At 27 weeks pregnant, I was anxious about one hour glucose test was going to be coming up at my next appointment. The date was looming over me as I counted down the days. During my first pregnancy, I had failed the first glucose tolerance test by 15 points and had to take the follow up 3 hour exam. It was a very unpleasant experience and I was dreading going through it again. Although I did pass the 3 hour test with my daughter, the entire process was jarring. This pregnancy, I had worked out more and gained significantly less weight. Who has time to eat with they are chasing a 17 month old? I felt confident about my ability to pass the one hour screen. I drank the flat orange concoction, read a magazine and had my blood drawn. I didn’t give the experience a second thought – no way was I going to fail it this time around.
However, the next day my nurse called and informed me that I had failed. My glucose levels needed to be under 140 for a passing result. Mine was 169 – not even close and much higher than they had been with my daughter. I felt overwhelmed. Of course my nurse worked hard to reassure me that gestational diabetes is something that can happen to anyone and the majority of her patients failed the first test and passed the second with no problem, just as I had done before. I don’t know much about blood sugar and how much levels can vary, but I worried that my level was so high above the normal number range, and what that meant for my next test. I anxiously scheduled my 3-hour test for the next week and tried to focus more on my exercise and diet.
The night before, I had healthy dinner at 5pm and drank lots of water. When I took the test in 2011, they made me have a higher carb diet for three days prior to the test. Thankfully this time I did not have to do that again. That morning I was pretty hungry and feeling a bit faint as I arrived and I checked into the hospital’s blood donor department. Yet, at least this time around I knew what to expect. I had my iPad with Netflix, headphones and magazines – as well as a post test bagel. I was in my comfortable Lululemon outfit and prepared for the morning. I arrived early, and the nurse was able to get me started about 15 minutes ahead of time. I drank the 100g of glucose in about 10 minutes, and overcame the nausea that the accompanied the drink. I rolled up my sleeves and was ready for the hourly blood draws.
I could not help feeling like a failure as I sat there in my chair. How did this happen again? It is hard for me to believe that I am not at least partly responsible for this, when the treatment plan for dealing with gestational diabetes is essentially to eat a balanced diet and get enough exercise – things I was already doing. The hours went by fairly quickly and I was out the door. The nurse said she would have the results by the afternoon. I was a bit queasy, but was able to have some juice and the bagel.
My nurse called midafternoon and I had again passed – this time with flying colors! I was relieved and a huge weight had been lifted.
Failing the gestational diabetes test with both of my pregnancies has been humbling. I am glad to not have to endure the added demands of having gestational diabetes, but I find myself more empathetic to those who do have to cope. I am happy to be having a “normal” pregnancy and feel lucky to be able to be expecting another daughter this August. However, if we do have a third, I may just ask to go straight to the 3 hour test – it might just save me some unnecessary frustration.
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