The big day came for me to do a glucose tolerance test! Luckily I got the orange flavor; because I’m not sure the fruit punch would have gone down very easily. Think Pedialyte, but really sweet. You gulp this down in five minutes, then wait one hour and get your blood drawn. The lab will tell you to sit and wait for your draw, but my awesome Dr. Cato stated that walking instead of sitting during the hour wait is better for getting an actual blood sugar value. So I marched around the parking lot and then picked up some compost from the nursery down the street from the lab.
Thankfully I don’t have Gestational Diabetes because, as many of you may know, I do not love needles and having to prick myself regularly would be horrible and scary.
Gestational Diabetes is a condition in which women who didn’t previously have diabetes have high blood sugar levels during gestation. This most commonly shows up around the 24th week so they test for it around this time. Diabetes occurs when the insulin receptors don't properly respond to sugar uptake. This is due partly to placental hormones like lactogen. Gestational Diabetes affects 3-10% of women during their pregnancy. The risks to the baby are jaundice, low blood sugar at birth, and large birth size requiring a C-section. Diet and sometimes medication are needed to manage this condition.
So I am celebrating and going out to eat pie. No, maybe just a healthy smoothie!
Glucose 1h post meal 84 < 139 mg/dL
Glucose po, dose 50G