Fatal Attractions" with my MIL until 11. Yep, 4 hours of sleep and I was up again! I decided, since we had rushed in the day before and the bleeding had decreased pretty fast I would ride this one out a little before waking James up again. So I took a shower and got dressed, ready to go if we needed to. All morning the bleeding played mind games with me - a fair amount, hardly any, hmmm....should we go in?, nothing. So weird!

I decided if I soaked another pad or started having contractions or an elevated temperature, I was going to go in early again. I didn't get any of those, so I went to my scheduled appointment at 11. And boy did I luck out!

I saw Dr. M walk by twice while I was in the waiting room. He was the attending all day on Tuesday so it was a comfort just to know that he was there. Poor man looked pretty dang tired, though, so I was hoping not to have to bother him.

The nurse (Becca) who was with me on Tuesday was fabulous! Soooo nice! She got me all hooked up to the monitors and brought in water. Our little man was moving like crazy so it took a little while to get his heartbeat on the monitor and she had to come back in once or twice to readjust to get him back on. Just when all seemed well, like I could just relax and finish my book, I felt "it". I do believe most women can relate to that sensation when you know you're bleeding so I called the nurse in. We had debated using a hospital gown, but I hadn't had much blood when I went into the bathroom before she hooked me up and I had another super pad on so we had decided to just go for it. Can't imagine too many women are keen on walking out of the hospital with blood on their pants, though, so I opted to err on the side of caution and interrupt the monitoring for a few minutes.

There wasn't a whole lot of blood, but I was definitely bleeding. She said that that amount isn't usually cause for concern but since I'd already soaked one that day and was still bleeding on and off, there was a good chance that they would be repeating the tests from yesterday. (Believe me, I was going to fight the speculum idea!) She pointed out that, even though baby looked great, the blood loss could cause problems for me - anemia and making myself sick being the big ones. She said she would talk to Dr. Somebody, I'm not familiar with him/her, so I specifically asked for Dr. M because I knew he was there. She was so great to listen to me and answer all my questions and actually get Dr. M instead of just whomever. I just don't like having to deal with other doctors who don't know my history. I trust him more than anyone else there so if I can, I'd rather see him than anyone else with less experience.

I have been concerned that the bleeding could be from the placenta. She reassured me that baby looking good on the monitor was a great sign that he was getting plenty of oxygen and, therefore, the placenta was okay. I had asked if we could do a quick ultrasound to check and she said that most doctors will just do one weekly if baby looks okay but she also said it's up to the doctor and it just depends on who you get as to what they'll do. She was thinking we would end up drawing samples again, but who knows?

About 5 minutes later, I could hear Dr. M in the room and Nurse B telling him that I was having some bleeding and he said, "What's she doing that for?" Gotta love his responses! 30 seconds later he was dragging the sono machine in and did check the baby and the placenta. Both looked fabulous. Still low on fluid, but I don't think anyone is surprised by that at this point. Baby is still vertex. To which Dr. M said, "I like this kid!" Me, too! So that leads to the theory that, with baby being as active as he is, he could be banging his head against my cervix and, since there isn't a fluid cushion, seriously irritating it that way.

Since I wasn't bleeding heavily, they had gotten at least 10-15 good minutes on the monitor with baby's heartrate constantly staying in the 135-140 bpm range and no contractions, everything looking great on the ultrasound, I was given the clear to go back home.

Honestly, I was starting to think that Tuesday would be the day they admitted me. Glad that it wasn't! Also so glad I got the nurse I did. She really was great and talked to me quite a bit during and after the monitoring. She encouraged me to just come in any time I soak a pad rather than wait at all. She also said that it used to be standard procedure for anyone who ruptured to be admitted right then, that it's only been more recently that women have been allowed to bedrest at home and that I must live pretty close (we really aren't more than 10 minutes from the hospital) or that probably wouldn't be an option for me as things can go pretty fast. I asked her what most women who've ruptured experience when going into labor. (Both times I've gone into labor before, it's been initiated with my water breaking. With Trevy the contractions came hard and frequent within about 15 minutes. For the twins, it took a little longer for the contractions to get strong enough for me to really feel them.) She said that most women will get a tight feeling in the top of their uterus and some cramping and pressure. Just nice to have some idea what to expect this time around!

To set everyone's mind a little more at ease, both Dr. M and Nurse B told me that bleeding pretty much just comes with the territory. Most PROM moms will have some bleeding at some point. Usually, if you're already in the hospital, they'll bring you up for monitoring and keep a closer eye on you until the bleeding slows down. It's not uncommon to have a few episodes before baby comes.