Non Stress Tests - it's a machine that monitors the heartbeats of babies. You have a paddle for each baby and one to measure any contractions. The paddles are placed on your tummy with a bit of gel and they are able to pick up the heartbeats. The machine prints out a report and from that it can be determined if your babies are in any distress. As for how long it depends on why you are being monitored but you need to be on for a bit to make sure any patterns are being picked up.
when i had mine they went from 20 minutes to an hour. eat something with sugar. i would eat a candy bar a20 miutes before i went in. they want the babies to move around and so they can get a better idea. when you had your first child remember when you went into labor and when you got to the hospital they put these paddles on your belly and you heard the heartbeat. well it's the same thing.
Just because I've had literally hundreds of them - if your babies are small to much movement isn't good! They can't keep them on the machine and it's frustrating for everyone. I would suggest that you make sure you have a drink, something to eat and maybe a magazine before they start - and of course go to the toilet! My longest one was 6 hours and it was truly dreadful (but worth it to know my babies were alright though!)
mine didn't go to well.. son is not behaving. It was like almost 2 hours trying to monitor him we are doing biophysical instead. They are usual 20-30 minutes.
Less than 30 minutes both times ... drink some orange juice before you go ... helps them jump up and down!
They test the heartrates of the babies and sees if you are having contractions. They were about 30 minutes for me, but it all depends on how cooperative the babies are. They are looking for the range of heartrates of the babies. I would always fall asleep during mine I was so tired!
We were told one paddle measured contractions and one measured baby A's heatrate and one Baby B's heartrate. Apparently they ar elooking for 2 increases in heart rate to show activity and then they want it to come back down to the base. Mine were usually about 40 minutes, but the final one was the day I delivered and it was over an hour. They said when an NST gets that long, it is time to deliver. I was told by the nurse that they want to see the heart rate increase and decrease 2x in 20 minutes so 20 minutes is the shortest it can be.
I had probably 25 of them. (All for the twin pregnancy) Shortest would be 1-2 hours. Longest would be all day 8 hrs - those were often when they couldn't get a good reactive strip on each and had to to ultrasounds. They were a pain in the butt - but SOOOO worth the peace of mind and healthy twins!
I hated those. Had to have them every week for the last four weeks of my pregnancy. It wasn't very close by and had to keep taking time off work, this was on top of my weekly o.b appts. Hated doing all that commuting.
Wow… what a difference in time… thank you every one… I’m glad I asked… I will keep DH at work… he doesn’t need to come listen to heart beats for 6 hours… when I went to book the appointments (so I get the times I want) she said it’s generally 20 min and could take up to an hour… but I’m glad I asked the real “professionals” so I’m not totally freaked out if it goes over I’m not looking forward to commuting twice a week for this… Elizabeth
Timewise - It will totally depend on how easy your babies can be picked up. Can also depend on how good the person is who is doing it. For me they wanted to see each baby have a awake time with lots of movement and then slow down and have some sleep. The strips can be a bit confusing and it always worried me until I understood them so do ask for an explanation when you are having them done - I found it quite interesting. You will know right at the beginning if it's going to be a long haul or not. Make sure they put alot of gel on otherwise it can get uncomfortable - of course there is lots of women who are allergic to the gel. Pay attention to where they usually pick up the heartbeats - saves time when you can give the nurse of idea where to start. I feel for you they get old really fast!
I have been having them twice a week for 4 weeks.... Thank goodness the Peri is now got us doing one at the OB and then a sono so I still go twice a week. Today they almost cooperated, I was only there for 2 hours.
I get 1 every week. Going for my 3rd one Monday. The longest was an hour and a half and the shortest was 30 min. so far. Depends on how they are moving. Eat a good breakfast.
