These Non-Stress Tests are Stressing Me Out!

My appointment with the OB went well, although since I have an ultrasound scheduled for next week (more on that in a moment) she didn't weigh in on the transverse/vertex question. Sorry everybody, we'll just have to keep waiting - what incredible suspense, right!?!

However, she said something that I hadn't been expecting to hear: apparently, since this has been a somewhat eventful pregnancy, she wants me to start having Non-Stress Tests at 36 weeks. Which is, um, next week. Which is also a HUGE week for me at work (the culmination of a two-year-long project) and I had previously made sure to schedule absolutely nothing to conflict with it. Basically, since the beginning of my pregnancy I've been keeping one eye on the calendar to make sure that I would be available to do whatever I needed to at the office in order to meet this deadline on Friday Sept. 21st. The only way I should be missing work next week is in case of a dire emergency or if I go into labor, which of course could totally happen, so it's going to be a nail-biter to the very end.

I mentioned to my OB that I really couldn't come in at that time, especially toward the end of the week, and she was very understanding and suggested that I go right out to the front desk after my appointment to talk with her scheduling staff and find as convenient a time as possible. Except that the staff weren't able to help me at that exact moment - one person was at lunch, one person wasn't picking up her phone, etc. - so I left my phone number with them and they said the scheduler would call me as soon as possible to discuss my predicament.

That is why I was mildly annoyed when the scheduler called me the next day and began rattling off a list of dates and times that I need to come in for these 3-hour long appointments (yes, you read that right, apparently this takes 3 hours. My OB's practice does the NST first, then an ultrasound, then you meet with one of their docs to discuss the findings, so it's basically half of the workday when you factor in travel time. Does every doctor do this, or am I just lucky?) The first test was scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 20, exactly when I most need to be in the office helping complete this project. I don't envy this person her job - scheduling these things day in and day out must get frustrating - but I kind of feel like as the patient, it's not unreasonable for me to expect that my schedule might be included in the mix as well. I mean, if I can't get to the appointment, how will the party actually get started? And in this specific case, I was very clear at the outset that coming in at any point that week would be problematic, so it was particularly irritating that she just assumed I would be free. No, she said, there were no other appointments so this was the only time they could see me. Click.

I went back and forth over this for a while. Am I a selfish mother for putting my work first? Should I be doing everything I can to monitor my baby even though everything appears to be fine? My MFM didn't think NSTs were necessary at this stage, so is this a second opinion kind of situation? How bad is it if I just cancel the appointment and say "sorry, guys, see you at 37 weeks"? What if I keep the appointment on the books for now, and wait until that day to decide whether I can make it after all?

In the end, I sent my doctor an email, her nurse returned my call, I explained my situation, and this very kind nurse and I are now having a date on Tuesday morning where she will personally run my NST. It's not ideal, but it's a lot better than having to cancel 20 minutes before the Thursday appointment, which was a real possibility. All's well that ends well, but it did get me thinking about the many difficult choices faced by working parents, and how I'm about to be a working mom myself. If I had skipped the test and something bad had happened to the baby, I might never have forgiven myself. But if I had skipped work on such an unbelievably crucial day and the test revealed nothing out of the ordinary, I would be mad about that too (plus I'd be facing the wrath of my coworkers.) There's no perfect solution.

Coming soon: Breastfeeding class! Maternity clothes, part 2! Unrealistic expectations for my upcoming leave!