The Calls....a happy ending.

We all have those things that we absolutely dread...the stuff you know you can get through but you REALLY, REALLY would rather not. I know for some that may be going to the dentist or speaking in public, for me it is having my blood drawn. I'm not really sure where the "phobia" began for me. Maybe when it was when I was little and busted my head open after jumping from the bed to the dresser and back again until I lost my footing and slammed head first into the dresser. There was blood and lots of it, so I am told. I think the deal was sealed when I first had blood drawn (that I remember) and then proceeded to faint right afterwards. Anyways, the point is that I am a chicken...a wimp....a complete lunatic when it comes to having my blood drawn. Needles...no biggie...that's not it, it is the fact that blood is being taken out of my body- blood that I just may need. Good blood. Blood that is supposed to stay there. I lost alot, ALOT of blood during doodle's delivery- I am talking blood transfusion type of loss and then there were the miscarriages.... So, I am way worse now then I was prior to those very scary events.

Of course, I knew that with pregnancy comes blood draws. MSW is very good about "distracting" me during the procedure. He knows what to say, how to take my mind off the fact that very valuable blood is leaving my body. I've been doing really good lately. And then I hit 28 weeks and it was time for the glucose tolerance test. I did just fine. My new OB has a lab right in her office and the phlebotomist is really good. I never gave the results a second thought.

Within 24 hours, I received a call that I failed the one hour test and that I would have to come in for the 3 hour test. This meant that I would have to have at least 4 blood draws in one morning. Four...I can barely make it through one! It also meant the possibility of having gestational diabetes. Truth is, I feared the test more than the results. Ridiculous, I am. I cried. I cried to MSW and my mom and dad. And then I put on my big girl panties and realized I needed to just get over it. And even though I told myself that, doing that was alot harder.

My support troops arrived. Mom stayed with doodle and MSW went with me. After a night of fasting, we arrived right at 8:30 to start the test. At first I had a glimmer of hope that the nurse had called me by accident. That in fact, it was someone else she needed back in for the 3 hour test. 30 minutes later, nope it was me, my file was just in the wrong spot. First blood draw done, I chugged the glucola (what a cleaver name) and went back to the waiting room for one hour. About 15 minutes later, my head started to spin and the air grew colder. It was about that time the nurse came out to check on me. "Are you ok honey? This is the point where most women faint or throw up." Geez, thanks. I was one blood draw down, there was no way that I was going to throw up and start over again. It soon passed and I dreaded for the hour to be up. It was about this time the massive amounts of sugar must have hit Camdyn. The girl was on a sugar high! She was in her own private performance of
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL.

I knew blood draw #2 would be ok. I was worried about #3 as I knew she would be going back to an arm that she already drew from. Sure enough half way through blood draw #3 my vein collapsed and she had to start all.over.again!! The expression on MSW's face told it all. #4 (which was really #5) went ok and I was free to go. After 16+ hours of not eating or drinking and 5 blood draws I was ready to go home. It was really not as bad as I feared. I really felt there was no way that I would make it through all of them without fainting, but I did. The results came a day and half later and the nurse reported, "I have great news!" I got lucky- no gestational diabetes. Still not sure why I failed the first but in the end the news was good and that is all that mattered.

So I faced my fear 5, FIVE, CINCO times in one day and I lived to tell!