Yesterday I showed you the 25 week 3D/4D ultrasound baby pictures of Zachary. Here we see what's happening on the other side of the placenta. Mrs Happy had her 28 week hemoglobin (Hgb) and one hour glucose tolerance checks (screen for gestational diabetes risk) this week. The 14.2 reading from the red machine on the left was a finger stick monitor for her hemoglobin. That's a pretty dang good (high) hemoglobin for a pregnant woman. The other reading of 136 was a one hour 50 gram glucose tolerance test as a screen for gestational diabetes. In the midwife clinic Mrs Happy and I go to, a reading above 140 results in a longer two hour (or three hour, I can't remember) glucose tolerance test being performed.
As an obstetrical nurse, Mrs Happy has cared for hundreds of pregnant women. She was shocked at how high her hemoglobin was. I told her it could be from running around all day cleaning up after me. But, more than likely, it was from the ten miles a day she's been running to train for the marathon a week before her delivery day I signed her up for. We're trying to see if we can get that hemoglobin up to 17 by delivery day. I'm thinking we might just have to add some ankle weights if we're going to make any significant progress.
