Test results

There was a lot of drama surrounding my appointment on Tuesday. First of all, I was scheduled to go last Friday, to the preterm labor clinic. Well, the preterm labor clinic called last week and said it was too early to be concerned about preterm labor or any of the treatments/tests they do to monitor so they wanted me to see the diabetic clinic in the meantime. Fine, no problem, right? Well, the diabetic clinic called last Friday, almost in a rant, about how they currently were full to capacity and that if I hadn't been diagnosed either with Type 2 Diabetes or Gestational Diabetes, then they weren't going to see me. After a long discussion, they stuck me in with the "regular" pregnant women on Tuesday but decided I should have a blood draw called Hemoglobin A1C. This test, in case you didn't know, gives an average, so to speak, of what your blood sugar levels have been over the past 3 months. Your results come in a number -- anything under 7 is considered good; under 6 is ideal; over 8 and you're in trouble. While it wouldn't in and of itself say for sure that I have T2D, it would give us a good idea what we're up against. That was Tuesday so I called this morning to get my results and I'm in shock -- my A1C level was 5.5!!!!! Almost with certainty they can say I don't have T2Diabetes! That's the good news. The bad news is I'll have to drink that yucky glucola stuff at my next appointment. I can't imagine having had GD with my last 4 pregnancies that I won't have it this time. Which means I'll fail that test at my next appointment (a 1 hour test) and will have to have the wonderful 3 hour test. You have to go fasting and they'll draw blood once; drink more of that yucky stuff and then they poke you again every hour, on the hour, for the next 3 hours. Fun, fun, fun....

The only other thing they did on Tuesday was find the heartbeat. :) 10/17 is my next appointment and I will see the preterm labor clinic. We've already decided to do whatever they suggest regarding monitoring for signs of preterm labor (which usually means wonderful ultrasounds every 2 weeks to measure the cervix), which I did with Timothy. More fun let me tell you! However, one thing we didn't do with Timothy was the progesterone therapy. It's a weekly shot of progesterone, the hormone the body naturally produces that keeps you pregnant. Studies are starting to show that women with a history of preterm labor can prolong their pregnancies with the additional progesterone. I frankly just didn't want for Jonathan to have to give me a shot once a week (since the shot has to go into a place where I can't reach o my own) or go through the approval process to get insurance to pay for it. Since Timothy came early, too, we'll do it this time, if they suggest it. Hopefully Jonathan doesn't have any frustrations with me....(just kidding! He could never hurt me on purpose!) :)