Day ~185

Saturday morning, I went to yoga as usual. When I got home, I sat down to catch up on some emails, and suddenly became so very, very tired ... I actually got into bed and fell asleep for two hours! Take note: I never, ever nap. I am a night owl. And if I do lie down, I always lie down on the couch. The bed is for sleeping at night. But Saturday ... every cell in my body told me to go back to bed and sleep. So I did.

I was tired again Sunday, tired again Monday, tired again Tuesday. And Miss Belly, along with my tiredness, stopped moving around as often and as vigorously. So on Wednesday, getting increasingly worried, I went into the doctor's office. Blood pressure - perfect. Temperature - perfect. Lung sounds - perfect. Baby heart beat - perfect. So what was wrong? Was it sudden-onset third trimester symptoms? Something else? The doc, wonderful and compassionate as always, decided it would be "reasonable" to send my over to the hospital for a "Non-Stress Test." Oh, how hilriously named could it be!

So, I headed straight over, and walked into the maternity ward, and they put me into a quiet room with a nice, soft hospital bed, and strapped two soft belts around me, with round discs the size of coasters placed just so to hear Miss Belly's heart. And there we rested, for two whole hours. Her heart beat filled the room with its swishswish sound, and when she moved - she did move a few times - it echoed with a scratchy rumble. The monitor gently churned out a grid with the zaggy blue line that showed each beat.

Once - just once - the swishswishswish halted, stammered ... and stopped. I sat up in bed a little. Looked at the screen. Yup - the blue line dropped in a long V to the bottom of the grid. And then, swishswishswish, she picked right back up again. I called the nurse. She said she'd seen the same thing (they were monitoring everything from another room) - that is was probably totally normal - she was probably playing with cord. But she'd page my doc, and talk it over with him.

Long story short - they decided that although it really wasn;t too worrisome, and everything else on the test looked fine, we should test again. If there is another "variable," we'll do an ultrasound. If not - we'll proceed as normal.

Yes - everyone has recommended that I chug some orange juice ... drink ice water ... lie down ... play music ... none of it makes Miss Belly jump into action. She's given me a few kicks today - not as many, and definitely not as strong. My belly hasn't really jumped, I don't feel any rolling around or jabs. Just a few pokes, and few vague motions, a few times per day.

Miss Belly - are you just busy growing? I wish you could tell me that you were doing just fine ... I wonder if I should ask for an ultrasound anyway, just to ease my mind and to see you again.

Saturday, we leave for a week's vacation at the coast. Hopefully, my mind will be at ease by then, and both of us can rest, breathe the sea air, and grow ...