So I heard from the hematologist's office this week. Turns out that I am negative for Factor V Leiden. And tested positive for MTHFR but my homocysteine levels were really low.
Per Doctor Google:
Elevated homocysteine levels
may cause irritation of the blood vessels. Elevated
levels of homocysteine show an increased risk for (1) hardening of the
arteries, which could eventually
result in a heart attack and/or stroke, and (2) blood clots in the veins.
Given the low levels and my history of healthy pregnancies ( no miscarriages) they said that it wasn't something to worry about for me. I guess it is something that I will continue to keep in the back of my mind though. I think I will still talk to my midwife about whether to continue taking the baby aspirin and extra folic acid just for good measure.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
3 hours & 4 stabs
So today was the day of my 3 hour glucose tolerance test and of course it snowed, schools were cancelled. Thankfully I live in town and the hospital lab wasn't very far, so by golly I wasn't going to reschedule again.
I originally took the 1 hour glucose test about 2-3 weeks ago and the passing range is a 140. Don't ask in what quantity that is, no clue. If your test comes back higher than 200 you are automatically considered to have gestational diabetes. But I of course got a score of 151, just 11 stinking points over. So frustrating and hence why I had to take the 3 hour version to make sure that I didn't have gestational diabetes. Which I haven't had in the past but I was also alot younger/thinner back then :o)
My doctor requires you to fast 12 hours before, so no food (only water) since 8pm last night. My morning started out with a slow & hungry drive through the snow. Thankfully the lab was still staffed even with the storm that blew through the area. They took my blood to start with for a fasting baseline. And then you have to drink (twice as much as the 1 hour test) this orange flavored beverage. Its like a very really sugary non-carbonated pop. Once that was down the timer began, then every hour they draw your blood.
I was really thankful for the phlebotomist that I worked with. I told her from the get go that the last year seems like anyone always has problems getting blood from my veins. And she was able to get a draw every time she poked me. Probably helps that that is all she does everyday, practice makes perfect!
She had mentioned after I finished the drink that I may feel tired later and I was thinking why since I should be all hyped up on the sugar I just drank. Which I could tell from the baby cuz it started moving around like crazy the first hour. But boy as I sat and watched some tv and read my book, by the end of the first hour I was feeling the crash.
In the area where they draw blood they have a recliner which she offered to me. And it was nice to lay back and close my eyes. At the second blood draw I was feeling a little lightheaded and so the tech insisted that I sit and recline all the way back in the recliner just in case.
Well I survived after the last draw I was so glad to be done and could leave. And who am I kidding the last hour I kept thinking about what food I would get on my way home.
I originally took the 1 hour glucose test about 2-3 weeks ago and the passing range is a 140. Don't ask in what quantity that is, no clue. If your test comes back higher than 200 you are automatically considered to have gestational diabetes. But I of course got a score of 151, just 11 stinking points over. So frustrating and hence why I had to take the 3 hour version to make sure that I didn't have gestational diabetes. Which I haven't had in the past but I was also alot younger/thinner back then :o)
My doctor requires you to fast 12 hours before, so no food (only water) since 8pm last night. My morning started out with a slow & hungry drive through the snow. Thankfully the lab was still staffed even with the storm that blew through the area. They took my blood to start with for a fasting baseline. And then you have to drink (twice as much as the 1 hour test) this orange flavored beverage. Its like a very really sugary non-carbonated pop. Once that was down the timer began, then every hour they draw your blood.
I was really thankful for the phlebotomist that I worked with. I told her from the get go that the last year seems like anyone always has problems getting blood from my veins. And she was able to get a draw every time she poked me. Probably helps that that is all she does everyday, practice makes perfect!
She had mentioned after I finished the drink that I may feel tired later and I was thinking why since I should be all hyped up on the sugar I just drank. Which I could tell from the baby cuz it started moving around like crazy the first hour. But boy as I sat and watched some tv and read my book, by the end of the first hour I was feeling the crash.
In the area where they draw blood they have a recliner which she offered to me. And it was nice to lay back and close my eyes. At the second blood draw I was feeling a little lightheaded and so the tech insisted that I sit and recline all the way back in the recliner just in case.
Well I survived after the last draw I was so glad to be done and could leave. And who am I kidding the last hour I kept thinking about what food I would get on my way home.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Today's realization
Today I am 28 weeks pregnant; according to bump.com the baby is the size of an eggplant.
