Non stress test

amy060715

Has anyone ever had the non stress test on their baby before? I'm going for one tomorrow bc of gestational diabetes and just curious as to what goes on.

sweetmama17

I had them weekly last time. From my experience, I was in a recliner for about 20 minutes with a monitor strapped to my belly. I had to push a button every time I felt the baby move.

bumpuser10583032

I've had two because of bp issues. Laid in a bed for about an hour with a monitor on, and pushed a button when I felt the baby move. No biggie.

stepherly

sweetmama17 said:

I had them weekly last time. From my experience, I was in a recliner for about 20 minutes with a monitor strapped to my belly. I had to push a button every time I felt the baby move.

Exactly this^^. I had one done last Thursday and will be having them done weekly going forward. I was told it can vary between 20-30 minutes. (Mine was probably closer to 20 minutes.)

mamajack86

Good info, I need to start them at 32 weeks as well and I had no idea what to expect!

djoliet

Had them last pregnancy because of GD and I was just hooked to monitor for like 30 mins and they monitored heart accelerations and deceleration and whether I was having any contractions. I never had to pass the button every time the baby moved though. I know it's pretty common to do though, my Dr's office just didn't do it. I have GD again with this pregnancy and start mine in 2 weeks at 32 weeks as well.

lakimmel

Having one done this week at 33 weeks for high BP. FTM so no advice really to give you. Like PP, I am expecting it to not be a big deal. Good luck!

JenniCollins

Mine start weekly at 34 weeks. I get them because I'm having twins. Because There are two babies to monitor I was told it will probably take at least an hour. I don't do any button pushing, just hang out with monitors on the babies.

shlittertoots

I had one a few weeks ago when he went a day with no movement.  They just strapped two monitors to my belly (one for heart rate and one for movement) and I just sat in a recliner for about 30 minutes.  

msarnold1013

I have them done weekly. Sometimes I can be done in 20 mins, other times it takes a lot longer. Bring a cold water, maybe some soda or coffee (for the caffeine) and some candy. Not sure if it's like this for anyone else, but they don't let me leave until they're very satisfied. If baby isn't moving too much, the soda or candy usually always helps out!!

cafecreme

I had them with my last pregnancy, weekly, for 5 weeks (until she was born). What they will do is put a monitor on your belly to monitor the baby's heartbeat. They want to see it get up to at least 160-170's within an hour. They normally give you water or juice to help get the baby active. You are normally in a nice reclining chair and you get TV access/ WI-FI (at least mine did). 

If the baby is stubborn (like mine was), they might resort to a hand held piece of equipment that makes a loud noise, and put it up against your belly. 

They will also measure the 4 sections of the amniotic fluid (top right of baby, top left, bottom right and bottom left), and make sure it's "normal", or at least non-changing. For diabetes it's normally an over-supply of amniotic fluid, but I had the opposite. 

If they see a huge difference, or question for concern, they'll immediately take you to L&D. I would bring a bag of necessities just in case. 

goofygoff

I started having them done twice weekly at 32 weeks, due to having medically controlled GD.  

So far, they've only taken me 20 minutes because I have a little show-off.  I don't use the button thinger; they just keep an eye out for accelerations on the monitor.  They'll also take my pulse and blood pressure.  But that's about it.

Galin

cafecreme said:

I had them with my last pregnancy, weekly, for 5 weeks (until she was born). What they will do is put a monitor on your belly to monitor the baby's heartbeat. They want to see it get up to at least 160-170's within an hour. They normally give you water or juice to help get the baby active. You are normally in a nice reclining chair and you get TV access/ WI-FI (at least mine did). 

If the baby is stubborn (like mine was), they might resort to a hand held piece of equipment that makes a loud noise, and put it up against your belly. 

They will also measure the 4 sections of the amniotic fluid (top right of baby, top left, bottom right and bottom left), and make sure it's "normal", or at least non-changing. For diabetes it's normally an over-supply of amniotic fluid, but I had the opposite. 

If they see a huge difference, or question for concern, they'll immediately take you to L&D. I would bring a bag of necessities just in case. 

An NST doesn't include any kind of ultrasound to look at fluid, that would be an AFI--which can be done by itself or as part of a larger u/s study called a BPP. Also an NST does not have a parameter of 160-170's for a heart rate, you just need to show at least two accelerations of either 10x10 or 15x15 over baseline depending on gestational age within a 20 minute period. Sometimes babies are caught sleeping so the test may take a little longer to get those two accels in 20 minutes.

cafecreme

Galin said:

I had them with my last pregnancy, weekly, for 5 weeks (until she was born). What they will do is put a monitor on your belly to monitor the baby's heartbeat. They want to see it get up to at least 160-170's within an hour. They normally give you water or juice to help get the baby active. You are normally in a nice reclining chair and you get TV access/ WI-FI (at least mine did). 

If the baby is stubborn (like mine was), they might resort to a hand held piece of equipment that makes a loud noise, and put it up against your belly. 

They will also measure the 4 sections of the amniotic fluid (top right of baby, top left, bottom right and bottom left), and make sure it's "normal", or at least non-changing. For diabetes it's normally an over-supply of amniotic fluid, but I had the opposite. 

If they see a huge difference, or question for concern, they'll immediately take you to L&D. I would bring a bag of necessities just in case. 

An NST doesn't include any kind of ultrasound to look at fluid, that would be an AFI--which can be done by itself or as part of a larger u/s study called a BPP. Also an NST does not have a parameter of 160-170's for a heart rate, you just need to show at least two accelerations of either 10x10 or 15x15 over baseline depending on gestational age within a 20 minute period. Sometimes babies are caught sleeping so the test may take a little longer to get those two accels in 20 minutes.

I apologize. I was told what I had done was an NST. And I guess 10-15 above baseline was 160's-170's for my daughter. 

Galin

Just wanted to make sure no one was worried if their babies didn't hit that criteria, or think they weren't being taken care of properly if they didn't get an AFI done.

keilani28

I start them at 34 weeks (twice weekly) due to my age. I never had to do them with my previous pregnancies, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Reading everyone's posts gives me a pretty good idea of what it entails. Thanks!

bdazzld

Start mine on the 19th then every 3-4 days after. They don't sound awful though so that's a relief.

randomnames

I'm doing one right now. Just hanging in a comfy chair with monitors strapped to my belly. I wasn't very happy about having to do them at first because I don't think it's necessary (I'm getting them weekly because I'm on thyroid meds), but they are kind of great. A nice relaxing 20-30 minutes listening to my little girl.