3 hr glucose test

I kept a journal of my experience with this in case anyone who was in the same position wanted to know what to expect. Sorry if it's a bit lengthy.

7:15am
Just started the 3 hr glucose test. I arrived at the clinic at 6:50a after fasting for 13 hours and getting a good nights sleep. They took my blood at 6:55 and I finished the drink at 7:04am. Since I have to sit here for 3 hrs I figured I'd document my experience so that I could help others in my situation. Just as a little background, I failed the 1hr glucose screening last week after only having fasted 10 hrs before and after 28 weeks of giving into candy cravings... Bad idea (obviously) but now it appears I'm paying for it.

8:15am
Just got my blood drawn for the second time. I have been sipping water for the past hour. Feeling a little nauseas and light headed, but not enough to make a fuss. I am passing the time by reading "Understanding Your Moods When Your Expecting" by Lucy J. Puryear, M.D. It's not bad, although I'd rather be sleeping.

9:15am
3rd blood draw done. I am actually feeling quite a bit better than the first hour. Still very tired and a little light-headed still, but overall not bad. Baby is moving around more this hour too, which is distracting me some. Still drinking water and peeing every hour.One hour and one blood test left to go! Then I get to hear the results of this ordeal. Will update again in an hour.

10:07am
All done! Fourth and final blood draw a minute ago. Now I am sitting outside the lab waiting for the results. I am starting to get hungry and still tired but feeling good otherwise. My fingers are crossed!

10:55am
Now that I have some oatmeal in my tummy, I'm back to 100%. The results are in, I passed!! How it works, is that a reading is done with every blood draw before drinking the glucose substance, an hour after, two hours after and three hours after. There are acceptable limits, which I will show you in a minute, that each reading must be in. If you fail more than two of the four readings, it is determined that you have gestational diabetes. Here are my numbers.


             Acceptable Limits              My Score
1st draw      (65-95)                           67
2nd draw     (65-180)                        162
3rd draw      (65-155)                       133
4th draw      (65-140)                        116

I figured I would fail at least one or two of them, just because of how crappy I felt the first hour, but nope! I passed all four with flying colors. They even noted that my first one was a little low. Now its naptime...

Love,
Catherine