26 January 2012

29-ish weeks

Does anyone remember when my belly didn't look like this?


Me either.

I just got back from spending my morning at the nearby health clinic. After not having eaten for about 18 hours, having been pricked with a needle 5 times, and sitting in a waiting room for 3 hours, I'm just happy to be home nomming on Great Harvest's honey whole wheat bread. Nom nom.

The reason I was doing all of these things (fasting, getting blood drawn, sitting around at the health clinic) was because I failed my glucose test, which is a standard screen for gestational diabetes that they do around 24 to 28 weeks gestation.

Failing the first test means you have to go back and do another, more intense test. One which requires you to fast, get your blood drawn, drink an even grosser glucose drink (which is too bad, because if you're consuming a lot of sugar, it should at least taste really good, in my opinion), then get your blood drawn again, and again, and again. Three more times every hour.

I don't know if you were paying attention to the math, but if you were, you might be wondering why,  if I only had to get my blood drawn four times, did I have five needle pricks in my arm? Well, that's because I was shooting up drugs one of those times. Just kidding. Or am I? Actually, my veins are small, so one of the attempts to draw blood was unsuccessful. 

I guess my take-home message is to reduce my sugar intake because my body is not handling it super well. Regardless of whether my insulin resistance is at diabetic levels, I can say that my pregnant self has much more of a sweet tooth than my non-pregnant self, which has resulted in considerable sugary food intake on my part (and Tim's). Apparently that's not healthy. For some reason, the only things that sound appetizing whatsoever these days are ice cream, cinnamon rolls, and cookies. But on the bright side, we have this food group ("sweets"?) to thank for my weight gain. A couple of months ago, I wasn't doing well at gaining the right amount of weight (my midwife told me to eat more). But last week my weight gain looked good. I chalk it up to the cookies. Nom nom.

The other take-home message, I suppose, is don't do drugs.



5 comments:

Amber said...

So sorry you had to get more blood drawn and drink more sugary drinks (bleh!)! With my first I definitely craved saltiness, and with my second, it was sweets. So, do you know what you're having? I didn't go through all your posts to see if you found out/mentioned it...Just think, when I was in labor this last time, they couldn't get a good line in my veins...2 in the left wrist, 2 in the right wrist, 1 in the hand..and then finally it was in. It all varies!! Good luck!

Holly said...

I have to do that test in a few weeks--the three-hour ordeal is the only one available to me here. Sigh. I'm just hoping I get through it without throwing up. I've heard it's that nasty. True?

I also think I'm in trouble with the whole weight gaining thing. When I left DC I'd only gained two pounds, which I may or may not have lost since moving here. I think moving to a completely foreign country right when everyone's expecting you to gain weight like crazy is just unfair. So I've been enjoying the oh-so-buttery bread here without any guilt whatsoever.

naomi said...

Oh gosh, I'm just hitting this exact stage too. Also, cringing madly at the thought of an EVEN WORSE glucose drink. BARF. In answer to your question - the film I watched was 'Drive'. I can't openly recommend it, given the rating and content, frankly, but if you're into analysing movies, this is a modern classic for sure. I hope they stop stabbing you with needles by the way.

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