I promise, those are not track marks

One of the things that most pregnant women have to do is take a glucose tolerance test. This is usually done around 26-28 weeks or so. Most only have to take 1 test - it takes an hour and if you pass, you're done. This glucose test will determine if you are at risk for gestational diabetes - a serious but treatable condition that rarely shows symptoms, so it's really important to get this test done. As usual, with twins I'm considered high risk for GD so I took the test seriously.

The one hour test was manageable. The worst part was drinking the nasty orange drink. I have never been able to chug anything, so it was tough trying to get it down in only 5 minutes. But I did, and I sat and waited an hour to get my blood drawn. I felt sort of queasy during the wait and then afterwards til I could eat, but it wasn't too bad. I left thinking, "Well, I'm glad that's over, and I'm sure I won't have to do it again."

Not so much. A couple days later my doctor calls and says my levels were slightly elevated and they want me to take the 3 hour test. Here's the kicker - the numbers they want to see are 135 or below. I had 136. Yes, 136. I was off by 1 freakin' point. Just my luck.

So I scheduled the 3 hr test, and decided to just take the whole day off from work in case I felt sick. I was supposed to fast for 12 hours, then drink a glucose drink twice as strong as last time and wait another 3 hours. I had a feeling that if I felt queasy after the 1 hr, this would be even worse. So I fasted, but made sure to stuff myself with high protein snacks right before the fasting started so I wouldn't be super hungry. Surprisingly, I felt pretty OK. I got the drink down and then began waiting. The blood draws were the worst part. I had to give a baseline blood sample before drinking, then another 3 every hour. I have terrible veins and phlebotomists and nurses always have issues finding a good vein from me. So trying to do this 4 times in 3 hours was not pleasant. I ended up with 2 prick marks in my right arm, one in my left, and one in my left hand. And they're nasty looking, too. I looked like a heroin addict or something with all these holes and bruises. It's been over a week now and I still have the bruises.

(Oh, and because I must be a glutton for punishment, I scheduled my Rhogam shot for the same afternoon. So that was another needle prick and another bruise - this time in my upper arm. Good times.)

So now it's over. I felt a little dizzy afterwards but was so happy to get home and be able to eat. After eating and resting for a while at home I felt good, so it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared. Oh, and this time, I actually passed :) Yay!