Last updated on September 5th, 2019 at 08:50 pm
How’s your pregnancy so far?
Things are about to get busy as you enter your third trimester. Your body changes, pregnancy discomforts and excitement and anxiety are imminent.
And to get the ball rolling, your doctor will ask you for a routine test some time between your 24-28 weeks.
1. Glucose Screening Test
This is a test where level of glucose in your blood is measured to test for gestational diabetes.
What is gestational diabetes?
A type of diabetes that develops only during pregnancy.
You may be screened earlier if you have high glucose level in your urine during routine prenatal visits or have a high risk for diabetes.
Who are in high risk for gestational diabetes?
- Older or obese mothers
- Has a family history of diabetes
The Glucose Screening Test Process
- You will be given a high glucose concentrated drink.
- After an hour your blood will be drawn.
Even if there’s no fasting needed for this procedure, you might feel queasy afterwards. If it’s the too much glucose in your body, I can’t tell. But I feel odd drinking the glucose mix.
If blood works result is elevated within normal range, the next step is…
2. The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test
In overview, this test requires 8 hours of fasting and you will get your blood drawn 3 times.
The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test Process
- Make sure that you did the required 8 hours fasting.
- 1st blood draw to know your baseline – this measures your sugar level when you fast.
- You will be given a higher glucose concentrated drink.
- 2nd blood draw after 1 hour
- 3rd blood draw after 2 hours
You will be asked to stay in the clinic the entire test to avoid fatigue that may affect processing of glucose to your body. (Restroom is okay though).
Yes, 3 blood extractions in one clinic session. If it’s a consolation, they do it on alternate arms.
Preparation
- You need to fast 8 hours before the test. No food intake, only sips of water.
- Please note that not properly fasting can lead to inaccurate test results.
- Just eat your dinner as usual, then go to sleep and go to your clinic appointment first thing in the morning.
Tips
- Schedule this test first thing in the morning.
- Make sure to have someone with you.
- Prepare food that you can eat right after test. Fruits, biscuits or meal as you will be starving and heavily nauseated.
I mean, a pregnant lady fasting for 8 hours? Are you kidding me?
Some may ask, what can I do to pass? Should I change my diet prior to this? What foods do I need to take or avoid before the test? The answer would be… It is what it is.
Alternating your diet prior to testing can lead to inaccurate results and misdiagnosis which can harm you and the baby.
Ger ready for your third and final trimester with this related posts:
Let me share my glucose screening tests experience with you.
I was considered a high risk due to 2 factors:
- I have a family history of diabetes.
- My routine urine tests shows high sugar levels.
Here’s my OGTT results
My OGTT was done in MedCentral at SM Taytay and it costs 1,000 pesos. My health card ASIANLIFE does not cover it since its not a routine procedure for a sickness. (They don’t consider pregnancy as a sickness – as most or all health cards do).
But a bright side here is, they cover my doctors fee for consultation. As well as some of the laboratories such as urinalysis and the likes. Good thing that my doctor is an OB-Sonologist so her consultation comes with a free ultrasound (It’ll be a hassle and quite costly to pay for an ultrasound separately).
MedCentral SM Taytay | Basement 1 Bldg. B, SM City Taytay Dolores, Taytay Rizal | 0939-6072700 | 02-5703191
There’s my experience for the OGTT. I hope that I am able to help other pregnant ladies out there who research the procedure prior to having it as I did before I had one.
Read my first and second trimester related posts here:
Any other things I should add to this? Let me know in the comments below.
Photos credited to http://www.freepik.com
