This has been quite the journey and with a few speed bumps and detours along the way. I’ve been wanting to talk about and post about this for quite a while but wanted to get a few appointments in with hard fact answers first.
One of my 1st few posts was about taking the glucose tolerance test and how terrible the drink was. About a month or so later they wanted me to do the test AGAIN despite my test results coming back textbook picture perfect. I guess another test was needed closer to 3rd trimester. I refused the 3 hour test unless where was an alternative drink to take before the test as it made me very very sick. We compromised, sent me for a 1 hour test (less of the gross drink, so it didn’t effect me that much). Still…came back SLIGHTLY elevated so I opted to monitor my blood sugar and keep a food diary for 2 weeks.
They set me up with a glucose monitor, testing strips and lancets. BUT didn’t figure out I was missing the lancing device/pen until the day we were leaving for a memorial service in Florida! So there I was, sitting in Burlington airport at 5am with a lancet (tiny needle) in one hand, finger extended like ET bracing myself to inevitable stab and thinking ‘This can’t be the only way to get a blood sample to test! Isn’t there a thingy? Do diabetics just jam a needle into their finger?!”
I did end up getting the pen thingy. It was indeed missing. *sigh*
Flash forward to my follow up at the Doc’s office. They look at the numbers and the foods and decide I was..maybe…potentially…borderline gestational diabetes. So they ordered an appt with a nutritionist to go over all the details in depth, get their opinion and a game plan. I get a call later to confirm/set up the appt and the voice explains the appointment is not with a nutritionist, but a high risk pregnancy something er other specialist. Wait….WHAT?! (Turns out that was not the case).
Finally at the appt, this new doctor explains she’s just a maternal/fetal medicine MD, not a nutritionist or high risk etc etc. She goes over my food logs, my numbers…everything! Then asks about symptoms (none of which I had) and if baby was measuring big or if I was carrying extra fluid. …???… Cart before the horse. The ultra sound to determine if she’s big or if there’s extra fluid should have happened FIRST. UGH. This new Doc was a bit concerned about my fasting levels being on the upper end of ‘normal’ levels. I asked if a snack before bed or a tums at 2am would mess it all up. YES! AH HA! now this is all making more sense! Friday was the ultra sound, nothing abnormal and this entire past month has been 1 big ball of stress for absolutely nothing. (Sorta, she has one more look at my fasting levels before she gives me an ‘all clear’).
I will admit that I’ve learned a lot in the past month about what I’m eating, diabetes, glucose levels and for the love of Pete…how to properly use a lancing device! There are many Moms out who are battling gestational diabetes, who’s levels are all over the place. Who have to take insulin everyday to keep things in check, who have to carefully watch every little thing they eat. I hear you. While my issues with glucose testing was short lived and thankfully everything is ok, there are so many other women out there who are still having to do blood tests 4 times a day and are having trouble keeping their fasting or post meal #’s in check.
Ladies battling GD….I had a small sampling of that daily stress…it wasn’t easy…hang in there…you got this!
***UPDATE***
Got a phone call (finally) to schedule for the nutritionist appointment. The only time available was about 2 weeks before my due date….(insert facepalm emoji here)