Not such great news...

(Sorry to everyone who has gotten this update already!)

On Wednesday night I woke up last night with severe all over itching… We have been so blessed to make it this far into the pregnancy without a return of the cholestasis but now it is looking like my liver is maybe not keeping up so well after all. We went in yesterday and they did a Fetal Non-Stress Test and took my blood work to check out my liver enzymes. At about 6 last night we got the call back that my liver enzymes are high compared to my baseline, but they aren’t dangerously high. In other words they are high enough to cause this insane itching but not high enough to indicate immediate action. Just to reiterate - the baby is fine. We’ll have an ultrasound on Monday and they will see me twice a week to check my blood work and perform the non-stress test. The ultrasound will confirm her position and lung maturity so that if my enzymes do go high then we will know that we can safely induce. To be perfectly honest, I’m miserable & uncomfortable. This is “curl up in a ball and cry yourself to sleep” kind of itching and there’s nothing that can be done about it but to try and keep my mind occupied. Since the itching is caused by salts building up under the skin, Benadryl or lotions won’t help. Jacob was born within a week of when the itching began and it was completely gone the day following birth. The cure is to have the baby! Will and I really appreciate your prayers right now, it has been a long week.

On the positive side of things, we feel really loved and taken care of by our friends and all their encouragement. It has also been sweet to see how kind and concerned Jacob has been, he tells everyone "My mommy is just so itchy" and makes this sad face. We are also grateful for the top notch medical care that we've received and for the concern and flexibility of our coworkers as we have missed a lot of work this week.