Blood Results

I posted last week about gestational diabetes and the oral glucose tolerance test. Here's the update:

My doctor was great about offering an alternative test, so I didn't have to consider a Plan B. Rather than drink the sugar poison, I took a fasting glucose test and HbA1c. All I had to do was have my blood drawn in the morning prior to eating breakfast. What did I eat in preparation??

Mmmmmmm, ribs :)

Here's how my non-medical brain understands these tests --

• The HbA1c basically gives a measure of your blood glucose average over the last 3 months. How? Glucose sticks to hemoglobin in red blood cells, creating HbA1c molecules, so the more glucose in the blood stream, the more HbA1c. The test shows a 3 month average because red blood cells live about 3 months (I also read 8-12 weeks).  An HbA1c of less than 5.7% is considered normal, 5.7-6.4% is considered pre-diabetic, and greater than 6.5% is diabetic.
• The fasting glucose test just measures the amount of glucose in the blood after a period of not eating. 70-99 mg/dL is considered normal, 100-125 mg/dL is considered pre-diabetic, and greater than 125 mg/dL is diabetic.

My results (drum roll) -- HbA1c was 4.7%, which the nurse described as "on the low end of normal," and my fasting glucose was 80 mg/dL, "right in the middle of the normal range." So, good results, and I was told to "keep doing what I'm doing." Like this?

Somehow, I don't think they would approve of me putting 105# over my head or eating bacon for breakfast every morning.

More importantly (and something you get asked about 100 times a day when you're pregnant), I'm still feeling great. Bigger, but great. Other than occasionally feeling like something is trying to crawl or pound its way out of my stomach (so weird!), I just feel normal ... but with a big belly.

Big day for the countdown -- double digits :) 
99 days left!