My pregnancy just got real. More real than Thanksgiving.

I've tried, for the most part, to be fun, thoughtful and positive, even when there are weird, rough things going on. Well, Martin Lawrence and Will Smith just got a call about my pregnancy, and, as it says on the photo, s--t just got real. I'm not a swearing-type person, but this makes me feel like I could be. I'll give you the bad news first, then some good news to lighten the mood. First, the bad news.

A couple of weeks ago, I had my routine antenatal check with the midwife. Bloodwork, blood pressure, urine test, fetal doppler and measurements. Everything was fine, although the top number of my blood pressure was a little higher than normal. The poor student midwife had to needle me 4 times before she got a vein that worked, and then, last week while visiting Josh's granny, I got a letter saying I needed to go back in, as the student midwife had mislabelled the blood. She was really nervous, but I don't mind being the scientific guinea pig, so I went back in yesterday to get poked again.

Again, they had trouble doing my bloods, and the student midwife apologised profusely for having to needle me another few times, but it was really fine. I know she's learning. Then, she took my blood pressure. It was kind of high, so she had the midwife, Heidi, do it again just to be sure. Still high. Heidi very calmly said that it was too high for her comfort, so I needed to go to another antenatal clinic today and have it checked, along with more bloods and urine.

Starting to feel like one of these...

Anyway, I went in again to have more tests done, and my pressure was still high, and there was an abnormality with my urine test. What does this mean? Well, I appear to have mild pre-eclampsia. Did you hear that? It was my brain exploding.

Kids, this is your pregnant brain on bad news, and probably drugs as well.

I thought that pre-eclampsia only happened to obese people and Mariah Carey. Guess I was wrong. The only symptoms I've had are the abnormal pee and the hypertension, but apparently, that's enough. I'm trying not to stress out, as stress increases blood pressure, but it's hard. It could go away on its own, or they could put me on bed rest, or it could get worse, or the baby might have to be delivered early. You can see how the myriad possibilities are freaking me out.

The good (well, great) news is: the baby is perfect. Her heart rate and movements and everything are normal, and she's ahead of schedule and measuring like a 33 week old baby instead of a 30 week old one. Big and ahead of the game. No surprise there. Have you seen her daddy?

He's basically 2/3 the size of a monster truck, and his brain is even bigger.

Well, I'm going to try to rest and not freak out, as it would ruin Thanksgiving! I am really looking forward to celebrating with my in-laws, some British friends who have lived in the US, and another British/American couple and their kids. Granny's cornbread dressing and green bean casserole and cranberries and pumpkin pie will make it all seem better.

I can easily sum up what I'm thankful for today: my family. Two of them are in the picture above, lots of them are in middle Georgia, some are in the Motherland, the ones I got to pick are scattered from Indiana and Kentucky to Tennessee and Florida, and one is kicking furiously in my womb and my heart. Happy Turkey Day, y'all!