32 Weeks: First Biophysical Profile (BPP)

I had my first fetal monitoring appointment today. Cody went with me so he could see the first one, but the lady that did the test was not particularly friendly or talkative. She didn't really explain anything that was happening. At least he got to see a general idea of what is going to happen. I'll have to go twice per week, so he will definitely miss some of these appointments.

The boys are doing well. They scored an 8/8 on the test. Since I am technically 31weeks 6 days (not quite 32 weeks), they didn't hook me up to the monitor to do the nonstress test. The test today was just a quick ultrasound. My poor boys are going through SO many ultrasounds. Here is a chart that explains what the test is looking at:

Biophysical profile

Measurement	Normal (2 points)	Abnormal (0 points)
Nonstress test	2 or more heart rate increases of 15 beats per minute or more are seen with movement.	Only 1 heart rate increase is seen, or the heart rate does not increase by more than 15 beats with movement.
Breathing movement	1 or more breathing movements last at least 30 seconds.	Breathing movement lasts less than 30 seconds, or no breathing is seen.
Body movement	3 or more movements of the arms, legs, or body	Less than 3 movements of the arms, legs, or body
Muscle tone	Arms and legs are usually flexed and the head rests on the chest. 1 or more extensions and return to flexion are seen, such as the opening and closing of a hand.	The fetus extends slowly and only returns partway to a normal position. The fetus extends but does not return to a normal position. The arms, legs, or spine are extended, or a hand is open.
Amniotic fluid volume (amniotic fluid index)	At least one pocket of amniotic fluid of at least 2 cm (0.8 in.) is seen in the uterine cavity.	Not enough amniotic fluid is seen in the uterine cavity.

This chart and more information can be found here:  http://www.webmd.com/baby/biophysical-profile-bpp?page=3

The full test is scored on a scale of 10.  Each normal observation gets 2 points and each abnormal observation gets 0 points.  Today they looked at breathing movement, body movement, muscle tone, and amniotic fluid volume.  Because everything looked normal, the boys got an 8/8.  They were moving around like crazy, but I couldn't feel them move at all. 

The entire thing took less than 10 minutes.  They will probably charge insurance an obscene amount of money, and it was a big waste of a day... but I guess if they found abnormal results I would be really glad they were doing the monitoring.  I'll be up there again Friday to do this again.