The Big Week: Week 26

It’s hard to believe (and I’m super grateful) that we’re partway through week 26.  This is a week full of milestones.  26+2 was when I was hospitalized in my pregnancy with Brady.  26+5 was when he was born.  I’m writing this at 26+4, which means that by Sunday, I’ll be the most pregnant I’ve ever been.

It seems fitting that we started off the week with a doctor’s appointment.  No ultrasound this time (our next one is at 28 weeks), but it was still a significant appointment.  We did a glucose test (to check for gestational diabetes), and since they were already doing a blood draw for that, we also did the third trimester Preeclampsia and HELLP labwork.

I was really nervous for the gestational diabetes test because A) I’ve been a sugar fiend this pregnancy, and B) gestational diabetes (while totally manageable for most women) comes with an increased risk for Preeclampsia, which I am totally not interested in.  The good thing about that test is that you get the results right away.  My number was great, and it was a relief to know that I don’t have GD.  I might have celebrated with a scone.

The rest of my labwork took a couple of days to come back.  Because I’ve felt really good, so it would be unlikely that any of these numbers would be in the danger zone, but I still always hold my breath a little bit.  I don’t want to see these numbers trending up.  Thankfully none of them did.  My liver enzymes, protein/creatinine ratio, and platelets are all still in the normal range.

I feel a little weird sharing the following screenshot, but it’s just too damn fascinating (and scary) not to.  One of the features in my online medical chart is that you can chart past test results.  The results here are one of my liver enzyme tests.  It really puts into perspective how crazy high my numbers were when Brady was born (over 1,000), when you see that my “typical” (the last 3 results are from this pregnancy) is in the single digits.  I’m really lucky to not have permanent organ damage.

Speaking of being lucky, that’s how I feel overall right now.  There doesn’t seem to be much to chalk this better experience up to besides luck.  I hope the luck continues.