GTT

[Mhcb]

I came home from work today to a letter to go for a GTT on Monday at 9am so pretty short notice but know my work won't give me any problems getting time off for it.

I will be 30+1 and when I had my midwife appointment at 28+2 she did a blood test and at my anti d appointment the next day they checked and told me all results came back normal.

I guess I am just confused to why I am being asked to go and heard it's horrible. More worried I won't sleep on Sunday night as suffering from heartburn and won't be able to take gaviscon due to needing to fast. Also read meant to have the rest by 28 weeks and has me worrying.

I think I might try to call them tomorrow to put my mind at ease as to why it's required but wanted to ask about others experiences.

It's usually done between 26 and 28 weeks, but I've seen some ladies on here having it done (or redone) later than that.

I didn't find it too bad. I couldn't eat from 10pm the night before and my appointment was at 8.30am.

I went in, they took a blood sample, I drank the drink (it was fine, just tasted like squash) and then waited 2 hours for the repeat blood test.

It really wasn't so bad, apart from the boredom and blood tests!

I get a bit of heartburn too, but unfortunately you'll just have to suffer through that for the night :(

I just had mine today and there were 6-7 women in total, and 2 were definitely over 30 weeks. One was 31 since the nurse came in to ask her and the other one looked even further based on her bump. Apparently 28 weeks is not a strict cut-off limit...the idea is just to catch GD early enough to you can still get things under control if needed. (I was so bored during the waiting that I actually googled it on my phone :P)

The lab told me 6-8 hours of fasting is enough so I deliberately stayed up last night till 12am and had a high-protein midnight snack (chicken burrito) to stay full for longer. Would definitely recommend getting to the lab right after they open since they can do your first blood draw and glucose drink without waiting. I was super thirsty but that actually helped a lot with the glucose drink since I was just thankful to get liquids. It tasted like plain sugar syrup + water, no flavour.

The test itself wasn't bad at all. I felt hungry the first hour but that passed and the second hour was totally fine. I was actually more anxious that one of the other women would faint or be sick in the crowded room but most of them appeared completely fine too. Only the lady who was 31 weeks pregnant looked restless 30mins after the drink, and then she simply upped and left after 40mins. The nurse came looking for her several times, but she never came back.

Also, this wasn't mentioned in any of the GTT info I read online, but the lab insisted on collecting a full urine sample over the 2 hours. You have to empty your bladder before the first draw and then each time you needed the bathroom you have to tell the nurses and go in a testing cup. I managed to hold out till the last draw and just went once in 2 hours, since the idea of asking for a cup each time was too tedious! Drinking water wasn't allowed either during fasting or the test. (Maybe this has something to with the lab...almost all accounts I read online allows you some water and don't mention the urine test!)

And also definitely take a snack for right afterwards! I had a banana on the way back to my car and some toast & eggs once back home. Feel great now, just a bit tired from getting up early but no problems at all driving or working.

My NHS trust tests all pregnant women so it may be that yours has a similar policy? I tick none of the 'potential of increased risk' boxes advised by the NHS so no real reason for me to have one other than this.

I had mine last week and the actual test was fine, I had an experienced nurse for the blood tests so no issues getting blood despite my small veins, and the drink tasted like unwatered peach cordial (actually quite nice). I had to fast from 9:30pm the night before and we arrived early at the clinic so I was the third person to be seen which I was glad about.

I wasn't required to do a urine test as per previous pp so this must be a region by region thing, and was allowed to drink water before and during the test (no limitations on this).

Unfortunately, I felt really unwell about an hour and a half in and had a midwife escort me to a separate room with fresh air and cold water. They were very nice though, and my second blood test was super quick and painless as I think they wanted to get me home . I've had no response a week later though which indicates my test came back normal.

So overall, it wasn't the worst thing in the world but it wasn't much fun (is anything in pregnancy?). I'm just glad I wasn't sick so I didn't have to repeat the test!

Thanks for the replies. I will need to check if I be allowed water during the fasting. I tried last night without gaviscon and ended up being sick due to the acid reflux. I too fast from midnight until the test at 9am then need to go straight to work when done so planning on taking a little packed lunch for afterwards.

I plan on watching Netflix during it downloading some things to watch hopefully make it pass quicker.