Please tell me about NSTs

bmf8140

I have my first one today and may have to bring my 2 year old. Will that be a disaster?

parsleyqueen

You will sit in a chair and be hooked up to a monitor.  They need to get a certain number of movements from each baby, so you could sit there for 20 minutes or you could sit there for an hour.  I'd bring a toy or book or something that will occupy your LO if you have to bring them, because you won't be able to hold them or get up to chase them around.  Good luck!

Omega20

They had me sit in a recliner and strapped monitors on for each baby.  They listened for movement and heart rates.  It takes at least 20 minutes, or longer if they don't see the patterns that they want. 

Maybe you can take some books and your LO can sit in your lap.  I doubt you are allowed to get out of the chair.

IAM4UK

I had to lay in a bed to do mine. They hook you up to the monitors and I had to press a button everytime I felt a kick. I stopped pressing the button after awhile though. The nurses didn't care.

The one time I had to bring my DD, my DH was there to entertain.

If you have a portable DVD player I suggest bringing that. Sometimes my NST's lastest as long as an hour.

Omega20

The other thing I wanted to mention was that I always had some pretty strong contractions during the NSTs.  A couple times I was sure I was going into labor.

AlishaMay

I had them daily when I was in the hospital on bed rest, and like pp said - sometimes it just takes 20 min, but often it took an hour or so.  If you can, bring along a helper.  Sometimes it's hard to get both babies 'on' and the slightest movement, can sometimes cause them to pop of the monitor.  I learned that sometimes they would react to my voice too, so I'd have to be as still and quite as I could. 

RWoods

How early did everyone have to start their NST's?  I have to go starting this week (28 weeks) twice a week...

Kristen61607

Ok please excuse my ignorance...this is my first pregnancy! I've heard of NST's but, what are they for exactly? What is their purpose for the doctors?

Just curious! 

trytryagain

They are "Non Stress Tests".  It lets the doctor know if the little ones are under any type of stress or not. 

 

CinemaGoddess

The NSTs I had were apparently wildly different from everyone else's.

I had to have them every other week starting at 30 weeks and every week starting at 34 weeks.  

They had me lay on my side on one of the exam room beds with a pillow behind my back.  They strapped the sensors to where they thought the girls would be and spent a bit of time trying to differentiate between the different heartbeats (Mine, Katie's, Natty's) by adjusting the sensors. 

The monitor was calibrated to a certain number to detect motion and the heartbeat.  The nurses wanted to see at least 10-15 movements per girl within a 20-25 minute period.  "Movement" consisted of everything from a slight movement of the hand to a full-on kick or flip.   They movement would show up on the monitor tape as an acceleration in heartbeat. 

They generally lasted a little over an hour for me from the time I stepped into the exam room until the doctor cleared us to go.  

For the most part, they aren't painful or difficult to deal with.  Just annoying.

The absolute worst one for me, however, was the second to the last one they did.  I was in so much pain from the hip separation that it was absolute torture laying on my side for longer than about 5 minutes.  Of course, that's the test they had trouble with.  Natty kept moving away from the sensor, so it took them over 2 hours to get the entire test complete.  It was another 15-20 minutes before the doctor had a chance to look at the tapes and clear me to go.  I couldn't move, except to roll to my other side, during that entire time. 

I was in tears by the time it was over.

bmf8140

IAM4UK:

 

If you have a portable DVD player I suggest bringing that. Sometimes my NST's lastest as long as an hour.

Great idea! Now I just have to find ours...