This past week has been a season of itching. It started with this incessant itching of my feet and hands. By the weekend, the itching had spread to my entire body. I was walking around like I had ants in my pants and all over my body really. The crazy thing about it was there was no rash or redness or any normal sign of itching. Sunday morning it was even worse, so I decided to call my doctor, even though itching seems a silly reason. She told me to buy some hydrocortisone. Your basic home remedies. We tried these to no avail.
That evening the itching continued to get worse so we decided to google itching in pregnancy. One website listed several possibilities, but there was really only one possibility for all over uncontrollable itching. One percent of all women develop choriastasis (sp) which is an accumulation of bile salts. Michael insisted I call my doctor again even though I said that would be silly. He actually made the call, for which I am now grateful. My doctor at first told me to take benedryl, but then she called me back and had me go to the hospital for some lab tests. This was at 10:00 at night. So we loaded up our things ‘just in case’ and headed down.
At the hospital, I was checked in to a room. I put on the hospital gown and prepared myself for getting stuck. By the time this adventure was over, I was a pro at getting stuck by the way. Once the blood was drawn we were just waiting around for the results. I was hooked up to a contraction and fetal monitor the entire time. Michael entertained me by experimenting with Jude’s heart rate via itunes on the iphone. Among our selections: a little Bob Marley and little Jimi Hendrix. However, the song that got Jude the most excited was Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. You have no idea how proud Michael was at this point!
Shortly after this we were out of ideas to entertain ourselves. Michael went to check to see if I would be able to go to work tomorrow since it was after midnight and we hadn’t heard anything. The nurses told us not to worry, I’d be going to work. I was excited at this because that obviously meant there was nothing to worry about and I was right, it wasn’t a big deal.
About 30 minutes later however, the nurse came back and said I wasn’t going home tonight after all. Michael and I looked at each other and exchanged confused stares. The nurse didn’t say anything more than that, probably because she’s not allowed to. We sat there in the room by ourselves wondering what was going on and what would happen. Then the doctor came in and explained that I did in fact have elevated liver enzymes in my blood. I was what Michael enjoyed saying ‘the 1% of women.’ The bottom line was that I was going to be induced starting NOW.
That evening the itching continued to get worse so we decided to google itching in pregnancy. One website listed several possibilities, but there was really only one possibility for all over uncontrollable itching. One percent of all women develop choriastasis (sp) which is an accumulation of bile salts. Michael insisted I call my doctor again even though I said that would be silly. He actually made the call, for which I am now grateful. My doctor at first told me to take benedryl, but then she called me back and had me go to the hospital for some lab tests. This was at 10:00 at night. So we loaded up our things ‘just in case’ and headed down.
At the hospital, I was checked in to a room. I put on the hospital gown and prepared myself for getting stuck. By the time this adventure was over, I was a pro at getting stuck by the way. Once the blood was drawn we were just waiting around for the results. I was hooked up to a contraction and fetal monitor the entire time. Michael entertained me by experimenting with Jude’s heart rate via itunes on the iphone. Among our selections: a little Bob Marley and little Jimi Hendrix. However, the song that got Jude the most excited was Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. You have no idea how proud Michael was at this point!
Shortly after this we were out of ideas to entertain ourselves. Michael went to check to see if I would be able to go to work tomorrow since it was after midnight and we hadn’t heard anything. The nurses told us not to worry, I’d be going to work. I was excited at this because that obviously meant there was nothing to worry about and I was right, it wasn’t a big deal.
About 30 minutes later however, the nurse came back and said I wasn’t going home tonight after all. Michael and I looked at each other and exchanged confused stares. The nurse didn’t say anything more than that, probably because she’s not allowed to. We sat there in the room by ourselves wondering what was going on and what would happen. Then the doctor came in and explained that I did in fact have elevated liver enzymes in my blood. I was what Michael enjoyed saying ‘the 1% of women.’ The bottom line was that I was going to be induced starting NOW.
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