I had atypical HELLP syndrome as well. My peri actually said it wasn't "full-blown HELLP" when I asked him about it at my postpartum appointment. I was also diagnosed as having severe preeclampsia due to the proteinuria, IUGR, and high bp (which I wonder about because I was chronic hypertensive before pregnancy and I thought it was controlled).
I had my first bout of what I thought was the HELLP abdominal pain at 22w3d, although that particular time may have just been gallbladder pain- an ultrasound showed the presence of a large stone, but I believe my liver labs came back normal because I was released without any discussion of HELLP developing. The docs neither confirmed that it was gallbladder issues or not. The doc on duty actually told me that sometimes pregnant women get pain that can't be identified. Anyway, it lasted only a few hours and subsided after an IV drip with pain meds. On 23w6d my peri ordered labs to check my liver and they were normal. During my entire 24th week I had the pain almost daily, although it was less severe, so I figured it was just heartburn or more gallbladder pain. I spent that weekend pain free but got the pain again on Monday night. I let my husband take me to L&D (thought I'd just spend a night in triage again) but the next morning they told me they had to take my daughter because of the condition of my liver. It scares me to think that in ONE day my condition deteriorated to the point that my daughter had to be delivered.
