I forgot to say. T'other day in an ante-natal appt the Midwife complimented me on my haemoglobin count, saying it was "13.8" and apparently it had been above 13 for the whole pregnancy period.
Er... 13 what? Well the safe limits are between 11 - 16.
11-16 what, exactly?
She wasn't really sure. Parts per something or other, and apparently most women are lucky if they get above 11.
So. A small amount of research later reveals that we're looking at whether anaemia is present. Here's the BUPA website:
"A simple blood test can measure the number of red cells and the amount of haemoglobin in the blood. The normal amount is at least 13g/dl (13 grams of haemoglobin per decilitre of blood) for men and 11g/dl for women. This test can determine if you are anaemic, but does not identify the cause of the anaemia."
Okeydokey. So I'm not anaemic. I'm *very* not anaemic. For a vegetarian, that's really not bad is it. In that joyous way the interweb has, instead of telling me how wonderfully healthy I am, "My Dr.com.au" tells me, "This measurement may also detect abnormally high concentrations of haemoglobin. This may occur in people with chronic lung disease, as an adaptation to high altitudes, or because of an abnormal increase in red cell production by the bone marrow (polycythaemia vera).".
Streatham's on a hill in South London. Maybe that's it.
Posted by cait at March 1, 2006 12:36 PM