Nice Assays

I got my results back from my 20 week blood sample that was tested by a researcher at Harvard who has developed a diagnostic test for pre-e that is in clinical trials. He is the kindest man, and apologized emphatically for getting back to me 7 weeks after testing my blood. The great news is that my assays were NORMAL!!!! The downer is that the test can only predict 6-8 weeks out, so pretty much my normal results indicate what we already know - that I haven't developed preeclampsia in the past 7 weeks. More good news is that he's willing to test my blood again, so I'll have it drawn at my 28 week appointment next week. He promised to call me the day he gets the results.

Otherwise, I'm doing well. Getting bigger every day. I'm maintaining really low blood pressure still in the 100s/60s most of the time. I have added a B Vitamin liquid concoction and a magnesium supplement to my daily regimen, and am trying to eat even more protein, which has led to eating more meat. :( I am still running 2+ miles at a 8:30-9:00 pace several times a week, and lifting weights and doing other strength training exercises. I have gained about 11 pounds, which freaks me out a little since it's not very much. I had already gained 20 pounds by week 27 in my HELLP pregnancy, and then gained about 2 pounds a week for the rest of the pregnancy. It's really nice to not have that weight gain pattern happening.

I did have some pressure in my upper right abdomen recently. It happened a couple nights ago, and again tonight. It was brief and barely noticeable both times, but of course I am overly tuned in. It felt the same way it did last time - like pressure against my ribs, not pain. I can recognize now that it's not the baby, which is what I thought last time. I looked in my pregnancy journal from my HELLP pregnancy and it was exactly at this gestational point last time that I started to make note of feeling pressure. (And my blood pressure at that time was regularly in the 130s/80s.) By week 29 I also had back pain on the upper right side, which I had forgotten. I am not sure if this abdominal pressure is a phantom/memory sensation, or something real. I told Brian about it when it happened tonight and we took my blood pressure, which was 102/68. The pressure is not there now. I'm going to work on my thought patterns this week, focusing on reminding myself that my body will communicate with me if there is a problem, and that I can trust my body and I am listening to it this time. I will also ask to have my blood tested for liver enzymes, platelet function and hemolysis a week from tomorrow at my appointment. Tonight I'm going upstairs to do some meditation and then get to bed a touch earlier than usual.

I'm very excited to meet the midwife at my OB practice at my appointment next week, and to see the baby on an ultrasound again! After feeling sooo strongly for so much of this pregnancy that this baby is a boy, Brian and I both started feeling a strong girl sense this week. It's so fun to not know!