glucose screening test alternatives

for all of you planning on becoming pregnant, i just wanted to mention that you should ask your midwife or doctor if you can substitute the sugary day-glo orange drink with jelly beans. i ate 28 jelly belly beans within 5 minutes, 45 minutes before my blood test, and felt just fine afterward.

two reasons for the jelly bean alternative:
1. some women apparently have bad reactions to the orange drink (nausea, sugar crash, etc). this might be because they drank it on an empty stomach. i recommend protein-rich food beforehand like eggs rather than carbs or sugars.
2. although eating that many jelly beans in 5 minutes requires a lot of will power (my jaw started to hurt after 3 minutes of chewing), this is so much more fun than drinking something that looks like it could glow in the dark.

Update:
apparently my score suggests hypoglycemia. that means i have low blood sugar. i just checked some of the symptoms, because i love doing that:

• hunger (yep)
  
• shakiness
  
• nervousness (yep)
  
• sweating
• dizziness or light-headedness (yep)
  
• sleepiness (yep)
  
• confusion
• difficulty speaking
• anxiety (yep)
  
• weakness (yep)
  
• crying out or having nightmares (yep)
  
• finding pajamas or sheets damp from perspiration
• feeling tired, irritable, or confused after waking up (yep)

the best thing about lists of symptoms is that they're often so general that a hypochondriac like me can have a field day with them.

moral of the story: eat smaller quantities more frequently.