I was standing up talking to a coworker and realized that my belly now sticks out slightly more than my boobs! Which if you knew me than you'd know that I'm well endowed in that area!
I was standing up talking to a coworker and realized that my belly now sticks out slightly more than my boobs! Which if you knew me than you'd know that I'm well endowed in that area!
Hema-tala-who?
Today I had an appointment with a Hematologist. My understanding is that they deal with your blood. When I met with my mid-wife last week we discussed the meds I was taking. Well I've been taking extra folic acid and a baby aspirin and it was because of the potential for MTHFR (and, no it's not a bad word!).
I explained to her that when we were going through fertility treatments I told my fertility doc that a couple of my cousins on my mom's side of the family with the condition. My female cousins have had problems miscarriages and/or unexplained pregnancy complications which (turns out) is a symptom of MTHFR or Factor V. The fertility doc said that there are multiple variations and most time the preventive is folic acid and baby aspirin. So he put me on those instead of testing me.
Factor V according to Doctor Google:
Its an inherited blood clotting disorder. Both men and women can have factor V Leiden, but women may have an increased tendency to develop blood clots during pregnancy or when taking the hormone estrogen.
Normally, factor V is a clotting protein. But, people with factor V Leiden have a genetic mutation that causes the factor V protein to respond more slowly to being deactivated by the anti-clotting factors.
If you have factor V Leiden, you either inherited one copy of the defective gene (heterozygous), which slightly increases your risk of developing blood clots, or more rarely you inherited two copies, one from each parent (homozygous), which significantly increases your risk of developing blood clots.
Well now the midwife has decided that I should be tested since I'm now pregnant. Which brings us back to present day the appointment today. So turns out that Factor V and MTHFR are two different things. The doctor thought with my family history and that I've had successful pregnancies that I might have the lesser version of MTHFR. Which is a relief and one less thing to worry about.
We'll know for sure in 7-10 days for sure. I'll update later when the results come back in.
I explained to her that when we were going through fertility treatments I told my fertility doc that a couple of my cousins on my mom's side of the family with the condition. My female cousins have had problems miscarriages and/or unexplained pregnancy complications which (turns out) is a symptom of MTHFR or Factor V. The fertility doc said that there are multiple variations and most time the preventive is folic acid and baby aspirin. So he put me on those instead of testing me.
Factor V according to Doctor Google:
Its an inherited blood clotting disorder. Both men and women can have factor V Leiden, but women may have an increased tendency to develop blood clots during pregnancy or when taking the hormone estrogen.
Normally, factor V is a clotting protein. But, people with factor V Leiden have a genetic mutation that causes the factor V protein to respond more slowly to being deactivated by the anti-clotting factors.
If you have factor V Leiden, you either inherited one copy of the defective gene (heterozygous), which slightly increases your risk of developing blood clots, or more rarely you inherited two copies, one from each parent (homozygous), which significantly increases your risk of developing blood clots.
Well now the midwife has decided that I should be tested since I'm now pregnant. Which brings us back to present day the appointment today. So turns out that Factor V and MTHFR are two different things. The doctor thought with my family history and that I've had successful pregnancies that I might have the lesser version of MTHFR. Which is a relief and one less thing to worry about.
We'll know for sure in 7-10 days for sure. I'll update later when the results come back in.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Finally getting back on track
So I thought all along that this blog would be great since I've become pregnant since thinking back to my son (14 years later) you forget things. I'm fully aware that this will probably happen to me and everyone else as time passes, its inevitable. Hence the importance of writing something down but of course life gets in the way. So I am making this pledge to keep up on this blog.
NOVEMBER 2012
Between 17-21 weeks pregnant.
I went for an ultrasound Nov 14th and everything was ok. So that's always a relief! The ultrasound tech said the baby weighed about 9 ounces, so little less than a can of pop. We told her we didn't want to know the gender and so the tech said when to look away. Well I looked over at my hubby and he was still staring at the screen the entire time. Afterwards he said that he couldn't tell what he was looking at anyway 90% of the time. It was crazy hearing the tech talk and point out things saying this is this, we definitely had to take her word for alot of it.
Towards the end of the month I was still out of town for work which means oh so exciting evenings in a hotel room watching TV. I was doing just that one evening and was leaning back against some pillows and actually saw my stomach move!! I was so shocked and excited, my first thought was to call hubby and let him know but then realized that it was after 10pm and he would be fast asleep. So I told him the next day.
