Results of First NST

First things first -- thanks to everyone for visiting the site. I really enjoy seeing that folks are coming to the blog.

This morning, Kiersten went to her first NST appointment. Let me briefly explain the setup, which is not unlike Baby Jeopardy played at our baby shower. A monitor is attached to Kiersten's abdomen to listen to the baby's heart rate. Kiersten holds a buzzer and clicks it whenever she feels the baby move. The baby's movement is matched up with the heart rate to create a tracing similar to the one below (no, that is not our baby's tracing).

The result of today's test was the baby looked great! It responded well to its own movements. Kiersten's blood pressure, however, was still high. Her doctor prescribed medication to deal with the hypertension.

Due to her elevated BP, Kiersten did not feel well this afternoon. After a few hours following the first dose, though, her BP is down to a normal level, and she is feeling much better. Hopefully we will have an uneventful weekend and will have additional droll updates for all of next week.

Since there is always room for a silly story in all the seriousness, let me share yet another with you. Kiersten's belly button was an innie at the beginning of this process and she has worried that it would pop to an outtie when she started to show. With my vast medical knowledge, I informed her that it would not pop until the baby was ready to come out. Its Nature's "turkey popper". Sure enough, it's popping. By my estimate, her belly button is halfway popped, so we still have some time left, but it has not been calibrated, so I cannot say exactly how long we have left.

Dislclaimer: I am not now or ever have been a medical professional. I do not play one on TV nor do I have an honorary degree in any of the medical sciences. You should consult the appropriate accredited and licensed professional when determining your due date.

Doctor Follow-Up

Kiersten had her first checkup this morning. Her BP was elevated, but no other symptoms have crept up. Her doctor is concerned about the situation and has instructed Kiersten to get two Fetal Non-Stress Tests (NST) a week. The NST is a test to evaluate how the baby is handling the stress caused by the hypertension. Hopefully, Kiersten's body will be able to determine when the baby is ready to begin labor. However, if the hypertension begins to overwhelm the baby, this test will alert her doctor and she may induce labor.

It is now a waiting game. We have read stories and many of you have shared stories of women who went through the same situation and have healthy babies. Although it is a serious situation, we at least know that it often has good outcome.

On the positive side:

• The swelling in her left foot subsided overnight and is only slightly more swollen that her right foot,
  
• Kiersten will most likely deliver sooner rather than later,
• Now that Kiersten is on maternity leave from work, she will not have to deliver after working all day,
• I will not have to get the feared "phone call" from the hospital.

Kiersten will go to her first NST tomorrow and I will be sure to give you another quick update then.

Week 35 Milestones

Week 35 is here!

Years ago, I was on a development team where, besides working on our daily coding, we took many coffee breaks and played all sorts of games. One such game was to a 20-questions guessing game where each clue would begin "In Jeffrey's world ". Here is a little look into my world of Week 35.

So why is this week so important? Because, the kid's chances for a healthy birth just went to 99%. It's only two nines, but in my world that makes the cut. Although the baby has been in the safe zone for a couple weeks, now we have arrived in Jeffrey's Safe Zone.

Also, in my world there has existed a fear that one day I would send Kiersten off to work only to receive a call later in the day that she went into a labor. Of course, in my world I would frantically attempt to get to the hospital in some sort of Nine Months-esque comedy of errors. While this is very amusing to ponder, this past Monday saw my premonition come half-true.

As part of my normal, haphazard routine, I slept through Kiersten's departure for work. I went about my normal day, more coding and coffee. Kiersten has been battling swelling in her feet and had gained about five pounds over two days. A call to her doctor seemed prudent. The doc was concerned, ordered tests, and Kiersten's coworkers took care of drawing blood and such. Now, you might think it is mighty convenient to have all those nurses around in this situation, but Kiersten soon found herself whisked off to a room, hooked up to monitors, and transformed into the patient.

Cue the phone call... Kiersten gives me a call, she's ok...getting tests...blood pressure is up...having minor contractions! Ok, so it was not The Phone Call I feared, but it was close enough that I will claim that the prophecy criteria have been met in this case. Kiersten rested, meditated, and called me with more updates as the day went on. Her tests came back with normal results, her blood pressure was slowly coming down, and the baby checked out healthy and strong. The possibility remained that Kiersten would have to stay overnight if her BP did not return to normal while resting. Fortunately, some quiet time and meditation did lower her BP and I was able to pick her up at the end of her shift.

