Doctor appointment: Diabetes and hemoglobin screenings

Today was an appointment that I wasn’t so much looking forward to; it was time for my gestational diabetes screening. I don’t know if I was more worried about actually having the condition or having to drink the nasty, sugary drink I had heard so much about! The fact is that yes, I was more worried about having gestational diabetes , a type that occurs only in pregnancy and usually goes away after delivery of the baby. I know that frequent urination is definitely a pregnancy side effect, but it's also one of the top warning signs for diabetes. Because those frequent trips to the throne started so early on for me (and to some extent, before pregnancy too), I had my suspicions. Also, numbness and tingling in hands, feet and legs along with blurred vision are signs too and although I have always attributed these symptoms to the kind of migraine headaches I get, maybe I couldn't be sure. So I've had some thoughts about the possibility of having diabetes in general; thus, I considered today's screening a "moment of truth", if you will.

Good news on both counts. The drink went down fine and wasn’t even close to as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was given two choices during my last visit and opted for the fruit punch as opposed to the orange flavor. I’ve had the 10 ounce bottle in my fridge for a month and almost dreaded the thought of drinking it. Turns out it was pretty much like drinking a sweetened version of Gatorade. The best news though was that I do not have gestational diabetes. My hemoglobin screening, to check for anemia which is fairly common in pregnancy, came back good also.

I wasn’t able to sneak into my appointment without a trip to the scale, so off went my shoes and coat as I watched the numbers increase. When they stopped, I asked how much it had gone up since last time. “Don’t worry, it’s always a big jump now,” she says. “Now’s the time when it happens.” Oh nice, she doesn’t even want to tell me! Then she showed me my chart (could she not even utter the words aloud?) and the jump was six pounds. After a buildup like that, a weight gain of six pounds was all right by me, especially since I hadn’t gained anything at my last appointment (both my 20 and 24 week checks registered the same weight). I continued to measure normally and got to hear our baby’s heart beating away. Warning signs for preterm labor were discussed and I was given a chart to record the baby’s movements to make sure all still goes well. From now on, the appointments happen approximately every two weeks which will really make it seem like this pregnancy is in the final stretch!