Doctor visit post!

Yesterday I had a doctor visit! It was time for my scheduled gestational diabetes test, as well as my regular checkup.

The diabetes test is a cruel trick on both mother and baby. Basically, after having little or no sugar for a while (in my case, overnight--I had an egg for breakfast), you drink what amounts to concentrated fruit-flavored pop, with extra sugar.

Then you wait for an hour, slightly lightheaded the whole time, and they draw blood for testing. Here's what's wrong with the picture:

If they're testing you for diabetes, does it really make sense to flood your system with lots of sugar?

If I'm supposed to be more or less limiting my sugar, is it really good for the baby?

If I'm already prone to dizziness and nausea, why do they have to make it worse by giving me so much sugar AND drawing my blood? Good thing my drive home was less than 5 minutes.

Oh well. I got through it and Baby K bounced around like a ping-pong ball for a little while but finally settled down. If there's anything wrong, they'll call me with my results Wednesday or Thursday. If everything's okay, they'll tell me at my next appointment.

The rest of the appointment was uneventful, but good. The doctor said the following things were perfect (music to my ears!): the baby's size (as estimated by measuring my size), the heartbeat, my blood pressure and my weight gain. I also got bonus points because Baby Girl is moving a lot, which she said is a good sign of a healthy baby. Yay!

From now on, I'll have doctor visits every two weeks instead of every four (until around week 37, I think, when I'll have them weekly). This means I'm coming into the end!

I'm safely in my 3rd trimester, and the baby would have an excellent chance of survival if born now (with plenty of help). She may face complications, but many babies born around this time do just fine. Of course, we're hoping she decides to stick around for a while longer!