An Unusual Doctor's Appointment

Warning: Very long post.

Up until last week we have been having pretty standard doctor's appointments. Blood pressure normal, urine protein and sugar normal, weight gain normal, baby heart rate normal. Uneventful, up until last week.

When we went to check Lemon's heart rate it was high. Normally her heart rate has been sitting comfortably between 145 and 155 beats per minute. I'm not sure where it was when the doctor was checking it but it was high enough to hook me up to the monitor for 30 minutes. The monitor measures the baby heart rate while I pushed a button every time I felt a kick or movement. I wasn't too concerned as she had been active all morning and even kicked the doctor while she was checking her heart rate. The way it has been explained to me is that when she is kicking, it is the equivalent of when you or I would run on the treadmill. Naturally the heart rate increases. What they wanted to check on was whether or not it was staying steadily high or if it was increasing with the kicks. The monitor should show healthy peaks and valleys that correspond to the kicks.

As I was laying there I could tell by looking at the print out that her heart rate was fine. Healthy peaks and valleys with resting rate at 150. Phew.

The next thing I asked was how my 1 hour glucose tolerance test score was (done at the previous appointment). I assumed no news was good news. I had passed, but only by 1 point.... oooh. Narrow margin. She may have overlooked it but it turns out that the urine test I took at that day's appointment put my sugar output at 4+. Too high. As a precaution, the doc decided to send me for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. Yikes.

With friends coming in a couple days later I scheduled it for two days later (Sat, Nov 1). I needed to get it done so I didn't have to worry about it while they were here. Besides, it was the perfect motivation to keep my hand out of the Halloween candy bowl.

I had to fast from 10pm Friday night until the test was done, so I had a big glass of milk at 9:45p hoping it would keep me feeling full for a while (lots of protein, right?). I showed up early for my 8am appointment - at about 7:30am. During the test there are FOUR blood draws (ouch!) - the first one is your fasting blood sugar. You then drink the glucola (lemon-lime flavor syrup containing 100g of sugar - YUCK!). You then have three consecutive blood draws an hour apart from eachother to see how your body metabolizes the sugar.

I got the results last Monday. FAIL! Are you kidding? I was shocked. I really wasn't expecting that result. The doc told me that it was actually my fasting blood sugar that failed, not the others. It measured at 104. A good result is <100, but when pregnant they actually like to see your sugar level at <90. SO, this basically means that my blood sugar level is either an indicator of Gestational Diabetes (GD), pre-diabetes (Type II), or a fluke (which I am personally thinking is the case).

Here are some things we need to think about with GD:

• Big Baby Syndrome - because there is so much more sugar in a GD mom, baby tends to pack on more weight causing a higher birth weight... this is where 10lb + babies come from! NIGHTMARE! And, of course, this increases the c-section rate, which I am trying to avoid.
• Low blood sugar in baby - I know that sounds weird, right?
• Jaundice at birth - when your baby's body can not properly break down the excess belirubin in it's system.
• Development of Preeclampsia (high blood pressure for mom at birth), which can be very dangerous for both of us.

Now, back to the test results. My gut is still telling me that my results may be a fluke. Why, you ask? Several reasons:

• I had been indulging in some Halloween candy a couple days before my urine test the day of my last doctor's appointment. I am SURE I had more sugar in my system than normal and I think my body was just dumping the extra sugar through my urine.
• Note I drank a whole, big glass of milk just before fasting for the GTT. One of the first things I read when looking up diabetes diet changes is that if you drink cow's milk you may need to switch to soy because of the amount of SUGAR in cow's milk - I HAD NO IDEA!
• I arrived at the appointment a half hour early so I didn't get my full 10 hours fasting in. My fasting blood test is the only one that failed. My body actually handled the glucola fine.

Maybe I am fooling myself but I am thinking my doctor is being a little over-cautious. I can't really fault her for that as I would rather her be safe than sorry, BUT I feel like my results were SO borderline that I am considering asking for a re-test at my next appointment on Wednesday. Not that I am planning on some heavy sugar consumption - in fact I feel like I will be more conscious now on my own anyway. But when you are labeled GD you are automatically put through the wringer with extra monitoring of the baby, which equals extra medical expenses. My insurance is good (although a pain in the ass to deal with sometimes) but I would like to avoid spending unnecessary money if possible.

Will keep you all posted.