How long does your NST take?

It's been a while since I had one (my pregnancy with my singleton) and I don't remember. I'm supposed to schedule one this week, and I usually take DS to my non-u/s appointments with me, but I'm thinking I probably need to arrange for DH to be with him during the NST test...?

 

It's been a while since I had one (my pregnancy with my singleton) and I don't remember. I'm supposed to schedule one this week, and I usually take DS to my non-u/s appointments with me, but I'm thinking I probably need to arrange for DH to be with him during the NST test...?

 

I do mine at the OB's office. By the time I get there and get hooked up and then get checked by the Dr. it is somewhere around and hour and a half. It just depends on how active and cooperative the babies are. If DH could watch DS I probably would, at least the first time!

 

You could be there for hour(s) or you could be there for 20 minutes. If you can arrange for care for your son I would do it.

 

Ditto above - when I had my first around 30 weeks, I was there almost 2 hours b/c it was hard to keep those babies on the monitors. Now I am there for maybe 45 minutes to an hour b/c babies are bigger and easier to keep on the monitors.

 

My shortest was around 20 min. My longest was almost 2 hours. Just depends on how cooperative those little babies are being.

 

I've taken to drinking a glass of chocolate milk before I go and it seems to help. I've also scheduled mine during the day when I know the girls are fairly active. So far my longest one has been 45 mins. Depending on where you have it done (I have mine at the hospital), policies are different. If my girls haven't passed in an hour I'm sent to u/s for a BPP automatically and the Peri takes it from there.

 

Crap!! 2 hours!! Yikes! They never took that long with DS I don't think! Wish I could remember exactly.

I think I'll try to schedule them at L&D... the peri is the one ordering them, but he doesn't do them at his office, so he said it's between me and the OB when and where to schedule them - her office or L&D. But if I can go to L&D in the evening so DH can be with DS, that would be idea.

Thanks for the replies!

 

quote:
I do mine at the OB's office. By the time I get there and get hooked up and then get checked by the Dr. it is somewhere around and hour and a half.


Me too, it's always so hard to keep the babies on...the nurse stays the whole time with me to keep the monitors on them!

I would say average is 45minutes to an hour for my NST's

 

mine were usually an hour (plus or minus). I learned how to reposition the monitors myself - I did a better job than the nurses since I could distinguish btwn them better - IDs with very similar htbts. Ditto on drinking juice or having a snack right before.

 

Mine were never more than 35 minutes. I took my 5 year old dd with me every time. She actually started helping the technician strap the velcro around my waist after the first couple of appointments. Ha! We would sit and play word and letter games while the test was running, and it was never a problem.