Now, what happened? Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), or gestational hypertension. You may have heard of or be familiar with pre-eclampsia. This is not what Kiersten has. I have not included a site on PIH because most sites seem to equate PIH and pre-eclampsia which, as I understand, is incorrect. The symptoms Kiersten has at this point are high blood pressure during higher levels of activity and swelling in the feet and legs. There is a risk that Kiersten will develop pre-eclampsia. Since she is fairly close to the end of the pregnancy, we hope that she will "outrun" that scenario. While her doctor has not required bed rest, Kiersten has officially left work on maternity leave following the advice of her doctor. She will be monitored on a weekly basis until she delivers and will be pampered with extra attention at home, of course.

The baby seems to be unphased by the event. The kicks are still coming and I am excited as ever to meet our child. I will keep you updated on any new developments.

Baby Shower, The Day After

Our baby shower was held on Saturday in Brooklyn and we had a fabulous time!

First things first, the pictures and videos are here. You should know the secret phrase by now!

As a guy, I have not attended any baby showers beyond cake and gifts at work, so I really had no idea what to expect. I did know that two of my friends, The Cindys, and my sister-in-law, Casey, were planning the event -- all creative, capable party-planners. Casey had been emailing my wife questions about her pregnancy for weeks, so I also knew that some kind of project was underway.

For those dads-to-be and their male brethren, here is a simple breakdown of the event: food, gifts, and games of skill. Definitely well within the range of warrior skills; consumption, hording, and competition. Cindy and Seth outdid themselves in the food department. Feeding a large crowd of foodies is always a challenge and they did it Gourmet Style all the way!

Babies make people go crazy, in a good way. I suppose it makes sense that babies bring about universal excitement and joy...it's good for the species. But beyond the practicality of babies, our friends' and family's generosity of books, clothes, advice, toys, and other supplies has provided us with an instant Baby HQ. The kid has got a home, the Pack-n-Play, and plenty of onesies, socks, and hats. I also love the library of everyone's favorite books that we now posses. Kiersten and I cannot thank everyone enough for helping us get prepared.

So the secret project that Casey devised and executed turned out to be a Baby Book filled out with our thoughts, impressions, milestone dates, pictures, and advice from family members. This elicited an emotional and tearful thank you from Kiersten. I knew Casey was going to hit us with something spectacular and she definitely delivered. We are anxious to complete the book with the birthday stats!

Last but not least, the games of skill! CindyC spent some serious time creating Baby Jeopardy. The categories ranged from Bedtime Stories to Famous Babes and she had crafted answers for 100 - 1000 points in each category. Even more impressive, Cindy and Seth incorporated their Tivo into the game-play to display some extra-specially edited pictures. I definitely appreciated the techno-boost, as we have hopefully created a techno-baby.

Again, we thank everyone able to make the trip from near and far and for everyone there in spirit! You have totally gotten us off to a great start. The Pack-n-Play is up and Kiersten has organized the clothes, books, and supporting supplies into their appropriate cubbies. We have a few weeks to go (see above), but we feel prepared for the arrival.

The Big Baby Shower Day

Today is the big day! My wife and I are attending a "modern" baby shower in our honor.

In my mind, the shower is a big milestone following the major dad-to-be milestones I have experienced:

• Getting the official "we have a live one" pregnancy confirmation from the doctor,
• Hearing and seeing the heartbeat for the first time (this may be the same event or two separate events),
• Any ultrasound,
• Feeling the first kick (Dec 30, 2006 for me).

Any current dad can tell you, the pregnancy can be hard to relate to in the first few months. During this time, the pregnancy is fairly abstract or intangible. You can't see any difference, feel any difference, or hear the baby swimming around. Until you are able to get some sort of physical evidence, making the connection takes a little work. Make a daily effort, the mom will appreciate it.

At 32 weeks, however, that's all changed. My wife has the perfect pregnant silhouette and I get to feel the baby kick, roll, and hiccup. It's fun to hear my wife explain all the baby's habits and various maneuvers. We've identified the following so far:

• standard kicking and punching,
• baby barrel roll (usual elicits a suprised exclamation from my wife),
• Karate Kid "wax on, wax off" performed with the feet,
• stretching (I think the baby has been listening closely to the yoga instructor),
• hiccups.
  

Many of our friends and family we will be seeing today have not seen either of us in the past 6 weeks. I am excited for everyone to see Kiersten and I am looking forward to watching the attention Kiersten gets. The excitement and interest that everyone has shown has surprised me, or it never occurred to me that other people would be as excited as I am. Sounds wierd, it's true, and I am welcome to share the experience!