The story of Sharon
It was my first pregnancy – the first child for both my husband and I – we were elated! We had just been married 3 months when my pregnancy test showed that positive sign and we were excited to be starting a family right away. All went well – I felt SO blessed to have such a smooth experience…no “morning” sickness or any of the other typically uncomfortable things that pregnancy can bring. My husband and I had decided, very early on, that we both loved the idea of hiring a midwife. After interviewing a few that didn’t quite fit for us, we had settled on (a group of) midwives that we loved!
Week 26 of my pregnancy came and my husband noticed I’d started scratching at my hands a lot, specifically, the palms of my hands. I am prone to dry skin anyway, and there it was, the middle of winter. I started moisturizing more often. This continued for about a week and I realized that this itching only began at a very specific time of night (usually 8 o’clock), and the itching had begun to “spread” to between my fingers, and sometimes, the backs of my hands.
At my next prenatal appointment, I brought this up to my midwife. She immediately thought it was dry skin, due to the winter, and suggested I try colloidal oatmeal baths, bathing in cooler temperatured water, and doing even more moisturizing. I did tell her it was just my hands, and started at a very specific time of night. “Just try my suggestions, first,” she said. She had mentioned the words, “cholestasis” and “rare”, but just briefly and told me not to Google it, so as not to become stressed or worried.
I Googled it. Shared every little detail with my husband.
I did follow every one of her suggestions, though…and the itching got worse. So much worse! I would scratch (sometimes breaking skin) and cry myself to sleep, when I was actually able to fall asleep, but I continued to follow her suggestions until my next prenatal appointment. By then the itching was in several places: hands, arms, chest, upper abdomin, and lower legs (from knees to ankles). I shared all of this with my midwife and she immediately drew my blood to test my bile acids. The results were in soon after: I had ICP/Cholestasis. Now, I wasn’t just upset and in pain, but now I was worried. In addition to being diagnosed with ICP, it had also been discovered that my baby’s umbilical cord only contained 2 vessels, unlike the normal 3. I was told there was a possibility of slow growth rate due to this, and that was on top of the worst risk that Cholestasis brings with it: stillbirth. Not only were we to undergo extra monitoring, but we were to find new prenatal providers, as well. Being considered “high risk”, I was no longer eligible to deliver at my midwives’ birthing center, but had to deliver in-hospital…with someone I’d never met before…and be induced…in just a couple weeks! It was a whirlwind of change and I was a hormonal, emotional wreck. Before being transferred out of my midwives’ care, they amazingly worked with us to make it as smooth a transition as possible, and had even recommended me to a CNM that used to work with them, so I knew I would be in hands that had the same outlook we sought for our laboring/delivering time, even if it would be greatly different from what we have initially envisioned. I had also been prescribed Ursodiol, which over the last couple weeks before induction had marvelously regulated my bile acid levels, and in turn, my itching was kept at bay!
My induction is another story, in itself, but it began the morning of week 37, and our Little Itch was born plump and pink the night of week 37, day 2! Perfectly healthy, weighing in just under 7lbs at 6lb, 15oz, and measuring 20 inches long.