I went to get that awful 3-hour glucose test yesterday. You know, the one that they give you that sickly sweet drink that you try not to vomit and then they stick you with a needle every hour.
So my adventure started with drinking the drink. Shortly afterwards, I began to feel really sick and really really tired. I was so tired, I was afraid I was going to fall asleep right there in the waiting room, so I got up to walk around the hospital. I listened to nurses complaining that they didn't have enough places to sit and take a break away from other people. I wandered some more and tried desperately to pry my heavy lids open. I wandered past dozens of bathrooms and in one I noticed a long padded table. I touched it and though to myself that if after my next needle, I didn't feel more alert, I was going to lock myself in that bathroom and lie on that table and take a nap. (LOL, I didn't).
After my next shot, the exhaustion began to wear off and I noticed all the children getting their needles. I have to tell you, I would not want to work in a place that made scared children cry all day long like a blood collection clinic does. I noticed that there was a funny trend. Babies tended to cry when they got their needle, but most toddlers didn't. It seemed like the worst cases of needle terror were older kids. Kids from ages about 7 - 12 were terrified. I watched them come in with tear-stained faces grasping mom's arms so tightly their little knuckles were white. I watched as one tried to run away and had to be dragged screaming back into the room. I listened as screams of terror and "I DON'T WANT A NEEDLE!!" rang through closed doors. I watched as an adorable 4 or 5 year old girl with Down's Syndrome, stomped out of the room, with tears streaming down her face, her little arms crossed in indignation that they were purport such an atrocity on her!
After my last needle of the day, I went down to the coffee shop and picked up a coffee and then walked through the hospital towards the exit when my blood sugar dropped so dramatically that it scared me. Suddenly, I was weak, shaking, my legs were wobbly, my brain was fuzzy, I was confused and I got a TERRIBLE headache! I passed by another coffee shop and pulled open my wallet and saw one lonely dollar in there. I couldn't think straight at all and money was beyond my comprehension at that point. Like a little kid who doesn't understand money, I explained my situation to the coffee shop guy and asked him what baked, sugary thing I could get for a dollar he pointed out my options and then suggested that maybe a bottle of juice would be better and suggested I go over to the fridge and get a bottle of juice. I did and even in my brain-addled state, it seemed to me that there was no way this big bottle was less than a dollar and when I went to the counter to ask him and pay, he waved me off saying, "No, I got this one." He was my knight in shining apron and hair net. I guzzled the juice and was soon feeling my sugar come back up.
The whole day of blood sugar testing and blood sugar dropping took it's toll on me though and I spent the whole rest of the day feeling sick and miserable with an awful headache. I was told I may need to do this test again at 28 weeks, I sincerely hope not!
On a side note, I am hoping that the fact that I lost so much weight before getting pregnant and the fact that I weigh less even now than I did at the beginning of any of my other pregnancies will mean that I don't get Gestational Diabetes this time.
