Diabetes and Penny Cools

This morning Joel and I got an early start. I was at my Dr's office before 8am to get my gestational diabetes test. It's standard for all pregnant women here and the Dr said to expect clear results but there's still a part of me that wonders if I'll get a call tomorrow letting me know I need to come in to talk about treatment options.

I had to fast after dinner last night and tried not to be grump about missing tea and rusks this morning. The test requires me to drink 10oz of orange liquid quickly, wait an hour and then have my blood taken. It seems as though everyone who has been pregnant recently or is in the OB field has felt the need to explain to me how disgusting this drink is. No one seems to have found a good description for the taste but they always seem to shudder a bit when trying to.

When I showed up this morning I was handed my orange bottle of liquid to drink quickly. I braced myself wondering whether it would taste more like rubbing alcohol or car oil. No one in that office could understand why a huge smile was my reaction to my first sip. Penny Cools! It tasted like Penny Cools! They're the Zimbabwean version of popsicles you get here- the ones in the clear cases that you buy on vacation or the Fourth of July. It was definitely sweet, like when you first suck the flavor from the ice... but it never diluted. I drank all 11oz thankful that I was not only NOT drinking the medicinal equivalent of car oil but feeling a bit like I had a treat from my childhood. Of course, the glucose drink with no food in my stomach left me with jitters for the next 2 hours of appointments so I was pretty happy to grab an early lunch.