The timing is important; you want to have the party at least four to six weeks before your due date so that you'll have plenty of time to borrow or buy any necessities for your baby that you still need -- and so you'll actually have energy to enjoy the party! Shop baby shower decorations.
Your doctor will tell you if you should fast (avoid consuming food, beverages and medications, usually for nine to 12 hours) before your blood test. If you aren't fasting when the blood sample is drawn, only the values for total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol will be usable.
Fasting for a certain length of time before a blood test is one way of ensuring that your test results are not contaminated by the food you've eaten. The Mayo Clinic notes that fasting may not be necessary to get an accurate reading on a cholesterol test, but most doctors will still ask that you fast for at least 12 hours before your appointment. For certain other kinds of tests, such as a blood glucose test, fasting is necessary. This test is done to check for diabetes, and it requires that you abstain from any food intake for at least eight hours before the blood is drawn. There are alternatives to this test for diagnosing diabetes, but according to howstuffworks.com, the blood glucose test is easy, fast, and inexpensive. Other types of blood tests do not require that you fast prior to the blood draw.