Baby Branz #3 Complications/Updates

Well this third baby boy of mine is already starting to cause enough trouble to get his own really long, novel of a blog post...


It started last Tuesday (Jan. 13th) when my hands especially became very itchy. I assumed it was dry skin and upped the lotion usage but it had no effect. I ended up searching on the internet for possible causes and treatments for itchiness during pregnancy and came up with Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP) which is a liver condition (caused by pregnancy hormones) that is causing bile acids to build up in my body, causing the itch. There is real danger to the baby though and in severe cases, left untreated can lead to still birth. My symptoms seemed spot on to what they described, but it seems rare, occurring in only 1% of pregnancies. But the itching is so weird, coming in "attacks," especially at night and evening and at this point I've gone through so much lotion there is really no way it can be dry skin. So I called the Dr.'s office on Thursday (can you imagine the nurses getting that message? "uhm a pregnant lady is calling because she has itchy dry skin, ridiculous"). I didn't hear back from anyone, so I called again on Friday and was told that I was fine but could take Claritin or Benedryl to help stop the itch if I wanted. I let it go thinking I would just bring it up again at my next appointment on Wednesday (Jan. 21st) if it didn't go away. Well, the itch did not go away and the Dr. was concerned enough to want to at least rule out ICP. Otherwise, the appointment went well, baby had a good hearbeat and appears to be growing on track. One of the lab tests needs to be done fasting, so I came in the next morning (Thursday Jan. 22nd) to have them run the liver function and bile salts tests.

So later that morning, I got a call from my actual Dr. (which is never a good thing I've learned) and said that liver function test numbers came back elevated (I didn't ask what the number was) and that he had been speaking to a specialist in Lincoln about it, and that combined with the itching was enough for an ICP diagnosis. He said that I needed to come in for an ultrasound that day, just to  make sure baby is OK heading into the weekend, and then that I would need to be monitored/seen twice a week with a combination of nonstress tests (NST), ultrasounds and continued liver function monitoring, and also start on some medication that would help get everything under control (Ursodiol). He also said that with ICP they usually deliver the baby by 36 or 37 weeks, sooner if liver function numbers get too high or baby appears to be in distress. (I am just past 34 weeks now). The story of the day could end right here, and all that alone that would be a lot to take in. . . So I scheduled the ultrasound for the early afternoon and Darrel to come watch the kids during nap time. I run a small in-home day care (a 3 month old and a 2 year old are in my care in addition to Reese, Clayton was in preschool till noon), so I make the phone calls letting their parents know that my last day of day care needs to be tomorrow instead of Friday, February 13th like we had planned on.

The ultrasound did not go well. His heart beat was fine, but the stubborn little dude was apparently taking a nap and refused to move. Not one single time. She was able to observe him doing some practice breathing but that was only one of several things she was looking for that he needed to do to "pass." She let me go home since Darrel needed to go back to class, but assured me that the radiologist would read the results, talk to my Dr., and I'd be hearing from him later. Of course the baby moved around a fair amount once I got home. When the Dr. called back around 3:30 he said that the ultrasound results were not reassuring and that I needed to get down to the hospital for an NST. If the NST did not go well I was being sent to Lincoln that night to see the specialist - it wouldn't mean for sure delivering the baby right then and there but continued monitoring at the very least (York's hospital can only deliver if you are at least 36 weeks). If the NST went well, I would still need to go to Lincoln tomorrow (Friday) to see the specialist. So my poor daycare parents get to hear back from me again, "My last day is actually right now, please come pick up your children." :(

Clayton and Reese got to hang out with Papa while Darrel and I headed into the hospital, at about 4;30. It didn't start off too great as baby seemed to be back asleep, but after a almost half an hour of no movement, I sat up more to squish him so that he would be uncomfortable and hopefully squirm around. It worked and he passed the test, he had great heart accelerations and was determined to be fine. BUT (because that's the kind of day it was), I'd been having contractions that I felt pretty good (and registering on the monitors) that were coming regularly, about 3 min. apart. So they tried to rule out a few things that could be causing uterine irritation (like dehydration and infections, but that all came back good) and gave me a muscle relaxer (a pill) to try to calm them down. After about an hour there was still no change so they tried of a shot of Tirbutaline which finally knocked the contractions out within the half hour. To err on the side of caution they also gave me a shot of steroids to help the baby's lungs develop (I have to go back for another one in 24 hours) and finally sent me home at about 8:30.

So I will find out later this morning when I need to head to Lincoln to visit my specialist and we will go from there. Please pray for peace and rest (it's hard to sleep with all of this information running through my head in addition to still being pretty itchy and hyper aware of every movement, hiccup and "could that be another contraction?" that I feel), the safety of this precious baby boy and that he can stay put until 37 weeks (that's February 11, folks!), and for Clayton and Reese who are going to get shuffled around here a lot in the next few weeks and out of their normal routine; pray for their adaptability please!