I know it's going to be tempting to be incredibly envious as you read this blog post, but please remember that not everyone gets this fabulous opportunity.
As those of you who have been pregnant before know, the 28th week of pregnancy or so marks that wonderful time when you get to do the glucose test. For those of you who don't know, it consits of drinking a bottle of this foul, extra-sugary Kool Aid, sitting in boredom in a lab for one hour and then having blood drawn. For your drinking pleasure, they have flavored foul liquid! You can choose from lemon-lime, orange or cola flavored. Mind you, it's not carbonated or even cold, but you have to drink it. I also have to say here that the idea of flat, warm, cola-flavored liquid seriously sends a shiver up my spine. Ick!
Last Monday the 22nd I went to have this test done, still remembering the nastiness of my first go-round with it 4 years ago. The lady at the lab asks me which flavor. I must go on a tangent here and say that asking me which flavor of this stuff is like asking a condemned prisoner if she'd prefer to be executed via firing squad, hanging or being beaten over the head with rocks by angry monkeys. Really, does it matter? The end result is just as horrid no matter which choice one makes. I consider a moment before choosing lemon-lime. I chug it down as fast as I can because your hour waiting time doesn't start until you're finished. It leaves this weird, sugary residue in your mouth that is NOT a nice way to start the day.
After my hour of waiting, I do the blood draw and then leave, hoping that my ordeal is over forever.
No such luck. Two days later I get a call from my doctor's office that my blood glucose was too high. I have been selected to do the longer 3-hour test and they want me to do it ASAP to rule out gestational diabetes.
In case some of you don't know, the three hour test consists of the following:
1. You go to a lab while fasting and have blood drawn upon arrival.
2. You drink sugary stuff that's twice as sugary as the first batch they gave you. That's their way of throwing a bone at you...instead of making you drink twice as much, they make it twice as sugary (this time I chose the oh-so-delicious orange).
3. Have blood drawn every hour for three hours. I should also add here that they won't let you leave the lab during this period so you're stuck.
Again, I drank the nasty stuff and the lady at the lab warned me that the first hour was the worst. Immediately I got a headache, my hands got shaky, I starting feeling sick and wanted to pretty much die. All I could think about was throwing up. However, I had been forewarned that if I got sick I'd have to come back, fast again, drink more stuff and do it another day. That pretty much sent any thought of barfing right out of my head.
That was Friday and I had to wait through the weekend to get the results. Finally, Monday afternoon the doctor's office called to tell me I did NOT have gestational diabetes. I have to admit that my first thought wasn't relief. It was: "I drank more of that crap for nothing?"
I can see why some of you are envious. Really, just aspire to be the best you can be and maybe someday you'll get to pick the method of your execution like I did.
Oh, and attached is my 7 months pregnant photo. I know it's very timely considering I'm now 7 1/2 months pregnant. Sorry my head is almost cut off, but when a 4 year old takes your photo you sort of live with the results. All is well. Just had a checkup yesterday and they said everything looks a-ok. Seth is still breech, but I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that that's how he is going to stay. The ultrasound tech said he looks awfully comfy in there.
