When I was pregnant with Emma, I had this weird "symptom":: I was extremely itchy from {literally} head to toe. Day and night. Well, it turns out I have the same thing again.
During my last pregnancy I had mentioned it, and they didn't seem concerned. Told me to take Benedryl, and it seemed to take the edge off. Well that is what I have been doing again this time. This time when I mentioned it to my doc, she wanted to take a blood draw, to test my liver functions and bial acids.
Well...yesterday I received a call from the office. The call was not from my doctor, but from one of the associate doctors in the practice {My doc was off for the day}. She told me that while my liver function test came normal, my bial acids were high.
What does this mean you ask? Well, apparently I now have a pregnancy complication called Cholestasis of Pregnancy {Read all about it HERE}. The main symptom of this is the extreme itchiness that I have. The doctor I talked to told me that it is a good thing that I mentioned it at my last appointment.
In short:: "Cholestasis
occurs in about 1 out of 1,000 pregnancies. Pregnancy hormones affect gallbladder function, resulting in slowing
or stopping the flow of bile. The gallbladder holds bile that is produced
in the liver, which is necessary in the breakdown of fats in digestion.
When the bile flow is stopped or slowed down, this causes a build
up of bile acids in the liver which can spill into the bloodstream."
Basically, my gallbladder is not functioning properly, causing my bial acids to go into my bloodstream, which can in turn make the babies liver go into distress. GREAT.
So with this information, the doctor prescribed a medication to help with my symptoms. However, since our prescription insurance is separate from our medical, we have to pay a high co-pay for this medicine. Apparently it is a fairly new drug, being the only one in it's class. So needless to say, it is expensive to begin with. Long story short, we can't afford it. So I will be continuing with my symptoms. For now.
Oh, but it's not over yet! I now have to go in every one to two weeks, and have non-stress tests, and ultrasounds to make sure that Baby H is not in any distress. And on top of all of that, with Cholestasis, they induce at 37 weeks. As soon as she is considered full term, and her lungs function properly on their own.
Why three weeks early? Because you see, with this complication there is a much higher of pre-term labor, and/or stillbirth. NOT COOL. So I say 37 weeks it is!
The Silver Lining on this cloud, is that we get to meet our new baby girl three weeks earlier than anticipated! Plus, a few weeks ago I found out that my doctor is retiring on October 1st of this year, so hopefully this means that she will get to deliver me this time around, too!
Needless to say, we are trying to stay positive and not freak out too much. After all, I think I freaked out enough yesterday for the both of us! So please wish us luck with this new speed bump in the road...Thank you for reading!
