I had a fairly normal pregnancy up until the end of my second trimester. I worked full-time and was on my feet a lot during my pregnancy until two days before I had my son. Close to the end of my second trimester, I started noticing my hands and feet itching at night. It was a very internal itch that I could not scratch. There were no signs on my skin of any sort of rash or redness. I called my doctor's nurse and she told me that this is somewhat common with pregnancies and I need to just take Benadryl. It bothered me to take it, but I would take half pills at night just to get to sleep. During my appointment with the doctor, I let her know my symptoms. She looked at my skin and said she thought it would disappear after awhile. A couple weeks passed and the itching progressively got worse. I quit sleeping and instead would stay up at night to research on the internet what could be wrong with me. I started to read stories about other mom's that went through this disease called Cholestasis. Their stories were the exact feelings and symptoms I was experiencing. I called the doctor's nurse again and told her I had researched this disease called Cholestasis and that I was sure I had it. Her exact words were that I needed to stay off the internet and take more Benadryl. At my next doctor’s appt, I told my doctor that I thought I was going crazy. I was constantly tired from not sleeping and I was losing my mind at night from the itching. I had huge bags under my eyes and my desperation was turning into depression. All I can remember about that conversation is that she convinced me this was probably not Cholestasis, because it was so rare. A couple weeks passed and itching got worse and worse. I tried everything, from keeping my hands and feet in ice buckets to taking oatmeal baths. I had lotions and creams and nothing worked. My husband sat at the edge of our bed in a chair all night long and would scratch me until I cried. In my mind, I was desperate for my skin to be broken and bleed because anything was better than that itch.

Finally, my husband called the doctor himself one morning in desperation to tell them somebody had to see me that day. The office told him that they couldn't get me in and that I should just take myself to the hospital. On my way there, the nurse called me and told me that I needed to go to the ER rather than OB triage, because she didn't see this as a pregnancy symptom (8 months pregnant). I asked her what she wanted me to tell the ER and she said “Tell them you are goggling things on the Internet and you think you have a disease”. I was in disbelief and confused as to why I was going to the ER, but did as I was told. I had researched enough to know that they needed to test my liver. At this point, I asked the ER doctor to do a liver enzyme test. He did a liver test and said it came back okay. He wasn't satisfied with my condition, due to my high blood pressure. Therefore, he admitted me into OB triage. (An expensive day because I should have been admitted there first)... Here I had many nurses tell me they had never heard of such a disease, and that I should change my detergent and soaps. I checked out of the hospital that day with no answers and no call from my doctor.

That weekend I researched more and went into the doctor that next week to ask my OB for a specific liver bile test. I found there were two different tests that should be done (liver enzyme and bile acid). She agreed to the test, and I went home anticipating the test results. I anticipated and waited for five days until I got that call. The nurse told me I was positive for a disease called Cholestasis. She had to spell it to me because she couldn't pronounce it and had never heard of it. I pronounced it for her and said this is what I have been telling her all along. At that point, the nurse said the doctor couldn't see me until the following Monday. We fretted all weekend knowing that our baby’s life was in danger. The bile acid levels were so much into my blood, I was now itching every part of my body. All we could think was that this bile acid was getting into our babies bloodstream as well, which is what they believe causes still births with no warning signs. Babies may show symptoms of stress in the womb during this disease, yet it is impossible to know if and when this could happen. We went into her office on Monday with our bags packed and she agreed to induce us that day. She told us to come back at midnight and we started the labor process. We couldn't get there soon enough, knowing every minute counted. We were at the 36 1/2 week mark.

During labor we found that he had meconium which can cause complications. We were blessed that he was okay, but I have read where this is more common with Cholestasis babies. He had a little lung issue with his breathing and was jaundice as well. I had complications after labor with large blood clots and a lot of hemorrhaging. There were four hours after delivery that I was in more pain than the 16 hours of labor itself. I felt like I was going through contractions again and had to pass many blood clots. The next day when we circumcised him, he also had problems stopping his bleeding. These are all things I have read are common, and we were unaware of throughout the whole process.

We are going to be trying soon to add to our family. We feel armed with knowledge now but are fearful of the things we cannot control. We know our chances of having Cholestasis again are close to 90%. The only thing we can control is diet, stress levels, water intake, and discussing the medications Ursodeoxycholic Acid (brand name – Actigall or Generic – Ursodiol other names-Ursofalk) we can take to help reduce the itching and has protective qualities for the baby. After watching a show on Discovery Health about this disease, it is important for labor to be induced before the 37th week. We will also need to find out this time if we are having a boy or girl. Girls develop quicker than boys therefore, we would need to make sure if we have a boy that their lungs are developed before delivery.

We thank God everyday for sites such as www.itchymoms.com , because we had to take control of our own medical health and not rely on solely our medical professionals. We are very lucky that we kept researching and pushing the diagnosis. I cannot think about what would have happened if we wouldn't have asked for the tests and encouraged induction when we did. My heart goes out to those that have been less fortunate.

Awareness of this condition needs to be spread!

Halie Fisher