After finding out Nikolai had Trisomy 21, I had to go to the specialist twice a week to get a Non-stress test performed. It is a 30 minute test that involves two transducers that monitor Nikolai's heart beat and my uterine contractions (if I was having any). For those mothers out there, Its pretty much the same machine they use to measure your contractions during labor. The nurse explained that the machine will find a baseline of his heart rate and every time he moves or kicks that his heart rate should increase causing the line to spike. If it was a good acceleration it should reach 15 bpm (beats per minute) but 10 is average and acceptable. So the goal was that Nikolai would move more than two times in 30 minutes or I would have to stay longer until he did. But he likes showing off so every acceleration was 15 bpm. He would just do it on his time. It was annoying having to go so often but when i got in the office for my weekly sonogram i was nothing but happy. I was lucky, how many mothers get to see her baby and listen to his heart beat for an hour every week. Usually we would go on Tuesdays and Thursdays but one week we switched it up to Monday and Friday. Since we went so often I got the same nurses every time who knew how stubborn Nikolai is and the tricks to pull if he wouldn't cooperate. So when we changed the days this meant a new nurse for Nikolai to torture. (Side note, When I say he was stubborn he really is. It would take no less than an hour when we got sonograms for a decent picture. We didn't get a photo of his face until I was about 8 months pregnant. When we were in Las Vegas my aunt paid for us to get a "memory sono" where they recorded the session and we received a DVD and photos. After an hour of awkward positions, jumping around and an aggravated technician we finally got a decent picture of his face.) So back to the main story....
The new nurse had trouble finding a good reading of his heart but found it with a little bit of help. I begin reading a magazine and got so wrapped up in the article that I didn't realize it had been 15 minutes without any kicking or rolling over, until the nurse approached me. "Someone's being stubborn today" she says "No he is always like this, he does what he wants when he wants." She goes into the drawer next to me and pulls out a small grey flashlight looking tool. It is used on bellies with non moving babies. The vibrations and loud buzzing noise usually surprises the baby enough to move. She places the tool on the top of my tummy and at the exact same moment Nikolai kicks me so hard in the same spot that the nurse jumps back scared. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" The other mothers there start laughing with me. "I told you he does what he wants."
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