| Gestational Diabetes Testing |
| Written by Michael Corrieri | |
How Will I Know?Gestational diabetes testing is a regular part of your pregnancy care provided to you by your doctor. Gestational diabetes is a condition in which your body is unable to reduce the amount of glucose that is in your blood as it normally would. It is quite like standard diabetes, but in this situation you are pregnant and may not have had any signs or symptoms of gestational diabetes before now. You do not need to have any type of symptoms to find yourself in need of this testing. Most first time mothers may not even realize that they are being tested for gestational diabetes until your doctor hands you an orange liquid to drink!What Happens During The Test?Your doctor will schedule you for a glucose tolerance test. This test is often given to patients at the beginning of their third trimester when they are most likely to be feeling the effects of gestational diabetes if they have it. Instead of looking at your gestational diabetes symptoms, which may not exist, your doctor needs to test your body to determine just how well it is functioning at this level. To do this, he will give you a bottle of liquid to take home with you. Usually there are instructions on what to do with it but in most cases, you will need to drink the substance 30 minutes prior to your next doctor's appointment.When you arrive at the doctor's office, the nurse will take a sample of blood to be tested. They are testing it to determine how much of the glucose syrup has entered your blood stream and remained there. As a normal part of the digestion process, your body converts the foods you eat to sugars, or glucose which is then used by your cells for proper functioning. In an individual that has gestational diabetes, though, this is not working correctly. The cells are not able to open up and accept the glucose from the blood stream because they are not reacting correctly to insulin, which is used to do just that. Your body requires more insulin to do tasks. By doing a gestational diabetes test on you, the doctor can determine if your cells are able to accept the glucose into them correctly or if too much of it is remaining in your blood stream for too long. If your doctor finds that you do have a high tendency for glucose, he is likely to want a second test done to confirm it. This test, though, is usually done in a lab completely. In the meantime he may ask you to follow a gestational diabetes meal plan and to try and reduce the amount of food you are consuming. At this secondary test, your blood sugar levels will be monitored over a specific amount of time. A definitely answer can be made at this time to determine if in fact you are suffering from gestational diabetes. If you are, then your doctor will work out the right gestational diabetes treatment for you. This may include dieting and exercise, losing weight and in some cases insulin injections. It is essential that you know the important of watching what you eat and following any type of meal plan your doctor gives to you. If your blood sugar level rises too high and does not drop, you could put yourself and your child in serious risk. Be sure to talk to your doctor about your gestational diabetes testing to determine if you will be tested and when. This is an important part of the process of keeping your baby healthy during pregnancy. |
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