ICP

Obviously I’m really bad at keeping up with a blog. I’m more of an Instagram type of person myself. But! I decided I wouldn’t abandon it completely because sometimes I feel like writing a little more and it would be too long on Instagram, so why not write it here!?

On this post I'm going to talk about the reason why I’m doing not only a c-section, but a scheduled one. And it happens to be the same reason why Melissa was also a scheduled c-section baby.

The first reason is that all of my babies are breached. Not sure why. Probably there's something with the shape of my body, I don’t know. But they all stay very happy sitting there inside my belly. That’s the reason why I had a c-section with Camila already. With Melissa I tried positions to make her turn naturally but she would always turn back. Then something grater happened, which leads me to the second reason.

At 30 weeks, during Melissa’s pregnancy, I started to itch all over my body. At the beginning it was mostly at the palm of my hands and feet and at night. However, with time it got more and more intense everywhere and all day. There was no lotion that could help. Trust me, I tried soooo many different things to make it stop or at least lighten a little, but nothing worked. So, I decided to tell my doctor about it and he ordered a few blood tests and told me to send him the results as soon as possible. Once I sent it, he told me to take a specific medicaton and that we would talk more about it on our next appointment. Being the anxious and curious person that I am, I decided to look it up online what the medicine was for and found out that I had something called Intraheptic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP). The medicine worked, I didn’t itch anymore but Melissa had to be born at 37 weeks for precaution.

Now, what’s ICP? ICP is a group of liver disorders specific to pregnancy which interfere with the flow of bile. Bile is a substance produced by the cells of the liver to aid in digestion of fats. During normal liver function, the bile which is produced is transported out of the cells and into the bile duct by special pumps. During Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy, the cells are unable to transport the bile out of the cells normally, which leads to bile acids building up in the blood (http://www.icpcare.org/). There are no risks for the mom, but severe risks for the baby. It is recommended for babies to be born at 36 weeks, because after that there’s great risk of still birth, meaning, baby born dead. The scary thing about this is that there’s nothing that can be done about it. There is a medicine that ICP moms take, but that only regulates the levels of bile acids, therefore, it calms the itchiness. But, it doesn’t decrease or take away the risks for the baby. However, if the mom doesn’t take the medicine, the risks are greater.

Fortunately I had a great doctor that did my ultrasounds that was very familiar with this condition and insisted to my OB at the time to take Melissa out once I turned 36 weeks. My OB still hesitated a little and made me wait until I turned 37 weeks to make sure the baby was fully developed. Luckily Melissa was born healthy and with no problems.

Once I got pregnant again, I feared about having this again and read that the chances where high. Unfortunately I had to change OBs, but from day one I told him about the ICP on my previous pregnancy but he didn’t seem very worried about it. Then, at 30 weeks again I started to itch. At this time it was a lot more intese. I then told my doctor about it but again he didn’t seem very concerned but asked me to take a few blood tests. Once I got the results I immediately sent it to him but he said that everything was ok. I asked what about the itchiness and all he said was “go to an allergy doctor”. I couldn’t believe it when I read that text. I probably stared at my phone for a while trying to believe what I just had read. How could he tell me to go see an allergy doctor?! I knew that it was NOT allergies at all! So, I started to search online what my results meant but it was late and I couldn’t find much information, so I decided to go to sleep. That night I prayed to Heavenly Father to comfort me if the OB was really right and it wasn’t anything. Well, that night I couldn’t sleep! I kept thinking about the results and how the doctor was wrong and that I need it find more information. The next morning I went straight to my computer again and started searching more about ICP. Somehow I found this website that I had never seen before and it answered all my questions!!! It was amazing! And I was right! It was not allergies at all! So I started to look for another OB ASAP! I then remembered about the doctor I used to go for my ultrasounds but unfortunately he only does ultrasounds now. I asked him to refer me to someone and he told me of an OB that works at the same clinic as he does and so I scheduled an appointment. After I meet with him, I was so calm and in peace. I knew I had found the right doctor and that he really knew what he was talking about. I knew that he was also worried about my baby’s life as much as I was. I started to take the medication and had weekly ultrasounds to make sure that the baby was ok. The results were always great, which was an assurance to me that the Lord was watching over us and specially our baby.

This Wednesday is the big day and I can’t even control my emotions! I can’t wait to finally meet my baby boy and have him out of any risks! This ICP is scary and real! Not every doctor knows what to do about it. So if you are pregnant and itching or if you know of someone make sure to be seeing the right professional that will take good care of your baby.

Love,

Gabi