gestational diabetes testing

Last Wednesday I had to do the glucose challenge test, which is a screening tool for gestational diabetes. The clinic staff had recommended eating as normal before this test (which goes against everything I had heard from other people regarding their tests, but being as the nurses said it was okay to eat, I figured I would do it). Darren and I went to the clinic Wednesday afternoon, I drank the sugary drink (which tasted like flat orange soda), and we waited for them to check my blood sugar in an hour.

One hour and one finger prick later, I was given a piece of paper telling me to schedule a more extensive test at the hospital because I had failed the screening.

Probably I shouldn't have eaten a piece of cake that morning...I guess maybe cake shouldn't be considered a "normal" part of one's daily diet. Now how sad is that?

So yesterday morning I took the extensive version of the test. We arrive at the hospital around 7:15, me absolutely starving because I hadn't been allowed to eat since dinner the night before. We went to the lab where they took my "fasting" blood sugar. And no more easy finger pricks; they actually drew a vial. After they determined it was okay for me to consume a million grams of sugar or whatever, I was given another flat orange drink (this time double the amount) and sat down to wait. For three hours.

Hour one was rough. All that sugar hitting my empty stomach made me want to throw up. And apparently, that's pretty common. As soon as I got up for my 1st hour blood draw, though, I felt a lot better. Hours two and three were pretty unexciting. I watched some History channel, read some of my book, and watched Darren play Angry Birds on his phone.

After the three hours were over the hospital wanted me to go down to the cafeteria and eat before leaving. They said the results would be ready by the time we were done. We even each got a $5 gift card to eat down there, which meant a free lunch.

When we went back up, the receptionist/nurse said, "Did you feel okay during the test? You didn't throw up or anything, did you? I've never seen anyone's numbers so low." I said, "Oh, well that's good. And no, I didn't." Although I seriously felt like it for that first hour. Which was when my blood sugar was the lowest. Ironically, also the time when my blood sugar was allowed to be the highest and still pass the test.

So I'm not sure how my numbers could be so low the second time around, and high enough to fail the first time around. Unless it was that cake I ate. Lesson learned, there.