Between 24 & 28 weeks all prego ladies have to take a glucose test. This test looks at how quickly your body processes glucose to determine if you have or are at risk for getting gestational diabetes. I had my test yesterday morning.
The office was nice enough to let me take the glucose drink home with me at my last visit so I could drink it at home yesterday before driving to the lab for the blood draw. You have to drink it on an empty stomach and then have blood drawn exactly 1 hour after you drink it. I read a little bit about the test so I knew what I was in for. Most books/blogs, etc. describe the drink as a thick syrup or a sugar sweet drink that is more or less disgusting. Some even said they threw up after drinking it. You have to drink it all in 5 minutes. The bottle is the size of a small Gatorade bottle.
So yesterday morning I took a picture of the bottle in front of the stove clock, 6:47 am. I opened it and thought hope I don't puke. I took the first swig. Tasted like flat sprite. I was so pleasantly surprised that it wasn't thick or gritty or overly sweet that I just chugged it. Maybe the consistency and taste has evolved over the years because it was nothing like I thought it would be. I took another picture of the empty bottle in front of the stove clock, 6:48 am.
At 7:05 I left my house and drove to my doctor's office. I signed in and waited patiently until 7:45. Then I signed some paperwork and at exactly 7:48 the nurse took 5 viles of blood. They were all different sizes with different color caps so I have no idea what all they were testing for. She had me hold the viles as she switch them out. Once filled with blood they felt warm. I was mesmerized by the tiny little bubbles in my blood. It's so weird to see your blood outside of your body like that. It's a good thing I don't get queasy.
When she was done I went upstairs to my doctor's suite. They always get my weight and ask for a urine sample right when I get there. I was surprised to see I haven't gained any weight in the last two weeks. 194 - 25 pounds gained in 25 weeks. The baby books say I should expect to gain 30-50 pounds with twins so I guess I'll be in the ball park. I'm secretly still happy I haven't passed the 200 mark yet.
Doc measured my stomach and asked if I was feeling them move a lot. I said yes, all the time. He got the goop and the doppler to check their heartbeats. As soon as the goop hit my skin one of them started moving. I wonder if she could feel the coldness of the goop and it startled her or if that was just a coincidence. He laughed and said "she's moving right now". Two strong, healthy heartbeats.
He asked if I had any concerns. I said my heart rate has been spiking at times. I can feel it pounding out of my chest without having to put my hand over my heart. He said that's normal. I can't overexert myself now. And overexertion could look like walking to the fridge or talking too much, too fast or simply standing up too fast. He said it's nothing to worry about but to call him if my heartbeat is elevated for more than 5 minutes.
I told him I don't have a birthing plan. My plan is to have a c-section. I asked if there was any scenario in which I'd have to delivery vaginally. He said no, even if one of them has dropped into the birth canal they can still safely do a c-section. We'll schedule it when we get closer and of course if I go into labor before 38 weeks they'll assess the situation and see if they can slow it if it's before 36 weeks. If they can't or they feel the babies are at risk they'll do an emergency c-section at Christ close to downtown. I'll be 38 weeks on April 14th. We said we'll probably schedule the c-section for tax day. Which reminds me, we should probably start our taxes.
I got a notification from MyChart this morning. I passed the glucose test. There were a bunch of other test results in my chart, presumably from those other four viles of blood. I don't fully understand what any of them were looking at but the nice thing about MyChart is that it tells you the average range for each thing tested and all my results fall within the average ranges so I take that to mean everything is dandy. I'm sure my doctor will call me on Monday and tell me everything looks good. He always calls me personally to deliver any sort of news. I like that.
The office was nice enough to let me take the glucose drink home with me at my last visit so I could drink it at home yesterday before driving to the lab for the blood draw. You have to drink it on an empty stomach and then have blood drawn exactly 1 hour after you drink it. I read a little bit about the test so I knew what I was in for. Most books/blogs, etc. describe the drink as a thick syrup or a sugar sweet drink that is more or less disgusting. Some even said they threw up after drinking it. You have to drink it all in 5 minutes. The bottle is the size of a small Gatorade bottle.
So yesterday morning I took a picture of the bottle in front of the stove clock, 6:47 am. I opened it and thought hope I don't puke. I took the first swig. Tasted like flat sprite. I was so pleasantly surprised that it wasn't thick or gritty or overly sweet that I just chugged it. Maybe the consistency and taste has evolved over the years because it was nothing like I thought it would be. I took another picture of the empty bottle in front of the stove clock, 6:48 am.
At 7:05 I left my house and drove to my doctor's office. I signed in and waited patiently until 7:45. Then I signed some paperwork and at exactly 7:48 the nurse took 5 viles of blood. They were all different sizes with different color caps so I have no idea what all they were testing for. She had me hold the viles as she switch them out. Once filled with blood they felt warm. I was mesmerized by the tiny little bubbles in my blood. It's so weird to see your blood outside of your body like that. It's a good thing I don't get queasy.
When she was done I went upstairs to my doctor's suite. They always get my weight and ask for a urine sample right when I get there. I was surprised to see I haven't gained any weight in the last two weeks. 194 - 25 pounds gained in 25 weeks. The baby books say I should expect to gain 30-50 pounds with twins so I guess I'll be in the ball park. I'm secretly still happy I haven't passed the 200 mark yet.
Doc measured my stomach and asked if I was feeling them move a lot. I said yes, all the time. He got the goop and the doppler to check their heartbeats. As soon as the goop hit my skin one of them started moving. I wonder if she could feel the coldness of the goop and it startled her or if that was just a coincidence. He laughed and said "she's moving right now". Two strong, healthy heartbeats.
He asked if I had any concerns. I said my heart rate has been spiking at times. I can feel it pounding out of my chest without having to put my hand over my heart. He said that's normal. I can't overexert myself now. And overexertion could look like walking to the fridge or talking too much, too fast or simply standing up too fast. He said it's nothing to worry about but to call him if my heartbeat is elevated for more than 5 minutes.
I told him I don't have a birthing plan. My plan is to have a c-section. I asked if there was any scenario in which I'd have to delivery vaginally. He said no, even if one of them has dropped into the birth canal they can still safely do a c-section. We'll schedule it when we get closer and of course if I go into labor before 38 weeks they'll assess the situation and see if they can slow it if it's before 36 weeks. If they can't or they feel the babies are at risk they'll do an emergency c-section at Christ close to downtown. I'll be 38 weeks on April 14th. We said we'll probably schedule the c-section for tax day. Which reminds me, we should probably start our taxes.
I got a notification from MyChart this morning. I passed the glucose test. There were a bunch of other test results in my chart, presumably from those other four viles of blood. I don't fully understand what any of them were looking at but the nice thing about MyChart is that it tells you the average range for each thing tested and all my results fall within the average ranges so I take that to mean everything is dandy. I'm sure my doctor will call me on Monday and tell me everything looks good. He always calls me personally to deliver any sort of news. I like that.
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