DECEMBER 2012
Between 21-25 weeks pregnant.
I started attending a pre-natal water areobics class. I am currently the person with the latest due date. I've really enjoyed the class besides being able to float in a heated pool! It has been nice to be around other currently pregnant women. Alot of my friends/coworkers have had babies who I talk to about it but its different talking to someone thats currently going through the same as you.
The weekend before Christmas (about 19 weeks along) my hubby finally felt the baby move. He said that he felt something move across his hand when we were laying down and he had his hand on my stomach. That is one thing that has been interesting is since then we'll lay there with his hand on me and sometimes he can feel it when I do but other times I'll ask did you feel that and he hadn't. I'll push on my belly trying to get the baby to move and the hubby will yell at me to stop cuz "you're going to poke it in the head". I've re-assured him that that is definitely not the case!
The saturday after Christmas my parents drove up and stayed for the day to help us take down the wallpaper in the spare bedroom aka office now aka nursery with an office corner. Which it was good to have the deadline of them coming so it forced me into cleaning mode. The bedroom has nice wood floors and probably nice wood trim except that the previous owners had painted the wood trim a dark green color. ugh! So we had to paint all the trim in the room and around the door and window, with 2 coats. It probably could have used a third but by the time it dried hubby and I were sick of painting and said screw it.
There seems to be alot more space in the room now that it has been all cleaned out and painted. I mean its still a small room but at least now you can visualize that baby stuff will fit. I also put together a storage cabinet that I had bought from Ikea awhile back. I'm one of those weird people that love putting together stuff like that. Our house was built in the 30's and so two of the bedrooms don't have closets inside the room. There is one out in the hallway but we use it more like a coat closet. We may have to rethink that later.
NOVEMBER 2012
Between 17-21 weeks pregnant.
I went for an ultrasound Nov 14th and everything was ok. So that's always a relief! The ultrasound tech said the baby weighed about 9 ounces, so little less than a can of pop. We told her we didn't want to know the gender and so the tech said when to look away. Well I looked over at my hubby and he was still staring at the screen the entire time. Afterwards he said that he couldn't tell what he was looking at anyway 90% of the time. It was crazy hearing the tech talk and point out things saying this is this, we definitely had to take her word for alot of it.
Towards the end of the month I was still out of town for work which means oh so exciting evenings in a hotel room watching TV. I was doing just that one evening and was leaning back against some pillows and actually saw my stomach move!! I was so shocked and excited, my first thought was to call hubby and let him know but then realized that it was after 10pm and he would be fast asleep. So I told him the next day.
DECEMBER 2012
Between 21-25 weeks pregnant.
I started attending a pre-natal water areobics class. I am currently the person with the latest due date. I've really enjoyed the class besides being able to float in a heated pool! It has been nice to be around other currently pregnant women. Alot of my friends/coworkers have had babies who I talk to about it but its different talking to someone thats currently going through the same as you.
The weekend before Christmas (about 19 weeks along) my hubby finally felt the baby move. He said that he felt something move across his hand when we were laying down and he had his hand on my stomach. That is one thing that has been interesting is since then we'll lay there with his hand on me and sometimes he can feel it when I do but other times I'll ask did you feel that and he hadn't. I'll push on my belly trying to get the baby to move and the hubby will yell at me to stop cuz "you're going to poke it in the head". I've re-assured him that that is definitely not the case!
The saturday after Christmas my parents drove up and stayed for the day to help us take down the wallpaper in the spare bedroom aka office now aka nursery with an office corner. Which it was good to have the deadline of them coming so it forced me into cleaning mode. The bedroom has nice wood floors and probably nice wood trim except that the previous owners had painted the wood trim a dark green color. ugh! So we had to paint all the trim in the room and around the door and window, with 2 coats. It probably could have used a third but by the time it dried hubby and I were sick of painting and said screw it.
There seems to be alot more space in the room now that it has been all cleaned out and painted. I mean its still a small room but at least now you can visualize that baby stuff will fit. I also put together a storage cabinet that I had bought from Ikea awhile back. I'm one of those weird people that love putting together stuff like that. Our house was built in the 30's and so two of the bedrooms don't have closets inside the room. There is one out in the hallway but we use it more like a coat closet. We may have to rethink that later.
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