Week 24 ~ {Glucose Testing}

 

your baby's the size of a cantaloupe!

Your 10.5-to-11.8-inch baby weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces and every week she gets closer and closer to being ready to survive (and thrive!) in the outside world. 

 

Drink up! Around 24 weeks, your doctor will order a Glucose Tolerance Test -- one of the more memorable prenatal tests -- to see if you’re at risk for gestational diabetes. Basically, the test is designed to see how your body processes sugar, so you’ll be asked to drink a cup of a sweet drink called Glucola (which reminded us of Gatorade) and then hang out for an hour. Once the hour is up, you’ll have your blood drawn and then it will be tested to see how your body has processed the sugar. You know what’s also sweet? Those movements and kicks you’ve been feeling. They seem to get stronger every week. At week 24, baby’s progress isn’t just about internal stuff, it’s about her looks too. With pinker, more opaque skin, she’s looking more and more, well, like a baby. You, on the other hand, are probably experiencing some of the discomforts of the later months of pregnancy at week 24 -- leg cramps, backaches, swollen feet. Hang in there, mama-to-be! www.thebump.com

See the bigger picture.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How your life's changing:

In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball. Most women have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between now and 28 weeks. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition.

 

Untreated diabetes increases your risk of having a difficult vaginal delivery or needing a cesarean section because it causes your baby to grow too large, especially in his upper body. It also raises your baby's odds for other complications like low blood sugar right after birth. A positive result on your GCT doesn't mean you have gestational diabetes, but it does mean that you'll need to take the glucose tolerance test (GTT) to find out for sure.
Finally, if you don't already know how to spot the signs of preterm labor, now's the time to learn. Contact your caregiver immediately if you notice any of the signs mentioned below.
 www.babycenter.com

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Just a quick note about glucose testing.  I do not take the glucose screening test.  My midwife offers this, but i am allowed to decline any testing, including STD and HIV, etc., so i decline this one.   I do however allow a finger prick test and a lab blood test.  If these ever came back with an issue, then i would proceed with the glucose test.  Since i do not have a history of GD, this is not something i am concerned about.  Also, I don't feel that it's necessary to subject my body and my baby to excessively high amounts of sugar.  Just my point-of-view!