I went to the Dr. today, and saw the Doctor who’s been handling my case the most.  They’ve been running several tests to try to figure out what exactly is wrong with me.  The key test was a Fasting Bile Acid Test.  I had to do two different blood tests (that required fasting before them), and today went in to see the results, which are only partly back.  The initial results do say my level is high (25, in case anyone knows what that number means…I do know I overheard him sharing the results with the other Dr. I’ve been seeing and the other guy said “Well, that sure explains the itching!”).  

Because of that, he’s leaning more towards saying the itching is caused by Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). It is thought to be caused by swelling and blockage of the bile drainage ducts in the liver, resulting in a back-up of liver enzymes. They build up under the skin, and cause the itching.  (It can cause serious problems for the baby, but there are still mixed results from studies, so it’s hard to tell.) I do know the situation can change suddenly, that’s why I’ve been going in on Mondays and Thursdays.  The good news is, now we know, there’s hope it can be treated before it gets bad if we decide to have more kids (the last few days, I’ve been thinking I’m not sure I can make it to the end of the month, let alone have another child knowing I may have to deal with this again!).  We discussed the medication vs. inducing the baby (we were already discussing induction before he got the results back during my visit).  We came to the conclusion, since the baby is full term now (37 weeks), let’s go ahead and induce.  He will not induce without doing an amniocentesis, to make sure the lungs are fine.  So, we’re going to do that tomorrow, and if Baby Alex doesn’t come along before that, we’ll be inducing Wednesday (the next time he’s on call at the hospital). SO…at least I know the end is in sight, and soon!  

It’s supposed to get up to 58 today (who-hoo!). After Will wakes up from his nap, we’re going to go walk and soak in the sunshine (and maybe that’ll help break down some of the bile, as well as move the baby).   Sadly, Will is fighting his nap, and I’m looking at all the time he’s wasting we could be doing fun stuff outside! But, he’s overtired, and needs this nap, so I’m not willing to let him skip it at this point in the afternoon.