Sugar and Spice...

And tests that are not so nice...

Today was my 3 hour glucose tolerance test -- or GTT. I failed my 1 hour last week. Doh! For those of you not familiar with the test - it measures your body's metabolism of a highly concentrated dose of glucose in order to screen for Gestational Diabetes. Why is this important to test during pregnancy? The placenta produces glucose in addition to any dietary intake of glucose into the blood stream. Usually the pancreas produces enough insulin to accommodate the extra glucose -- but if it doesn't the excess amounts cruise around in the blood and can even be seen in the urine. Heh...sweet pee.

Why is this a big deal? Well, the extra glucose crosses the placenta and gets absorbed by the baby. This puts the baby at risk of growing too large (macrosomia). A large baby increases the chances of having a vacuum delivery, a shoulder dystocia, or even a C-section. Also - the baby's pancreas gets used to producing an insulin supply to match glucose from mom. This becomes a problem at birth now that the glucose supply from mom is absent. Babies born from gestational diabetic moms are at risk for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) because their blood sugar levels plummet due to the over abundance of insulin present from a highly adept pancreas.

These babies are also more at risk of becoming overweight in childhood or developing diabetes themselves.

So...yeah....kind of a big deal.

Which brings us to the screening.

Fasting Blood Draw:

First, I had to fast the morning of the test. However - 3 days prior I had to carb load with special instructions on what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I went to the lab and gave my initial blood sample for my fasting value. I was then given a drink that contains 100g of glucose in a 10 oz bottle. Just to give you a frame of reference - a single 16 fl oz bottle of coke contains 66g of sugar. So imagine almost double the sugar content and no fizzy bubbly. And to make it even more fun -- I was given 3 minutes to down the syrup. Then I was instructed to return in 1 hour, 2 hours, then finally 3 hours after the drink was finished.

1 hour Post Drink:

This hour was the worst. I was sweaty, mildly nauseated, and my brain felt slightly fuzzy - almost like how your teeth feel when you wake up in the morning. I had gone for a walk to help - but I'm sure this lab result was elevated just based on how ill I felt.

2 hours Post Drink:

I went on a longer walk and felt better. The nausea dissipated and hunger began to set in. Still one more hour to go...

3 hours Post Drink

Hooray! Finished! Now the waiting game starts. I should have results in about 2-3 days.

So until those results pour in -- I'm in a gray zone of being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. If I am -- it's going to be a long 3rd trimester. Complete with blood sugar checks, modified diet, and then having baby Annabella be subjected to sugar checks after delivery. It's one of the Pregnancy Purgatories. I'm not going lie -- I'm extremely nervous for the outcome of this test and how it will shape the rest of this pregnancy.

Baby Stats:

Gestational Age: 27 weeks 6 days

Size: Eggplant

Development: eyelashes, blinking, fattening up (hopefully within reason)

Stork Sensations: Low back discomfort from the pendulous belly. Feeling baby move like crazy. Having strangers touch my belly and ask me random questions. Typical third trimester stuff.

So until I'm officially diagnosed with the "Fetus Beetus" -- I'll indulge one last time...