As I get further along into the pregnancy, I’ve hit some of the “big” milestones that I’ve heard about from so many other mothers. I was 27 (almost 28) weeks along when I did my third trimester tests, which meant I had the blood draw to check my iron levels as well as the glucose tolerance test. Yes, the orange drink that seems to be the fear of every pregnant woman out there!

ADVERTISEMENT

I’d heard many rumors about the infamous orange drink: overwhelmingly sugary, disgusting if served warm, makes you jittery and jumpy. I’d also read online that some women are told to fast before the test while others were told specific things they should/should not eat. My midwife told me there was no need to fast and gave me no other specifics. So that morning, I think I had cereal, juice and a latte before the test. No real diversion from any other day.

They served me the little bottle of orange drink which was, fortunately, cold. I had to drink it in 5 minutes or less while being watched by the lab tech. Oh, and by Mr. H who decided to snap a picture of the experience.

Yum!


Now, I’ve never been able to chug anything or take shots. I am a wuss. So drinking this within a time limit was a wee bit annoying. But it wasn’t absolutely awful. Would I willingly want to drink it again? Umm, no! But it really was just a flat, somewhat bitter, orange soda.

After that, Mr. H and I went and sat in the waiting room for an hour reading books and playing iPad games, and then I went back for my blood draw. After that, they sent us on our way. I felt great and I didn’t have the sugar jitters at all.

At my last appointment, they read me the results: my iron counts was fine (yay!) and I scored a 98 on the glucose test. I needed to be under 130, so I like to think I “passed” with flying colors!

However, in addition to all of the fun stuff at my last appointment – great test results, hearing the swift thump thump thump of Baby H’s heartbeat, finding out that Baby H was in the head-down position (stay that way, Baby!) – it was also time for the RhoGAM shot. Duh duh duh.

Because I have a negative Rh factor and Mr. H’s blood type is positive, there’s a change that the baby could also be positive. If so, I will need to have an additional RhoGAM shot after the baby’s birth (note: this is the bare-bones explanation of why someone would need a RhoGAM shot. I’m sure your medical professional can provide a much more thorough and scientific explanation!)

Anyway, as my nurse went on and on… and on and on and on about how big the needle was (she is incredibly nice, but definitely needed to zip it when it came to this shot!), I braced myself. Literally. You get the RhoGAM shot in your rear end. Sigh. Pregnancy isn’t terribly glamorous, is it? And, because Mr. H is always taking pictures, I have this lovely picture so as not to forget the moment she stuck me with the needle.

If that isn’t a face to be proud of, I don’t know what is! Ugh. I won’t lie, the shot was definitely painful and something I truly hope I don’t have to repeat. But of course I’d do it a million times over if it meant keeping Baby H healthy!

I’ve always been the type of person who struggles to live in the moment and instead am always looking ahead to the next big thing. I think that’s why my 18-month engagement really flew by. My mind bounced from dress shopping to cake tasting to registering until we zoomed right to the wedding day! With this pregnancy, it seems like just yesterday we were just starting to tell people I was pregnant, and now all of a sudden we’ve made it through so many of the big pregnancy milestones, which means that we are just speeding right through the 3rd trimester… I can’t believe that Baby H is due in just 2 short months!

Are you always looking ahead to big milestones in your life, or are you able to relax a little bit more and live in the moment?