Dear Sweet Pea,
Today started out with an unexpected visit to the Dr’s office. I woke up around 5 am this morning and was pretty itchy. I have been itchy in periodic spots for the past couple days but chalked it up to dry skin and didn’t think it could be cholestasis because the itchiness wasn’t concentrated to the soles of my feet or the palms of my hand and until last night, it didn’t seem worse at night. Given that I woke up from being itchy made me want to do a little bit of research on cholestasis to make sure I understood all of the symptoms. Sure enough, itchy hands and feet are the most common symptoms but you can also have itchiness all over. Part of this information went straight to my head and I think I started to think I was more itchy than prior to this information. Regardless, I decided I would call the Dr. to get their thoughts on it. The nurse on the phone said my symptoms sounded like cholestasis and that they would want to do some blood work and check on me. After getting my blood drawn, I chatted with the nurse to get a better understanding of this condition. I was curious, ‘Are there varying levels of it and you have more intense symptoms if you have higher levels? ‘Can it go away?’ ‘If the medicine is working, would they still induce or can you go to full term?’ Unfortunately, this is a pretty rare condition so she didn’t know a ton about it and just had to google it, annoying because I had already done that. So basically, I need to wait until the blood work comes back to get more information and figure out a plan with Dr. G.
What I do know is that I had this same condition with Lexi, but it showed up closer to 37 weeks and I had the intense itching on my palms and soles. When the blood work came back positive, I was 39 weeks and was induced within 2 hours. Essentially, cholestasis is a condition that prevents bile from flowing out of your liver. As a result, it builds up in your liver and the acids from the bile enter your bloodstream and cause your skin to itch. These acids are harmful to you and since we’re sharing bloodflow, it can cause babies to be stillborn. I’ve read there are medicines you can take to help ‘fix’ this if you aren’t full term yet.
I may be jumping the gun as it hasn’t even been confirmed that I have this yet, but emotionally I’m kind of all over the board. For the past 8 months, I’ve been mentally preparing to have a baby in mid-July and be on leave until October. We’ve made plans around this including Daddy’s transition plan, Lexi’s tonsil surgery, work transition plans, vacations, how I’ll use my PTO and I’m having a hard time realizing how none of what we had planned may work. I should know better than to make plans and anticipate because you little ones like to do everything to disrupt those plans but it is really hard not to. Overall, all of those things are trivial and what really matters is making sure you arrive as a healthy baby and I’m willing to do anything to make sure that happens. It would just be more convenient if we didn’t have to. Additionally, the thought of you arriving before 37 weeks is a pretty terrifying thought for me. Adding a 3rd munchkin to the mix will be challenging enough the way it is, BUT if you’re a premie and I have to figure out how to split my time between your big siblings and you at a hospital, I am really, really going to struggle. Your daddy and I are both praying for your safe arrival and any strength we’ll need to help us get through this unpredictable transition, whatever that may look like.
Aside from those major updates, many of my symptoms remain as they were last week. Lots of bathroom breaks, shortness of breath continues to get worse, heartburn, restless feet syndrome, difficulty sleeping at night and lots of braxton hicks contractions. Either they are getting stronger or are shifting to some real contractions as several of them have been somewhat painful. You continue to be very active and I can often feel a little foot or hand moving across my belly.
I continue to get lots of questions at work, ‘when are you due again?’ ‘July’ ‘It’s coming up’ and have recently had several people tell me I look great for being so far along. They’re probably lying, but I’ll take a compliment when I can get one!
This past weekend was Lexi’s first dance recital and she rocked it! I was a little nervous as the dress rehearsal didn’t go great, but we practiced that evening and the next morning and she did so great! It was so fun to watch her and I was so proud to see her out there on the stage with the lights and all these people watching her, especially as she has been a pretty shy little girl.
More updates to come about my test results!
Love,
Mama
Peanut Smiles 