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Saturday, March 15, 2014

Positive GD Screening AND Anemia?!???!!!!?

At least I now know from past experiences that whenever I get a voice mail from the doctors office after some kind of test - it is not good news.  Yesterday, the nurse called to tell me that my glucose levels from my gestational diabetes test were slightly elevated (I was 135 and the cutoff is 130...high levels are 170-180).  So if you have never taken the glucose test, let me tell you about it...it sucks!  I don't mind getting my blood drawn but they make you drink this nasty nasty sugar drink in 5 minutes that makes you want to throw up.  I was told that fruit punch was the best flavor so that was the one I got.  Then you sit in the waiting room for an hour and after your time is up they draw your blood.  The nurse said that since I "failed" this test, I need to take the 3 hour diagnostic test.  Same principle with a few variations - get your blood drawn after a ten hour fast, drink the nasty sugar drink (which for this test is bigger and has twice the amount of sugar - I tried the orange flavor this time which was equally as nasty, but I would say I favor it to fruit punch), and then get more blood drawn at one, two, and three hours.  As a matter of fact I am sitting in the waiting room while I write this waiting for my last blood draw.


The nurse also told me that I was anemic which is super common in your third trimester of pregnancy because your body is producing 50% more blood.  She said I need to start taking iron supplements twice daily.  

At least after all of this news I was not as freaked out as last time - although I was still worried that my baby girl might be in jeopardy - I took the news with a grain of salt since my feelings on doctors and diagnostic testing has drastically changed during my pregnancy.

Luckily, I had an appointment later in the day so I could compile all of my thoughts and figure out what I wanted to ask the doctor .  Let me just say, I LOVE my OB!  She makes me feel so comfortable and normal and she always puts me at ease when something is "wrong".  She first started by telling me that my glucose levels were not much higher than the cutoff, and that result could be from the food I ate previously in the day (they say you don't have to fast for the one hour test, but knowing what I know now, I am fasting when I take the test with my next pregnancy to prevent me from having to drink the glucose drink more than I have to.)  She also said that just to be sure, she wanted me to take the three hour test because in a small percentage of cases, women test positive, but more likely than not, I probably don't have GD.  If I did, I would have to meet with a dietitian and start testing my blood sugar four times a day.  She said as long as it is monitored, myself and baby would be fine.  She also reassured me and told me that I did not do anything to cause this (if I do have it), and that it would go away after giving birth.

As far as the anemia goes, she didn't even mention it.  I told her what the nurse said, and she told me that they just recently changed the guidelines at the clinic to match the national guidelines (and the nurses haven't been told this yet). I was right on the old cutoff number.  She said I am not anemic and I don't need to take the iron supplement unless I feel like it...maybe twice a week if I remember or if I want to.

So like I said, I am waiting in lab for my third blood draw.  I had to get up super early to get here since they are only open in the morning (and I had to go to the Mill Creek office because Everett did not have any available appointments - this building is much nicer though and smells better) and I have to stay here for so long.  I am glad they have WiFi AND that I remembered to bring a computer.  Dave and I have got a lot done as far as using up some Amazon gift cards we got for our wedding and finding some awesome furniture to refurbish on Craigslist.  We are going to use the rest of the day to run errands, return some things, and do some more shopping for our house

Well, I have to go!  Last blood draw...wish me luck - I will update with results on Monday!


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About Me

I'm Natasha! Wife to David, and mother to Gretchen. Follow my journey as a wife, mama, and fitness & nutrition fanatic.

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