I have always had what my mom calls "disappearing veins." They're small, hard to find, and seem to roll whenever someone tries to isolate them. Because of that, I'm also a bruiser. Stab me once, I'll have a bruise for three weeks.
I knew all of this when I headed to my 3-hour glucose test this morning. But since it's a standard test for those pregnant with twins, I fasted after 6pm last night and showed up for my bloodwork at 8:20am.
The girl was really nice. She took my blood for the first time with little problem and then had me drink this orange fluid that tasted like flat pop... sugar pop. Man, was that concentrated! Thank God, I got all of that down, but it didn't take long for my boys to recognize the foreign sugary liquid running throughout their otherwise calm environment. Poor things. I haven't even drunk hot chocolate or Caffeine Free Diet Coke since I've been pregnant! They were going CRAZY!
An hour later, I went in for the second poke. I got a little winded, but communicated my circumstances to the nurse and it quickly passed. For the third poke, she had a really hard time finding my veins and had to go back and forth between my two arms. She finally succeeded and stopped the bleeding with a cotton ball. But at this point, I could hardly see straight. Now, I've never fainted before, but I have gotten light-headed. (Blame it on my weak stomach!) However, I have never experienced anything quite like this before.
My vision blurred and my ears clogged. I got very warm and hopelessly tried to pull my hair back, off of my neck. The nurse could see my lips losing color and offered me water. She reclined my chair and got me a cold compress. I could feel the room closing in on me and felt like it was coming in fast. Then my stomach felt like it wouldn't hold that orange fluid any longer. I told the nurse just in time for her to bring the wastebasket to my head and hold my hair away from my face long enough for me to dispense the entire contents of that disgusting orange bottle into the can... well, I did miss a little.
Great. Now, what? I only had one more hour and one more successful poke before I was free! She called the doctor and they confirmed that she should terminate the test. (I did just throw up the most important part of the exam.) Was I going to have to do this all over again? I still don't know. She begged the doctor not to make me do this for a second time, sighting her difficulty in finding my skinny and disappearing veins and the effect it had on me.
Oh Lordy, I hope I don't have to. That was torture!
I knew all of this when I headed to my 3-hour glucose test this morning. But since it's a standard test for those pregnant with twins, I fasted after 6pm last night and showed up for my bloodwork at 8:20am.
The girl was really nice. She took my blood for the first time with little problem and then had me drink this orange fluid that tasted like flat pop... sugar pop. Man, was that concentrated! Thank God, I got all of that down, but it didn't take long for my boys to recognize the foreign sugary liquid running throughout their otherwise calm environment. Poor things. I haven't even drunk hot chocolate or Caffeine Free Diet Coke since I've been pregnant! They were going CRAZY!
An hour later, I went in for the second poke. I got a little winded, but communicated my circumstances to the nurse and it quickly passed. For the third poke, she had a really hard time finding my veins and had to go back and forth between my two arms. She finally succeeded and stopped the bleeding with a cotton ball. But at this point, I could hardly see straight. Now, I've never fainted before, but I have gotten light-headed. (Blame it on my weak stomach!) However, I have never experienced anything quite like this before.
My vision blurred and my ears clogged. I got very warm and hopelessly tried to pull my hair back, off of my neck. The nurse could see my lips losing color and offered me water. She reclined my chair and got me a cold compress. I could feel the room closing in on me and felt like it was coming in fast. Then my stomach felt like it wouldn't hold that orange fluid any longer. I told the nurse just in time for her to bring the wastebasket to my head and hold my hair away from my face long enough for me to dispense the entire contents of that disgusting orange bottle into the can... well, I did miss a little.
Great. Now, what? I only had one more hour and one more successful poke before I was free! She called the doctor and they confirmed that she should terminate the test. (I did just throw up the most important part of the exam.) Was I going to have to do this all over again? I still don't know. She begged the doctor not to make me do this for a second time, sighting her difficulty in finding my skinny and disappearing veins and the effect it had on me.
Oh Lordy, I hope I don't have to. That was torture!
You're a trooper Min! I'm so glad they aren't going to make you do it again. Praise God for continued good news!!
ReplyDeletePS: These are the stories to remind Nate & Ben when they're teens and ask why they have to listen to you (not that your boys would EVER even think to ask such a question... :P)
Hey Mindy - I'm Mary Coffed's neice. I've enjoyed following your blog! I also have difficult veins but I've never gotten sick. What an awful experience! Soo glad you don't have to go through it again!
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