We had a pretty crazy weekend. Saturday while I was out and about getting stuff for holiday parties and doing some last minute shopping I got a call from mom saying that I needed to come over and help her with Silas. Jason was taking Brit to labor and delivery because she was itching like crazy from head to toe. Even the palms of her hands and bottoms of her feet were itching. While we were all waiting at the house Brit and I began texting back an forth. They thought her liver enzymes might be elevated. Come to find out they were and she had formed
cholestasis. You can click on the word to read more about it.
Some women experience a very severe itching in late pregnancy. The most common cause of this is cholestasis, a common liver disease that only happens in pregnancy. Cholestasis of pregnancy is a condition in which the normal flow of bile in the gallbladder is affected by the high amounts of pregnancy hormones. Cholestasis is more common in the last trimester of pregnancy when hormones are at their peak, but it usually goes away within a few days after delivery. According to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cholestasis occurs in about 1 out of 1,000 pregnancies but is more common in Swedish and Chilean ethnic groups. Cholestasis is sometimes referred to as extrahepatic cholestasis which occurs outside the liver, intrahepatic cholestasis which occurs inside the liver, or obstetric cholestasis.
What causes Cholestasis of pregnancy?
Pregnancy hormones affect gallbladder function, resulting in slowing or stopping the flow of bile. The gallbladder holds bile that is produced in the liver, which is necessary in the breakdown of fats in digestion. When the bile flow is stopped or slowed down, this causes a build up of bile acids in the liver which can spill into the bloodstream.
They decided they would go ahead and take the baby, which made us all happy. I just didn't want to jack around with this anymore. We needed baby Abe to get here safe and sound. After waiting and waiting for her c-section Britney was taken into the O.R. early the next morning. Jason and I sat in the hall waiting for the okay to join her. I was there to cheer on my sis and take the first picture of baby Abe entering the world. It was pretty intense. There were 2 nurses at her feet, three doctors around her, then behind at her head was Jason, 2 anaesthesiologist, me and then 3 pediatricians to the left of me. We were crammed in there. As the time quickly passed and they were still trying to get little Abe out my anxiety level started going up and I mean very fast. I tried to not let Britney see it on my face but I thought something was wrong. Everyone started peaking around the curtain and I felt that I was seeing a look of concern. My heart was racing and I was having a really hard time breathing. All of a sudden they raised this beautiful baby above the curtain for us all to see. He was perfect and I snapped away. I was spinning by this time. The anxiety had totally gotten to me. I was scared out of my mind and was about to slide down the wall and pass out. One of the nurses rushed me out and stripped my scrubs off. I was as white as a ghost. I kept asking if he was okay. I could hear him crying and that made me feel so much better. I just needed to know he and Brit were both okay.
Once they came back to the recovery room I sat there taking pictures of Abe having his feet stamped and getting his first bath. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He was perfect!
Since December 19th both baby Abe and Britney are doing great and are home for Christmas. Silas is being a wonderful big brother. He loves Abe so much and has held him a couple of times. He told me last night while I was holding Abe, "Kiki when he gets big we can plaaaaaay." They are going to have so much fun together.
Below is a little slide show that I put together. Merry Christmas everyone!
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