(34 weeks)
Purse, Belt, Blouse: thrifted, Earrings, Shoes, Jeans: Forever 21, Fox Ring: ASOS, Ruby Ring: great grandma's.
Before I tell my traumatic diabetes story, I just want to make a couple shout outs:
1. Remember that THIS Friday (4 days from now) is CopyCat Friday! I always look forward to this each month as it gives me an excuse to copy someone's outfit and not have to go out and buy a bunch of new things at the end of the paycheck. Start snapping your pics and link back here on Frills on Friday! I can't believe it's already the last week of the month!
2. I am now accepting sponsors/swaps for the month of September! If you're interested click here and then email me at frillsthrills [at] gmail [dot] com!
Ok now on to my story...
I would never make fun out of something so serious as a disease, but I found that the only way to get past my experience (and ever consider being pregnant and doing this again) is to laugh a little.
I think it's between weeks 28-30 of pregnancy that the doctor's like to test you for, what they call, Gestational Diabetes.
The test consists of a timed guzzling of a glucose-saturated drink (think Torani syrup) that they offer in a variety of flavors; orange, lemon lime, or fruit punch. They even come chilled! As a non-soda-drinker I went with the most mild tasting option: lemon lime. The 50 grams of citrus flavored glucose came in one of those miniature water bottles and the nurse gave me four minutes to down it.
I was nervous going into it because I hate soda/overly sweet drinks and this thing had about 16 grams more of sugar than a normal can of soda.
BUT, with the cheering on from my husband and the pressure from the nurses, I finished the last drop about three minutes in.
The funny thing about this drink is that all I kept thinking about was how thirsty I was the whole time! Luckily they then had me give a urine sample (that's part of the test and also common procedure), so while I was in the bathroom I just slurped a bunch of water down from the sink.
We then had to wait in the waiting room for an hour before they took my blood sample (to give my body time to process the sugars).
During
that time I ate some crackers and chewed a piece of gum. I was feeling
confident I’d pass the test.
They
took my blood with a needle and I asked when to expect the results. They said
“no later than Friday.” Today was Monday.
Later
that day I got a voicemail from my
nurse saying that I failed the test. As in, my numbers were too high and they
needed me to go to the hospital to take a more intensive test.
The
follow-up screening involved much more than that first test:
1. You
go to the hospital instead of your regular OBGYN office.
2. Your
appointment must be first thing in the morning (7:00 AM-ish).
3. You
must fast for twelve hours before the test, consuming nothing but water
(torture to a pregnant lady).
4. They
take a “base” blood sample to make sure all your levels are normal even before
you drink a bunch of sugars.
5. They
don’t give you an option of drink flavors (this time they gave me orange and it
actually didn’t taste so bad. It was like twenty melted Otter Pops).
6. You
wait for an hour before the blood draw and then they draw your blood two more
times after that, on the hour. So you’re there for roughly 3-4 hours and they
don’t let you leave the waiting room or eat or drink anything but water.
From
about 2 hours into the fast I was already feeling down about this test. But the
worst part to me was anticipating that syrupy concoction invading my
bloodstream early the next morning…
I
hardly slept the night before and that just made it worse.
The
lab guy was actually really nice and kind of felt sorry for me. But that didn’t
help because about thirty minutes after drinking the thingy I threw up all over
the waiting room floor! HAHAHAHAHA!
Ian
was trying to distract me and tell me not to throw up because I wouldn’t want
to have to take the test a third time… he was right, but my body didn’t want to
take it that second time!
Ian
went and grabbed the lab guy while I laid on the couch feeling much better. He
explained that he legally couldn’t proceed with the test without my doctor’s
consent, and most doctors don’t make their patients take the test AGAIN if her
body is rejecting it so severely.
The
only problem was that my doctor’s office doesn’t open until 9 and it was only
8. They called anyway, but no one answered. So he told me to call later in the
day and see what they wanted me to do.
I
dreaded making that phone call…
Ian
and I drove home separately (he’d brought his own car thinking he’d have to
leave early for work, but now we were both leaving early…) And although I was
feeling better and had eaten some crackers even I asked him to follow right
behind me “just in case”.
I’m
driving down the 217 when I start throwing up again in the blue baggy thing
they gave me. Then I started seeing splotches. All I wanted to do was get home
and go to bed, so I kept driving. Then I snapped into reality and realized I
wouldn’t make it home if I drove off the road or into another car. So, the
hazard lights came on as I pulled over onto the shoulder. Ian pulled over
behind me and came running to my car as I kept heaving into that blue bag. Once
I stopped he emptied it and gave it back to me for the rest of the 1.4 miles we
had to go. HAHAHAHAHAHA. I made it home and was just fine after I slept a
couple more hours and ate a little more food. I was so hungry…
The
nurse was sympathetic when I called her later that day and I was extra chatty, certain they
wouldn’t make me go through such a traumatic experience again. But then she
said “You know unfortunately, we are gonna need you to reschedule and try the
test again.”
I
called Ian and cried like a little baby.
After
many more phone calls with the nurses and then finally my doctor, we ended the
day with the positive news that I wouldn’t have to do it again. I was literally
dancing.
Normally
I would never go against a doctor’s suggestions or concerns, but once we finally
heard from him (as opposed to a nurse) and he had looked my numbers from the
first test, he was sure I didn’t have Gestational Diabetes.
I
was ready to change my diet completely, or even go in for a daily blood sample
to monitor my levels. Anything. But. That. Drink!!!!!
Now,
don’t be scared by my story. This is totally just that—my story. When I was
throwing up in the waiting room of the hospital, the lab guy said “funny. That
lady just downed it in 30 seconds and had no problem!”
Think of my story as the
exception and that it seriously can’t get any worse than that!
And also, I'd recommend just not eating anything a couple hours before your test to avoid any of these "false alarms". My nurse didn't stress that to me before my first go-around and I think this whole thing could've easily been avoided.
