The Glucose Test

One of those pregnancy milestones that I didn't know about until I was pregnant is the glucose test. It detects if you have developed gestational diabetes. You drink this really sweet, concentrated liquid and then have your blood drawn an hour later. If you fail this test, you do another one that lasts three hours. And you do the second test fasting. I just took this test on Tuesday. I failed the first one, so I had to go back in the next day for the three hour test, which I passed. SO, I do not have gestational diabetes (YAY!).

People (pregnant people) say lots of things about this test: That drink is so gross! Don't eat candy the week before the test. Don't get the orange flavor. Oh, I remember that test (grimace).

I was a little worked up about this test for the month leading up to it, just from what people have said. But it's really not that bad. It's certainly not fun, but compared to other horrible things that could happen during this baby making business, not that bad.

The drink is really, really sweet. I was given the fruit punch flavor which tastes like one cup of red Kool-Aid powder mixed with one cup of water. The worst part about the drink is the after taste, because you can't drink water throughout the duration of the testing time. I think when people tell me I can't drink water, I immediately want a large glass of it, filled with ice and sweating on the sides.

If you have to take the three hour test, you drink twice as much of this liquid. It seems more gross the second time around because you drink more of it, you are stuck with the after taste for three hours and probably you're bummed that you have to take the second test anyway. Either time, you feel like you just ate 5 jelly filled donuts.

The second part of this test is having blood drawn, which makes me anxious because a phlebotomist hit a tendon or nerve in my arm at the beginning of this pregnancy (OUCH!). For the first test, they draw blood once. For the second test, they draw blood 4 times, once every hour. It definitely felt more tender every time they drew blood, and my elbow pits look like pin cushions, but it wasn't painful.

In my small little town, I got both test results back the same day. My friend in Houston said she waited a week for test results, so it varies. But that's it. Not a hard test to take - from the perspective of a person who does not have gestational diabetes!

I mean, really, a food related health issue that this food allergic girl does not have. What a relief!