Non-Stress Testing can be STRESS INDUCING!

Whew! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind! Here's what's been going on . . .

Because of Mirabel's mysterious cavum septum vergae (I don't even think that's spelled right, but that is apparently what they are calling the 'growth' in her brain that may just be a "normal variant") and because of the increased amount of fluid in her sack, the perinatologist doctor decided weeks ago that I would need to be seen twice weekly for Non-Stress Testing (hereafter, N.S.T.'s) to monitor BOTH babies' heart-rates (to make sure that neither baby is in distress). In every appointment thus far, the babies have been closely monitored and have had to have biophysical profiles (ultrasounds) to confirm that they were not in distress. Their heart-rates are both always in the "normal" range, but Mirabel's heart-rate wasn't fluctuating as the doctors would have liked to see through my contractions. It is "normal" for a babies' heart-rate to increase (if healthy) or decrease (if in distress) when the mother has contractions. For some reason, Mirabel's heart-rate was just staying the same. So last Friday the perinatologist doctor decided that it was time we did a Stress-Test, where I was given Pitocin (Oxytocin) to induce stronger contractions, in order to examine more clearly the babies' response to stress. The contractions were PAINFUL (as I'm sure labor is about to be!) and it was hard to get the babies to stay on the heart-rate monitor, so the test took quite a while. But in the end, both babies' heart-rates showed the fluctuations the doctors were looking for, the Pitocin was turned off, the contractions ended, and we were sent home.

Then yesterday I woke up with a sore throat. Great. I've caught a cold.

Tomorrow, we go in again for another N.S.T., but this time the perinatologist has decided that he wants to do an Amniocentesis to confirm that the babies (especially Mirabel) are fully developed and ready for this world! The Amnio can tell us immediately if the babies are in any kind of distress and how mature they are. Tomorrow I will officially be 36-weeks pregnant and that is FULL-TERM for twins, so if necessary, tomorrow may just be their birthdays!

We are praying, of course, for whatever needs to happen to benefit the babies most. Both babies are very active, so that is a continual reassuring sign of their good health. Still, we need your prayers that the babies are healthy and that whatever happens, all will go well for them!! : )