I passed, I passed!

So...I'm not much of a test-taker. Standardized tests - no thanks! Tests are just not my thing. I can remember my driver's test - oh, I was so excited! In Atlanta, you took your driver's test at 16 in a shopping center's parking lot. Of course there were various obstacles by miniature plastic orange men (aka, cones), but no live interaction with other vehicles on the road (I can't say I blame them...you would have to pay mega-bucks to get me in a car with a 16-year old in Atlanta traffic). My mom had signed me up for a defensive driving class and I had a driving teacher who took me out on the streets of Atlanta because my mom was slightly afraid of the other drivers (not me of course). Needless to say, I felt very prepared and excited to know that I was going to get my license and enter a new stage of my life!

I believe the first part of the test consisted of driving through a lane of cones - perfection! The second obstacle was a 3-point turn - piece of cake! Third was parallel parking - not too bad - my driving teacher had worked with me for weeks on this and I was pretty confident in myself. I pulled up next to the cone and slowly began to reverse into the parallel spot. Unfortunately, I didn't cut the wheel enough, so the officer in the passenger seat calmly said, "Why don't you try that again?" So...slightly more nervous at this point, I try to get my car back in the 'starting' position, but did not succeed - however, I tried a second attempt, at which the officer said, "Okay, I don't think you're going to make it in this spot...why don't we move on to the next part of the test." What?! Oh no...you don't understand, I am such a perfectionist - he just had to let me try again...no such luck though. The last part of the test, which was the easiest, was weaving through cones - I think I knocked at least two of them - just because my mind was preoccupied with my two failed attempts of parallel parking - after all of that practicing and everything! I slowly parked the car as the officer was scribbling on his clipboard. We get out of the car and walk towards my mom and some friends. As the officer is continuing to 'scribble' on his clipboard, my mom comes running towards us with the biggest smile EVER, yelling, "Did you pass? Did you pass? How did my baby do?!" Well...I'm 16 years old, thinking I just failed my driver's test, and my mom is asking how her 'baby' did...I was not happy. I started to open my mouth to report that I did not pass and the officer said (giving me a smile), "Just barely - she made a 70." Well...everyone starts jumping up and down (for a 70?). Let's just say, I know that officer took pity on me having to tell my excitably cute mom that her precious baby had actually failed her driver's test. I am forever in debt to that officer (too bad I don't remember his name).

All of this is to explain - I do not test well. Don't get me wrong...I made excellent grades in high school and pretty decent grades in college (when my social calendar didn't get in the way), but testing is just a bit of a challenge for me - though I seem to always come through in the end.

Last week I went for my 23-week appointment at the doctor and had my glucose test. Whatdya know...I failed - I was 20 'numbers' above where I needed to be - yikes! So I had to schedule a 3-hour glucose test for the following week. I really was not concerned about it - I know several people who have had gestational diabetes and they have had perfectly healthy pregnancies and perfectly healthy babies. I was even encouraged, thinking that this must explain why I'm so big! And why I've been having my fainting episodes (luckily these have decreased in the last few weeks as I have bumped up my water intake). I thought that if I had gestational diabetes, that would explain so much with my pregnancy.

So, this past Monday I went for my 3-hour test. Tim insisted on coming with me, though I told him it was completely unnecessary for him to sit in the waiting room while I got my finger pricked every hour - no reason for both of us to be bored and miserable. However, he would not take no for an answer (I have to admit that it was nice to have his company). Fortunately, after two finger pricks - I passed! I didn't even have to stay the third hour for a third prick because I had passed the first two tests - yeah! Once again, I was able to come through in the end!