3 hours & 4 stabs

So today was the day of my 3 hour glucose tolerance test and of course it snowed, schools were cancelled. Thankfully I live in town and the hospital lab wasn't very far, so by golly I wasn't going to reschedule again.

I originally took the 1 hour glucose test about 2-3 weeks ago and the passing range is a 140. Don't ask in what quantity that is, no clue. If your test comes back higher than 200 you are automatically considered to have gestational diabetes. But I of course got a score of 151, just 11 stinking points over. So frustrating and hence why I had to take the 3 hour version to make sure that I didn't have gestational diabetes. Which I haven't had in the past but I was also alot younger/thinner back then :o)

My doctor requires you to fast 12 hours before, so no food (only water) since 8pm last night. My morning started out with a slow & hungry drive through the snow.  Thankfully the lab was still staffed even with the storm that blew through the area. They took my blood to start with for a fasting baseline. And then you have to drink (twice as much as the 1 hour test) this orange flavored beverage.  Its like a very really sugary non-carbonated pop. Once that was down the timer began, then every hour they draw your blood.

I was really thankful for the phlebotomist that I worked with. I told her from the get go that the last year seems like anyone always has problems getting blood from my veins. And she was able to get a draw every time she poked me. Probably helps that that is all she does everyday, practice makes perfect!

She had mentioned after I finished the drink that I may feel tired later and I was thinking why since I should be all hyped up on the sugar I just drank. Which I could tell from the baby cuz it started moving around like crazy the first hour. But boy as I sat and watched some tv and read my book, by the end of the first hour I was feeling the crash.

In the area where they draw blood they have a recliner which she offered to me. And it was nice to lay back and close my eyes. At the second blood draw I was feeling a little lightheaded and so the tech insisted that I sit and recline all the way back in the recliner just in case.

Well I survived after the last draw I was so glad to be done and could leave. And who am I kidding the last hour I kept thinking about what food I would get on my way home.