Glucose Screening, Gestational Diabetes and Bad Eyesight (AKA, The Wonders of Pregnancy & Internet Research)

I'm 24 weeks, 2 days, today and that means....Glucose Screening at my doctor's appointment this afternoon.  I'm not sure why I feel a little nervous about it.  But I guess most "tests" bring a certain amount of anxiety.  I'm being careful with my sugar intake today so that I don't increase my chances of a false positive.  Of course, gestational diabetes doesn't have any truly noticeable symptoms according to WebMD.  They say, "Sometimes, a pregnant woman has been living with diabetes without knowing it. If you have symptoms from diabetes, they may include: increased thirst, increased urination, increased hunger, blurred vision."  Umm....in my experience....THAT'S CALLED BEING PREGNANT.  Excuse me while I go pee for the third time this morning (if you don't count the times I got up in the middle of the night).

Ok.  I'm back.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, I only have one risk factor working against me to develop gestational diabetes and that is my age.  Ha...that's a risk factor I'm very familiar with, living and working in Hollywood.  Being over 25 gets me again (shakes fist at sky)!  The risk factors they list are:

• Being over 25 (check)
• Family history - close family member - parent or sibling - with Type 2 Diabetes (nope)
• Excess weight - BMI of 30 or higher (nope)
• Nonwhite race - black, Hispanic, American Indian or Asian (nope - although I do have a bit of American Indian heritage...like most Americans)

And this is why researching medical information on the web is, at most times, counterproductive.  I start thinking, "Huh.  I am thirsty, hungry and pee a lot.  And my glasses prescription seems to be weaker.  What does it all mean??"  Well, luckily, a few weeks ago I picked up my What to Expect book for some light reading and saw on page 242 a topic on "Vision."  I was in my fifth month and noticed that I couldn't read anything on the TV when I had my glasses on so I was about to call up the eye doctor.  But then I came across this little gem: 

"Nope you're not seeing things - that is, you're not seeing things as well as you were prepregnancy...Your vision should clear up and your eyes return to normal after delivery (so don't bother to get a new prescription unless the change is so pronounced that you really can't see well anymore)."

It's a good thing I didn't set up an appointment!  And a good thing that I know this now as I'm reading over possible symptoms you could be living with and not realize you have GD.  I would have been sent into a tailspin of worry over the "blurred vision" symptom.  Basically, every possible symptom of GD is congruent with normal pregnancy symptoms.  Which is why GD catches women by surprise.  Nothing I can do now but drink the orange, syrupy formula my doctor gave me at our last appointment and hope for the best.  And like I said, I am being mindful of sugar intake until that time.  My doctor didn't encourage me to fast or change my eating habits in anticipation of the test but, being that it's two days after Halloween, I think I'll postpone eating leftover candy bars after lunch today...