+ "A 3-hour tour" +
First, I want to publicly thank those folks out there who sent me notes privately about their experiences and advice with this 3-hour glucose tolerance test, and their pregnancies in general. I am amazed what wonderful people there are out there, and though many people keep seemingly independent, unrelated journals, we are still a community. And that community strengthens each of us. The words of advice and experience carried me right into that yicky appointment yesterday and helped me be ready. So, thank you.

Now, on to updates. Yes, it's over. Thank God. It was much better than I'd feared, but still unpleasant. My fear of needles was tested more than ever, as my blood was drawn FIVE darned times (once before the orange drink, then 1/2 hour after, 1 hour after, 2 hours after and finally 3 hours after). They poked both arms, and I have a new understanding of my body (including which veins I want them using in the future and which ones I don't - Youch!). Fortunately, none of the blood draws stopped bleeding (I have had this problem before), and the bruising appears minor. I am quite sore in both arms though. They were 1/2 hour late starting me - grumble grumble - and this place was so pathetically boring it was painful. I had my choice of lemon-lime or orange, and I happily chose orange. The very nice tech told me that was a very wise decision; he's tried both and the lemon-lime made him sick. It was a little sweeter than the one I took at the Dr's office, and the bottle even had sugar caked on the rim. Fortunately, I drank out of a styrofoam cup and it was nice and cold. Then it was back to the TV-less waiting room. Joe didn't come with me after all, so I was on my own as floods of people came and went and I read my book. Most of the time, I was able to concentrate, and when I couldn't I would take a couple of minutes to people-watch. This is a stand-alone lab that does all kinds of blood, urine and x-ray testing, for employment screenings, one-off medical testing and ongoing "standing order" testing for chronic illnesses. It was actually moderately interesting. Except that I noticed by about 1/2 hour into this experience that I was the only one who didn't get to go back, get blood drawn, and leave. People looked at me strangely when I came back out to the waiting room and sat back down. Oh, well. If they'd watched me longer, they would have gotten quite a show from you, Ceili, about 45 minutes after drinking the soda stuff. You were trying to get out of my stomach, weren't you? I seriously had to keep myself from laughing. I couldn't put my book on my tummy because you were making me jump so much.

About 2 hours in, I started to get a bit drowsy. That's probably not surprising as I came down from the sugar high. I didn't fall asleep, wasn't even really close, but I was bored and tired and wanted to go home. This was the test (at 2 hours) they were late for. There was NObody in the waiting room, and by my watch they were 15 minutes late on my blood draw. I finally went and asked the receptionist, who was chatting with one of the techs. Turns out she had been with someone else when the timer went off, and she FORGOT me. She took me back then, and the next was exactly an hour later, but I wonder how long I would've sat in that waiting room alone, waiting for a forgotten blood draw while falling asleep. Yuck.

When it was over, I drove home, munching a bagful of cashews and drinking a bottle of water. That did well, and I ate real food when I got home. About an hour later, I was just out of it, and to bed we went. I woke up about 3 hours later. Yep, I am glad I took a vacation day yesterday. I would've been miserable at work after that. But, all in all, I think I was lucky. I didn't get results as we went, unfortunately, and I don't know when I will get them. I figure the worst-case scenario is that I'll get them when I have my Dr's appointment next Monday.

Meanwhile, you and I are doing fine. Your kicks are crazy-hard sometimes, and I told daddy over the weekend that I will miss being pregnant. He thought that was weird, and asked me why. I told him it was definitely one of -if not THE - most interesting things I'd ever experienced. There are rough moments, and physical challenges, but it really is fascinating to witness my body's changes and see its ability to care for a baby. My dreams are getting more vivid and more reality-driven, as you get closer to arriving. I'm sure that will only be compounded once we start birthing classes this Thursday.