Pregnancy Update

I went back to OU for my appointment yesterday. Everything is really about the same. The bleed is still there (a lot of times they are reabsorbed by this late in pregnancy), but it didn't appear to be any worse. So that is really good news. Also everything looks good with the baby and he seems to be growing right on schedule. They estimated him to weigh about 1 pound, 10-14 oz., which is right at average for almost 26 weeks. This is also really good news. Having small babies has never been an issue with me!, but it CAN be a complication with my diagnosis. It doesn't seem like this will be a problem at this point.
As far as the lab work to check for the clotting disorders, (the 14 tubes of blood they drew, which I got a $3,000 bill for yesterday!!) it was basically normal. I say basically, because there was one thing, if you are interested in this sort of thing, (Maybe I am kind of dorky, but I think this sort of stuff is interesting) I'll give you a brief explanation. If you couldn't care less, aside from knowing it was all "basically OK", then just skip down several lines....

Explanation: I showed to be heterozygous for the MTHFR gene mutation. MTHFR is an abbreviation for a gene that produces an enzyme used in clotting. Those who are HOMOzygous for the gene mutation usually have a high homocysteine level, caused partially by faulty folate metabolism. Being HETEROzygous means I have one copy of the mutated gene (not two, like in HOMO). This is actually pretty common (I've read up to 50% of the population has this, but just never have a reason to find out). It usually doesn't cause any problems, but to be sure, by doctor ordered MORE lab to check my homocysteine level. This being high can cause a greatly increased propensity to clot, which would explain my issues. This is also known to be a BIG risk factor is cardiovascular disease, i.e. heart attack, stroke, DVTs, etc. Anyway, my level actually came back LOW, not high. From what I can tell this really doesn't have much significance and does NOT explain why I have this problem in pregnancy.

SO....long story short......my lab was "basically" normal, and we still don't know why I do this weird thing when I'm pregnant.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. God is taking good care of us both. I go back in about three weeks to check on everything again. I'll keep you posted.