It's that time of your pregnancy, your doctor says you need to have your glucose test done. You hear from other people how awful it is, how bad the drink taste, the side effects, etc. Well I'm here to tell you that it's really not that bad....There's really no reason to be scared. I wasn't nervous about it until it got to become a few days out. Like most of us expecting mother's do, we over think. I honestly was okay if I failed and had GD and had to monitor it for the rest of my pregnancy, what I was worried about was failing and having to take the 3 hour glucose test FASTED. I don't do well with fasted blood work (when I got my full hormone panel done I passed out then thew up, but that's a story for another day). I researched and read what to eat and the best way to "pass" the test. So here's what I did and my honest opinion about my experience.
The night before I had plain oatmeal with cinnamon and apples. I really had been snacking that entire day and I was anxious so dinner just didn't sound good to me that night. But I forced myself to eat that. I had read that a high protein breakfast was a good idea the morning of, so that's what I had. 3 eggs with spinach (I was having my iron re-tested so tried to get some in) and zucchini cooked in, 2 pieces of turkey bacon, and a piece of plane whole wheat toast. I made my appointment for the morning so I wouldn't have to spend my entire day worrying about watching my food.
When I got there I was under the impression I had 10 minutes to drink the drink...HAHA NOPE I got 2 minutes. She didn't ask me what flavor, but instead she handed me the clear drink, which was what I planned on asking for anyway, and it was room temperature (insert sad face here). I had my husband start the timer on his phone and I began to chug. THANKFULLY I grew up a sprite girly and it tasted exactly like a flat sprite, not bad at all. When I was chugging, the phlebotomist told me to slow down, I had time and it would make me sick if I tried to drink it all so fast. So I stopped and had my husband tell me when I had 10 seconds left, to finish it. Then the hour wait began. I felt completely fine, but my baby was going crazy from a sugar rush. The hardest part was knowing I couldn't drink any water during that hour. After the hour was over, she drew my blood and that was it.
Then the wait.....I had my testing done on Monday and I finally got my results Friday morning. I was having dreams I failed. I was prepared to tell my OB that following week that if I failed I wasn't going to do the 3 hour test and I'd just monitor it like I truly had it. My doctor did say my levels were a little lower than normal (at my doctor's 140 and under is passing and anything above 140 was failing). Mine was 88. I did read that healthy fruits like apples and watermelon would be fine to eat before but all I could think about was the sugar content so I wasn't going to take any changes. I told my doctor what I ate before hand and she said that it made sense why it was on the lower side.
To be honest I hear so many people say "you shouldn't try to eat a specific way before the test, if you have it then you have it." And I do agree with that but also I think what you eat before hand helps. I have a balanced diet and have always been conscience about what I consume, making sure I get enough veggies, fruit, good carbs, protein, and healthy fats (thank you bikini comp days). But glucose testing doesn't care if you're fit or large, some people you'd never think would have it, have it during pregnancy. Below are some links I read that helped me prepare for this test and food suggestions. Each testing experience is different for everyone so don't compare to others, but I feel that I read more horror stories than positive ones. So here's my story to tell you that it's NOT THAT BAD.
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/glucose-tolerance-test/about/pac-20394296
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