An Easier Glucose Test?

Today I had to go for some standard pregnancy blood tests at the hospital, including the dreaded glucose test. The glucose test (for those of you who never had to endure it) is for the purpose of testing for gestational diabetes. OK , so I can’t argue with the reasoning. I just remember it was really gross the last time. When I was pregnant with Liam, I had a different doctor, and I was dealing with a different hospital for my tests.

The glucose test consists of the following steps, keeping in mind that you are allowed no food or beverages from midnight the night before:

1. The nurses take blood sample number 1
2. You drink a room temperature, icky, orange syrup that tastes like orange pop, but the concentrate that is normally mixed with carbonated water before being considered palatable for humans. Ewwwwww!
3. You wait an hour, (still having nothing to eat or drink), then they take the second blood sample.

Presumably some very smart person in a lab will then compare the two samples to see how your body deals with sugar. Then you eat and drink like a crazed animal, because it’s been more than 12 hours, and hello - pregnant!

Now, you’re probably wondering when I will get to the Good Thing in all of this (because it doesn’t sound like a lot fun, right?). Here’s the thing - at this hospital, they give you a COLD, CARBONATED version of the syrup!! Woot! This stuff just tastes like drinking Orange Crush (but the way it’s meant to be served !)

Ahhhhh - finally somebody realized that it would be easier to have a nauseous Prego drink and keep it down this way! Thank you Hopital Lasalle!