Hey guys!

I just wanted to put some information about cholestasis out there and share my story.

I found out I was pregnant in May of 2018. In July of 2018 I started getting sharp sharp pains in my abdomen. I couldn’t sit through them, and finally went to the Fairview near us. They couldn’t find ANYTHING wrong and I remember the doctor saying “your liver levels are elevated but nothing is wrong with you.” The key words here YOUR LIVER LEVELS ARE ELEVATED. How did we not catch that? How did the DOCTORS not catch that?

A couple of weeks later, I started to itch. My face, my chest, my legs, my scalp, even my knees. I looked like a poster board for eczema. I told my doctor who wrote it off as a PUPPS rash, being as my scratch marks looked “rashy.” LISTEN TO YOUR GUT.

Flash forward to 36 weeks and 5 days. I had this bad feeling and at my 36 week appointment I begged them to draw my blood to check for cholestasis, my PA took me seriously but assured me it was nothing. I left feeling better, and knowing I didn’t have it.

On December 31st I was 38w 5d, it was my last day of work before maternity leave and I got a phone call from a nurse who told me “you need to come now, your bile acids are raised. You have cholestasis and you need to be induced as soon as possible.” My husband and I hadn’t even packed a bag, we ran home to grab our things.

She’s here now, she came out perfect other then a little jaundiced. But deep down I have this feeling that if I had never asked she wouldn’t be here today. Cholestasis is such a sneaky disease, and surprisingly not a lot of physicians are even aware of it.

Trust your gut, a blood test never hurts and stepping out of your comfort zone to ask for one isn’t a crime.