Too much sugar? Glucose Tolerance Test Time!

     Before getting pregnant, I was not a big fan of dessert or sweets. I hated chocolate and would always get the same response, "How can you not like chocolate?!". I would have rather had another helping to dinner than to go for a dessert. Now don't get me wrong, I liked the occasional soft serve and I was a fan of fruit candy like skittles and sour straws. But it wasn't something I wanted to have all the time or craved. 

     Fast forward to now and I have been obsessed with cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, frozen yogurt, even chocolate! At first I thought I must be having a girl. The old wives tale states that if a pregnant woman craves sweets, she will have a girl and if she craves salty, she will have a boy. Well I'm living proof this is wrong! Liam is a little boy and he LOVES his sweets, which I know exactly why! He gets it from his daddy. Calvin love love loves sweets. I even remember when I first went out to eat with Calvin and his family, we went to a Japanese restaurant and instead of looking for their entree first, they went straight to the dessert menu! So Liam is already turning out to be a mini me of his daddy.

      I have always known about the glucose tolerance test and gestational diabetes. Once I started realizing I wanted chocolate, of all things, I started to worry. Did that stop me? No. Bad mommy, I know. It is just so hard to resist! I felt so much better and happier once I had that chocolate cake in my tummy and Liam sure loved it as he kicked with joy. Well because I knew I was horrible with self control on sweets, I tried finding other ways to cut down on my sugar intake. I've been trying to cook more at home because I know the exact ingredients in my meals, it saves money, and its cleaner. Whenever we would eat carbs, I would try to look for whole grain pasta, tortillas, and brown rice. If I was craving ice cream, I'd go for frozen yogurt. What was difficult is that we just celebrated Easter and we just attended a baby shower and they both had my favorite cake at the moment, Nothing Bundt Cake's White Chocolate Raspberry. Oh my goodness, if you have never tried one, please go get one right now! You will not be disappointed.

      Well today was the day of the dreaded glucose tolerance test! All of yesterday, I tried my best to stay away from any sweets and tried not to eat any carbs last night. I also made sure I didn't eat anything after 7:30 pm except for water. I made my appointment for 8:15 am, but ended up getting up extra early due to nerves and made it to the lab around 7:45 am. As I checked in, my heart was beating fast and my anxiety was high. The lab assistant checked me in and reminded me that I would be there for two hours. I smiled and said " oh I know, I came prepared!". Luckily my wonderful hubby told me to rent a movie on our Ipad to keep me entertained. What was my movie of choice? Olive and Company! 

       After registering, I sat and waited for all the paper work to go through and get printed. Soon my name was called and I was asked to go into Room 1 and have a seat. I sat there waiting for a good 5 mins. when it was finally time to get my blood drawn. The first out of three times. I've been getting so many blood tests during this pregnancy that it no longer scares me or hurts. I lifted up the sleeve to my right arm, fist clenched, needle in, fist relaxed, blood drawn, hold the cotton, and wrapped up. Then I was given the infamous orange drink! Now I have heard horror stories about how nasty this drink is and how its so difficult to get down. So I was totally prepared for the worse. Well I was given the drink and the lab technician told me I have 5 minutes to finish all of the drink. He checked the time and said "Good, 8:15. Now drink". I took the first sip and it was not bad at all! It kind of tasted like a flat Sunkist orange soda. So I'm sitting there, drinking my drink and there is another patient waiting in the room to get her blood drawn. She was an older woman and the way the two chairs are set up in that room, she is facing me. The entire time I drank my drink, she just stared at me. Boy was it nerve wrecking. On top of the lab technician constantly checking the time to make sure I finished in 5 mins, this lady was super intrigued and would not stop staring. Awkward! The pressure was on to finish and although the taste was not that bad, it was ice cold and the faster I drank, the stronger the brain freeze! With two minutes remaining, I took my last and final sip. The lab technician told me at 9:18 and 10:18 is when I have to get my blood drawn for the next two times. He also told me not to eat anything which I already knew, but he also said no water! He said the water would dilute things, so I was stuck with this nasty feeling on my tongue from all the sugar. I also found out that I couldn't even walk around because they didn't want me to burn off the sugar. Now I  SIT and wait. 

      I sat down and was feeling fine and then as time went on, I started to feel light headed and nauseous. I'm very lucky to have such a loving hubby with a flexible work schedule. He accompanied me and stayed by my side throughout the whole test. Thank goodness too because having him there and being able to outwardly express my discomfort helped me. If I didn't keep myself calm, I probably would have thrown all of it back up within that first hour. There was another young lady there with me doing the same test. I felt so bad for her because right before she was going to get her second round of blood drawn, she vomited. She was told to go home and come back the next day or when she felt better to retake the test. At that moment, I just prepped my mind to hold out for one more hour because I did not want to take this test again if I didn't absolutely have to! While I waited I finished up some "thank you" cards and the hubs and I watched Liam kick. He must have been on a sugar high after that drink!

      At 9:15, the lab technician called me into the room and told me to wait in there as it would soon be time for the next round of blood to be drawn. This time they had to take it out of my left arm. Clenched fist, needle in, relaxed fist, blood drawn, hold the cotton, and wrapped up. Then back outside to wait for the last hour. Since Oliver and Company was about an hour and some minutes long, I started up my movie. It helped time go by so much faster! Soon it was 10:15 and my name was called again to go sit in the room and wait. I have no idea why, it could be because I was delirious from no water, food, and a belly full of a sugary orange drink or the fact that it was my last time for the day,  but I was looking forward to the prick of the needle. Like I felt I was just numb everywhere from sitting and waiting and wanted to just feel something. My last and final time of this test getting my blood drawn on my poor right arm that got poked twice. Once the lab technician finished, he said "all done! Have a nice day!". I was super excited to get up, get out, get moving, and get some food and water into my belly!

     Before I left, I asked the technician when my doctor will get the results. He said in 3-5 days and then she will contact me. Now we play more of the waiting game. Am I nervous? Hell yes! Hoping and praying that everything is fine with my blood sugar levels and I DO NOT have gestational diabetes! Please keep Liam and I in your prayers for good test results!