Glucose Screening Test

Yesterday I visited my OBGYN for my 28 week visit and I did a glucose screening test. I'm in the clear. PTL!

Most healthcare practitioners routinely recommend a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy to check for gestational diabetes, a high blood sugar condition that some women get during pregnancy.

Curious as to how the screening test done?....

When you arrive for the test, you're given a sugar solution that contains 50 grams of glucose. The stuff tastes like a very sweet soda pop (I got a tropical punch flavor and surprisingly it wasn't all that bad); you have to get all of it down in five minutes. Yes, there's a timer. An hour later (if you thumb through some magazines - and do a crossword puzzle with your hubby like I did - the time flies), your practitioner or a technician will call you back into the office to take a blood sample {finger prick} to check your blood sugar level. The idea is to see how efficiently your body processes sugar. My results were available immediately - not sure if it's the same at all Dr. offices. My results came back negative but if the reading is abnormal (too high), your practitioner will have you come back for a three-hour glucose tolerance test to see if you really do have gestational diabetes.

After knowing I was in the clear, I returned home and had one of these:

A big ol' root beer float {minus the whipped cream - and that's just because we didn't have any in the fridge!}. Notice the left side of my blog that I've added "root beer floats" to my latest pregnancy cravings!!