The Tale of Orange Goo

Some of you may recall I did a 1-hour glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes a couple of weeks ago.

Some of you may also recall I failed that test.

By ONE point.

They still required me to do the 3-hour test and, because of possible risks to my baby and me, I went ahead and did it.

When the nurse called to inform me I'd failed, she told me I needed to fast for TWELVE HOURS starting the night before the test and be at the office at 8:30 the next morning. For a pregnant woman who must eat smallish amounts every 2 hours, this is a problem. Especially one who is usually up until 1 or 2 a.m. working!

Because we knew I'd be at the office for over 3 hours, the husband and I had to plan for me to take the test on a Monday since the husband doesn't work Sunday nights, so he could sleep some that night and watch our son.

So last night, in an effort to distract myself from my rumbling stomach, I drank a LOT of ice water, watched New Moon (meh) and did some hand quilting on our wedding quilt. It now has both my husband's and my names, so I told him he's really stuck with me from here on out. He didn't think that was funny.

That distraction method didn't work so well. I went to bed. Couldn't sleep, so I turned on my Alias DVDs and crocheted for a while. Finally around 1 a.m. I was able to fall asleep.

My son came stumbling into my room at 4 this morning, crying. The husband put him on the bed with me and went into Little Mister's room to sleep. But man ... it was hard enough to get to sleep, but then to be woken up and *still* hearing my stomach growling ... and most of my dreams were plagued with food. Even goldfish crackers sounded divine in my sleep. I kept dreaming I was eating, and kept waking myself up to make sure I wasn't. I sure as heck didn't want to have to fast at night again. So I was a tad grumpy. He did go back to sleep and I drifted off eventually. Just in time for him to get up at 6:30.

I sent him to his sister, who had to get up for school anyway.

They came back and watched TV while I slept. I instructed Kiddo to feed Little Mister breakfast so I didn't have to look at food I couldn't eat. She gave him a bag of cereal, which he promptly dumped on me and the bed, and some juice, which he also promptly dumped on me and the bed. I finally got up at 7:30, showered, took kiddo to school, dropped New Moon (meh) off at the redbox, and went to the doctor's office.

I had hoped I'd be alone for the test so I could have some "me" time. I armed myself with 2 bottles of water, a DVD player, Alias DVDs, and the afghan I started crocheting last night as a distraction. But there was another gal there who was a chatterbox and whose draws were 5 minutes after each of mine. She was a nice gal whose babies will be slightly closer together than mine, so it was fun having adult conversation, but still.

I went in to get the fasting blood draw, and the nurse asked me if I'd been fasting for eight hours. My jaw dropped. "The nurse who called me told me TWELVE. I haven't eaten since 8:30 last night." She was so angry! Asked me if I knew her name (no), and said she probably knew who said it, but that wasn't very nice to do to a pregnant woman. NO, it really wasn't.

The first blood draw hurt. A lot. I'm not usually a wimp, but that one was painful, and she's never hurt me like that before. *sniff* Then she handed me the bottle of Great Orange Goo and told me I had 5 minutes to drink it. And that if I threw up, even a little of it, it negated the test and I'd have to come back and try again. Joy.

If you've never had to take the Goo, it's akin to drinking flat orange soda as thick as maple syrup.

It's so sad, but that tasted SO good right then! I think I finished in about 30.2 seconds. She reminded me to drink lots of water, and I went out into the waiting room, where I started getting a headache and had Orange Goo burps for the next hour or so. With each burp, I started worrying I'd lose it. But I didn't. At the next draw, which didn't hurt nearly so much, she reminded me to drink water, told me that it would help with the headache, and sent me back into the waiting room.

About 5 minutes after that draw, I started feeling better. Thankfully. And the next two draws were just fine. She told me to keep drinking water. After the last one, she asked if I was still drinking water and I said "Yep, just finished one bottle." Then she told me not to eat anything sweet or any fruit the rest of the day (I only had granola bars in the car, drat it all) and to keep drinking water, and sent me on my way.

I had to eat, so I scarfed one granola bar, drank the other bottle of water, and hurried home for lunch. The husband was in a Mood as Little Mister had cried most of the time I was gone, and the husband started dwelling on what would happen when this baby comes and I'm in the hospickle. Oy. After a can of ravioli (split with Little Mister), two egg salad sandwiches, and a big bowl of salad, I started feeling better. I'd taken LM to the park after the ravioli and then brought him home. He fell asleep on the bed while I was making the rest of my lunch, so after Kiddo came home, I curled up on the bed with him for a nap. So nice, though I could have slept a LOT longer.

As of now, the headache has returned and I'm hungry again. Big surprise. but you bet I'm having a Coke with dinner, even though it's full of sugar. Yum.