The Glucose Tests!

On my 24th week, I was instructed by my doctor to take the glucose test to check on my sugar levels. Being an overweight preggo with a history of PCOS, I was a potential candidate for gestational diabetes. I've heard a lot of horror stories about glucose testing from my mommy friends and relatives as well as experiences on gestational diabetes and having to take insulin so I wasn't very excited about this part of the pregnancy.

Two days ago, I had the first test which was the Oral Glucose Challenge Test (OGCT) and I thought, "Oh it's not so bad!" It didn't require me to fast or anything. I just had to drink a glass of what seemed like 1/2 a kilo of pure sugar with water.. But really it was 50 grams of glucose. Then I had to go back to the laboratory after an hour for blood extraction. The result of the test was high according to my doctor so she told me to have the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) the day after. The OGTT was far from what I expected. It did not only require me to drink double the amount of glucose, it also required 3 extractions - one after every hour!!! Not to mention, I had to fast - nothing by mouth by 12 midnight onwards and until my very last extraction. My only consolation was to at least get normal results! I didn't want to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes!!! :(

sweetest drink ever! yuck! =P

Four hours after the last extraction, I finally got the results - here's the copy of the lab report and my doctors reply about them!

At least my first hour was in the normal range but what about the next two?!

Yikes, Dra. Lantion!!!

So today I went to see the endocrinologist, Dr. Lantion-Ang, whom I also saw sometime last year when I had my thyroid checked. She discussed with me the results of my OGTT and explained to me that my first testing fell on the normal range, the hour after also fell on the normal range but the 2nd hour was beyond the normal range (if I remember right, the upper limit was 8.4 and I got 8.61). She told me I had Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) in pregnancy. In layman's terms she said, this is like "prediabetes" - so I don't have gestational diabetes but I'm at high risk for it. I got scared when she said "I'm almost tempted to start you on insulin but lets try nutritional advise for the mean time"... It was only then that I realized how serious this was! I was THAT close to having gestational diabetes?!?! Yikessss!!!!!!!

Her nutritional advise included the following:
1. No concentrated sweets like cake, ice cream, cookies, etc.
2. 1 small serving of fruit per meal (like a ponkan, a kiwi, an apple) or 7 pcs of "butil-like" fruits (like lansones, grapes) or 3 sections of big fruits (pomelo, langka, etc)
3. Low fat, high calcium milk.

Next week, I have to go back 2 hours after I take my breakfast for my sugar to be checked. Must keep this in mind while we're in Shanghai for our babymoon! Hoping everything will be okay!!!