Alpha What?!?

I mentioned in my previous post that the doctor saw something in my lab results that made him refer me to Genetics.  What was it? He said that I have Alpha Thalassemia trait. Alpha what? I said? Apparently, as he was looking at my CBC results, he noticed that my red blood cells are small but my iron is normal. That led him to that diagnosis.  Alpha Thalassemia is hereditary and is common to Southeast Asian people.  It is inherited from one's parents and essentially effects the amount of hemoglobin in the red blood cells.

I asked him if this is going to be an issue with my pregnancy and he is just cryptic and said that is why he was referring me to Genetics.  They will be able to do further tests to determine if it is risky to the baby.  Of course that raised some red flags with me.  What is this new issue we are going to deal with now? It's just one roadblock after another.  But DH told me not to worry and just wait until I get to discuss it with Genetics.

I did some reading and found out that it will only be a risk for the baby if two of the parents actually have the same trait. There are 4 different kinds too so depending on the combination, that is how you find out if the baby is in trouble.  More info can be found here.

So I got the call from Genetics, they wanted me and my husband to come in for testing.  During the conversation I asked her what exactly do they need. The lady said its just a simple blood test for my husband.  Since he just had his test a couple of months ago I mentioned that to her and she was able to pull up his file.  Based on his CBC result, she ruled out that he does not have the trait and that she doesn't see any risk for the baby. Thank you Lord!

She did mention that I should not take iron pills since my iron is normal.  Most doctors usually jump to Anemia in diagnosing Alpha Thalassema when it is not.  Iron does not improve the fatigue we feel. Its just how our body works. That explains what I have been feeling my whole life.  I always feel like I lack energy most of the time.  I sometimes attribute it to lazyness but its not that I don't want to do it. I just don't have the energy to do stuff.  Really makes sense.  I think I got this from my mom.  She is always fatigued a lot.

Now DH said that I have found the perfect excuse when I don't want to do chores....