A standard test in during pregnancy is the blood glucose test which is done around 26 weeks gestation. This is an initial screening for gestational diabetes, a 3-hour test will follow if your blood sugar levels are too high in the initial test. It’s important to be tested for gestational diabetes because this affects the health of both mommy and baby. You do, however, have the option to opt out of this test.

You consume 50 grams of glucose and your blood is drawn 1 hour later to measure your blood sugar levels. I had this test today. The standard drink supplied is glucola but it’s an option to drink 10 oz of (equivalent to 50 grams glucose) organic grape juice instead which is what I chose to do.

I opted out of drinking the glucola drink because I don’t want to consume the unhealthy ingredients, which includes dextrose from corn which may be GMO and food dyes Yellow #6 and Red #40. I know it’s a small amount of all these but I prefer not to drink it.

So the other option is to drink 10 oz of organic grape juice, available at the grocery store. This amount of grape juice supplies 50 grams of glucose required for the test.

My midwife appointment was scheduled for 8:30am so I was instructed to drink the juice 45 minutes before my appointment and take no more than 10minutes to drink the juice and note the time when I finished the drink.

I was up at 5:45am with my toddler who’s just getting used to her big girl bed and she got up super early, her normal wake time is 7am but not today! I drank about 16 oz of water then ate a meal at 6:30am which was overnight steel cut oats with vanilla Shakeology, unsweet vanilla ripple milk, cinnamon and pumpkin seeds. I drank water in between that time and 7:52am I poured the 10 oz of grape juice and also ate 2 Tablespoons of unsweet sunflower seed butter and sipped the grape juice until it was finished at 7:56am. So I went to my appointment and had my blood drawn at 8:56am. I should find out the results tomorrow.

I’m happy to be able to have an alternative to the glucola drink. I don’t understand why they use an unhealthy drink when simple grape juice works. In pregnancy, there are many things to consider when it comes to tests and it’s ok to ask questions and find a way that works better for you and your baby. You are their advocate from day one in your belly.