Sore arms!!!

I had my glucose challenge test today. You go into the pathology collection centre (often at the hospital, but we have one at our doc's surgery), where the nurse gives you a really sweet glucose drink - it tastes like extra-sweet lemonade that's slightly flat. Lots of people really whinge about how it tastes and I was a bit nervous of it, but it really wasn't that bad at all. Then you sit there for 1 hour and 5 minutes (or so - can't be longer than 1 hour 10 minutes) while your body processes it. Then you go back into the nurse who takes a blood sample which is tested to see how your body it processing the glucose. It's basically to find out whether or not I have gestational diabetes -- they're not expecting me to have it, it's just a run-of-the-mill everyone-has-it-type test. I'll get my results on Monday when I go to my next antenatal appointment with a midwife at the hospital..

So why sore arms??? Because I wouldn't bleed!!!! The nurse put the needle in my right arm, and hardly any blood came out, it was just dripping into there. She was using a syringe, and trying to use suction which actually hurt a bit - but nothing. So she poked around a bit to try and hook my vein better... nothing. Just discomfort for me. She ended up getting *just* enough for the glucose test, luckily, as by then we were right on the edge of the time limit and if she hadn't I would have had to do it again!! But my doc wanted a full blood count, so she needed more. So she had to go into the other arm!!! There was nothing wrong with that vein, and it bled really well... once she hooked into it that is. It hurts enough when the needle goes in but then she's standing there poking it around trying to grab a vein.. ouchies!!! I'm not a fan of the syringe-style of blood collection, I've never had it done that way before.

Anyway, so now I've got sore bruised arms with welts from where I reacted to the adhesive in the bandaids they used. Ironically enough, both arms bled for quite a while after the needle was taken out.... typical!

Anyway, here's hoping it was all worth it, found nothing and I don't have to do the 2 hour glucose challenge!!!

Pin It