Flashback Friday: My Pregnancy

From weight loss and sickness to pure bliss and then a rare diagnosis.

“At this point, our goal is to try to get you safely to thirty-seven weeks without surgery and then we will induce.”

This is what I heard from my ER doctor at 34 weeks. Oh how scary this was. Hind site, I am not all that positive I was truly scared while it was happening. I think that my misery absolutely distracted me from the severity of what was happening.

Let's back up.

In 2016, just reaching two years of marriage, I decided it was time to open my first business which was a hair salon. The place I was going to rent from was left run-down by its previous tenants. I was wanting a super quick opening so I helped my landlord do a lot of the work. In a months time, we had the place ready for my first day of opening.

Five days away from my first day being open, I landed myself in the ER with pass out and heart attack like feelings as well as severe upper GI pains. There, they found high heart rate and low blood pressure, but no explanation as to why. With my ticker going 147 bpm while laying still in bed they ran many tests to try and find an answer; this included a pregnancy test which came back negative.

I was admitted into the hospital for over night observation and to call in a cardiologist. The next day after seeing the cardiologist, I was released from the hospital but was to follow up in his office for further testing.

Two weeks after being released from the ER I decided I should take a pregnancy test again beings that it has been two weeks past my last period. To my surprise, I was pregnant. This is also only two weeks into my brand spanking new business <insert screaming emoji>.

High heart rate and severe stomach pain isn't exactly the best way to start things out!

Over the next 15 weeks I dealt with losing a lot of weight from lack of nutrition because of the extreme upper GI pain I was experiencing. It was so bad I was seeing doctors outside of my OB in hopes of answers. I was told that the pain was being caused from my gallbladder and that there wasn't much I could do about it. All I wanted was for it to be removed.

I very vividly remember having a mental breakdown at the 12 week mark because of how miserable I felt. Everyone told me "just get to the 12 week mark and you'll feel better." I didn't though. I only felt worse which made me think it would never end.

It did though. Just not until the 17 week mark.

Thankfully. I felt better. However, at 16 weeks is when the catastrophic flood hit in South Louisiana. I then shifted into survival mode. My entire world was flipped upside down and I didn't know a single person who was not effected. My business that had only been opened three months, was also destroyed which is a story for another time! We did recover though!

Around 20 weeks I felt the best I had felt in my entire pregnancy. I had so much energy! It was the breath of fresh air I needed and was finally able to enjoy my pregnancy, until.....

I STARTED ITCHING

I would say this started around 28 weeks with only my hands and feet. I would have to kick my shoes off between clients and scratch them! I chalked this up to pregnancy.

At 34 weeks, I woke up and it was MY ENTIRE BODY.

It was like flames on my skin and no matter how hard I scratched, it didn't soothe.

On day two of the itch, I knew something wasn't right. So I called my nurses hotline because it was Christmas Eve and the office was closed. She advised me to take Benadryl because it was probably PUPPS. I assured her there was no way it was PUPPS because I had zero rash.

The next morning, now Christmas Day, I woke up and went to the ER. After being triaged and placed in my room, the doctor walked in and said, "You're text book case cholestasis."

She began to tell me that they are unsure as to what causes it, but the enzyme levels in the blood raise to a toxic level and there is a high risk of still birth. So they sent me back for an ultrasound to make sure baby was okay.

Thankfully she was great! However I was then diagnosed with numerous small gallstones.

The doctor explained to me how nervous this made her because if they tried to travel and clogged the duct I would end up in emergency removal while pregnant. Normally, this surgery is done laparoscopically, but being this late in my pregnancy I would have to be cut around my side to my belly.

She then began to tell me the goal was to get me safely to 37 weeks because the babies survival is better out than in.

I was sent home and had to follow up in my doctor's office. At the time I went in to the office, my lab results weren't in. So I was sent home for one more week.

The next week, now 36, my doctor comes in the room and tells me that I am positive. I was immediately placed in a conference room where they told me they are waiting for me in admittance at the hospital and I was being induced immediately.

Fear and joy took over at the same time. I was bruised from head to toe clawing so hard for the past two weeks.

Before they sent me to the hospital, my doctor told me all of the things that could go wrong being that she would be born premature.

During labor, I had the most pain of my life when the nurses would check me for dilation and the doctor broke my water. After breaking my water, my doctor explained to me that my cervix was posterior which meant that she was having to fish around to find it. I experienced this several times throughout my labor.

I labored for 14 hours before requesting the epidural and I only wanted it because of how awful it was when the were checking me for dilation. Knowing what I know now, I will not allow them to check me so much if I have another pregnancy.

I received the epidural all for it to only work on my left half. As an added bonus, the left half of my face started to droop which obviously scared me!

The next two hours were absolutely miserable and a crazy roller coaster ride since my epidural didn't give me much relief. However, at the sixteenth hour is when I gave birth to my beautiful 36 week baby girl.

I am so blessed that none of the things the doctor pre-warned me about having a preemie happened. She never had to go to the NICU or nursery. Her breathing, heart rate, and latching to feed was all amazing.

She was an itty bitty ball of perfection and weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces.

I share my story frequently with people, not to scare them but to educated. Cholestasis is only about 1 in 1,000 pregnancies making it rare, but is a very serious condition.

My chances of getting it again is 90% which is why I am so fearful of another pregnancy. I know now the risks involved, but there is nothing that I can do to prevent it.

After having my baby and telling my story, I have had a handful of phone calls about people asking questions out of fear they or a friend has the same condition. So they will often ask what it feels like and I say, "an itch that is so severe you feel like you should be checked in to a mental institution and put in a straight jacket."

I by no means mean to sound insensitive by saying that, because that is truly how I felt. The itch drove me to such mental insanity and there was no sleep for the two weeks I endured it. So I was also very sleep deprived from waking up clawing every time I would drift.

I then make sure to tell them that I am not a doctor and can only share my experience. So I urge anyone who feels like there's a chance to see talk to their doctor about it.