The first problem was that I had forgotten to collect my urine sample that morning, so I was desperately chugging down water on the way to the appointment and ended up filling my syringe o' urine in the restroom at the centre. Fun!
After that excitement, Mandy took my blood pressure and proclaimed it "beautiful". Then we had another first- measuring my bump. It plotted exactly on the projected line for my growth and was deemed "perfect". Then it was doppler time. Mandy quickly found our baby's heartbeat. She smiled and said he was lying transverse across my abdomen "like he was in a hammock".
Who knew?!
This description definitely jived with my experience of kicking on the mid to upper left side of my belly. The heartbeat sounded great and Mandy said there was still plenty of time for the baby to get in head-down position. She said he'd move around into all sorts of positions between now and D Day.
Then, as we were wrapping things up, I asked a question. I'd read on plenty of blogs (written by Americans) about the standard test for gestational diabetes. I figured it wasn't the norm in the UK. I'd asked Ross and he didn't know, but thought it wasn't given to every woman. So I asked Mandy about it. She said they only give it to women who are considered "high risk" for GD, dismissing my need for one. That includes Asian women (what Americans would call Indian) and women with a BMI above 35. At this point, she paused, rifled through my paperwork and said "Wait... what was your initial BMI?" with slightly nervous eyes. Needless to say, my BMI was a bit above that when I got pregnant... She really doesn't like to think I'm as heavy as I am! I guess that's a compliment...
She went into a slight, but well-controlled panic and got on the phone to get me an appointment ASAP. After getting off the phone, Mandy said that it had been an oversight and that I need to be seen by week 32. She also said that I wouldn't have GD (fingers crossed!) so not to worry. I got a letter notifying me that I'd be having my Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) at the hospital where I'd had my scans on January 11th. I'll still be just in my 32nd week. Whew!
So I will be participating in the right of passage of drinking a sickly sweet sugary drink after all... I sort of wish I'd just kept my mouth shut and gotten to skip it.
On a final note, we start our Antenatal Classes on the 12th. Ross has informed me that he's greatly looking forward to it. Now before you "Awwww" all over yourselves, let me tell you that it's because he's planning to ask as many stupid questions as possible. He's determined to ask at least one question that has never been asked before.... Lord help me.
What did you think of the GTT?
Does your SO take joy in being embarrassing?
I had to request the test when I had my son, and there was no sugary drink involved, they simply took blood. I am still skeptical of the authenticity of it all. Also they don't do the Group B Strep test, another US/UK difference!
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I'd never even heard of the Group B Strep test. It sounds like it's pretty rare, so I guess I won't worry about it. I really don't see any reason for me to have testing for GD. I feel great and haven't had any symptoms, so it wouldn't have bothered me one bit to skip it! :)
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