I'm such a rebel ;)

At yesterday's appointment, I declined the glucose tolerance test they give everyone between 24-28 weeks. You have to drink this stuff called glucola that's essentially a syrupy drink with FIFTY grams of glucose in it! That's more than a can of soda! It must be chugged in five minutes then they take a blood sugar reading an hour after drinking it. I was all.. first of all.. I don't eat OR drink synthetic junk! I'm NOT putting that in my body OR Gabriel's. Second of all.. for the most part I eat a balance diet with low to moderate sugar intake anyway. I was afraid it would give me a sugar overload and a false positive reading because my body would FREAK out and not know what to do with all of it! Usually, the most sugar I get at one time is the occasional half a bottle of natural root beer with dinner which equals 21 grams of sugar as opposed to FIFTY grams of glucose!!!

They didn't have a problem with me declining it (one of the HUGE benefits I've found from receiving prenatal care with Vanderbilt midwives) and offered an alternate screening called the HbA1C that is an overall reading of the glycated hemoglobin in your blood. It takes a look at blood sugar levels over the past 2-3 months rather than a mega-dose over one hour time span. That's more like it! Why didn't they offer that in the first place?

If by some chance, the HbA1C screening comes back with high numbers, I'll still decline the glucola test and go straight to modified diet and exercise for the next few months.

It feels really good to know I'm in control of my health/healthcare and if I'm uncomfortable with anything, my healthcare providers will listen and make adjustments instead of making me feel like a bad person for declining 'routine screenings'.