obstetric cholestasis

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

i went to the hospital today for blood tests after being up all night driven mad by itching,bloods were taken and within the hour i was told i have obstetric cholestasis.

i so so worried for my baby,i was put on a monitor for 1/2 an hour and all was fine then,but the specialist i saw said to monitor bubs movements myself and if they decrease to go in asap.
everytime he has a quiet moment i panic.
she said i will be monitored closly and that i will be induced at around 37-38 weeks as baby can be stillborn if left to go to term,im absolutley beside myself,how can i get through the next 4-5 weeks without worrying myself silly.

please is there anyone who has had this who can reassure me at all.

 

[daftscotslass]

I haven't had it myself the woman who was induced at the same time as me had OC with both her previous pregnancy and the one I met her in hospital with. On the first one her baby was born perfectly healthy at 35 weeks (though he was in SCBU because of his weight and feeding for a while but he wasn't seriously ill). The next one she was induced at 37 weeks and he was a bouncing 7lb odd healthy baby boy if a bit zonked from the diamorphine, nothing to do with the OC. Mum's symptoms disappeared quickly after the birth.

You'll be fine, so will bubs and you know you're being well looked after the next few weeks

 

[lillou]

wow you got your results back really quickly, i waited a week to be diagnosed and that was after scans of my liver, gall bladder and ruling out other things that may cause the symptoms like hep b.

dont worry about anything, im sure everything will be fine. are they taking you in weekly to monitor you? do you have to give blood regulary?

the day before i was due to see the consultant to make a plan of when to induce etc my waters broke and Ava arrived, call it natures way of ensuring my baby was ok but once you have a diagnosis they should be monitoring you so closely to ensure both you and baby are ok

try not to worry hun, PM me if you wanna ask anything or to speak

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

thank you both of you for your replies.

lillou,

how did you cope with the itching??
ive been put on vitamin K and another tablet for the itching but have been told it can take 24 hours before the itching will ease,oh has just been to get me some calamine lotion so am hoping that may ease it abit to allow me some sleep tonight.

the main thing i worry about is baby,as she said to monitor his movements,im then told that at the stage im at his movements will decrease as he has lesss room to move in.
its frustrating as i think this will cause me to worry more.

did you always feel like you had heartburn??
i have this horrid senstaion in my throat like aburning and feel sick,ive no appetite at all.

i next see someone on 7/1 ive been told to go early again though so they can take more bloods and monitor baby again beforehand.

what sort of care can i expect to get with this?
wil i probably be going every week??

thanks again for your replies.

 

[lillou]

thank you both of you for your replies.

lillou,

how did you cope with the itching??
ive been put on vitamin K and another tablet for the itching but have been told it can take 24 hours before the itching will ease,oh has just been to get me some calamine lotion so am hoping that may ease it abit to allow me some sleep tonight.

the main thing i worry about is baby,as she said to monitor his movements,im then told that at the stage im at his movements will decrease as he has lesss room to move in.
its frustrating as i think this will cause me to worry more.

did you always feel like you had heartburn??
i have this horrid senstaion in my throat like aburning and feel sick,ive no appetite at all.

i next see someone on 7/1 ive been told to go early again though so they can take more bloods and monitor baby again beforehand.

what sort of care can i expect to get with this?
wil i probably be going every week??

thanks again for your replies.

i know this is really hard and its understandable how worried you are and may get. try not to worry though, i think if your LFT's were really high they wouldnt let you go home. thats my understanding of it anyway so i hope this is some reassurance for you. they have caught it very early so im sure they will do all they can to provide the best of care to you and baby.

i started itching at about 31 weeks (approx) and i ignored it for a few days. when i went to midwife she referred me to a consultant who did the tests i mentioned above. i used calamin lotion for the itching and they gave me piriton too. but i only had the itching for a few weeks as i gave birth to ava 6 weeks early so i can only imagine how annoying it may get but hopefully what you are using will keep it under control. i didnt have any heartburn, is this related to the OC?

in terms of the care you will get may well depend on the hospital procedures where you will be attending for your anti natal care. after all i tests i had before a diagnosis of OC was made the plan of care was to be monitored, both me and baby, regular bloods and more "vigarous" monitoring until they start you. i didnt get this far though so cant say what the monitoring entails.

hopefully they can tell you more when you go back on the 7th about what care they will be providing.

please try not to worry until then and ask them any questions you need to know, regardless of how silly you think it is

 

[trixipaws]

i'm sorry i cant help iv no experience either first nor second hand of this, but u sound worried sick and just want to send you some hugs

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

thank you both of you for your replies.

quote]

i know this is really hard and its understandable how worried you are and may get. try not to worry though, i think if your LFT's were really high they wouldnt let you go home. thats my understanding of it anyway so i hope this is some reassurance for you. they have caught it very early so im sure they will do all they can to provide the best of care to you and baby.

i started itching at about 31 weeks (approx) and i ignored it for a few days. when i went to midwife she referred me to a consultant who did the tests i mentioned above. i used calamin lotion for the itching and they gave me piriton too. but i only had the itching for a few weeks as i gave birth to ava 6 weeks early so i can only imagine how annoying it may get but hopefully what you are using will keep it under control. i didnt have any heartburn, is this related to the OC?

in terms of the care you will get may well depend on the hospital procedures where you will be attending for your anti natal care. after all i tests i had before a diagnosis of OC was made the plan of care was to be monitored, both me and baby, regular bloods and more "vigarous" monitoring until they start you. i didnt get this far though so cant say what the monitoring entails.

hopefully they can tell you more when you go back on the 7th about what care they will be providing.

please try not to worry until then and ask them any questions you need to know, regardless of how silly you think it is

thanks for your reply lillou. (and everyone else for your support)

im going to go armed with a list of questions when i go again to the hospital.
i have so may questions............
im not sure if the heartburn is related to the OC or not?
ive just noticed over the last few days i have had it alot and also only what i can describe as a burning at the back of my throat,so was not sure if this was related or if you had had it also?

with your LO being early did they have any problems health wise?
were you still able to breastfeed? (if you did)
after the birth did they pass baby straight to you or have to take them away??

sorry for all the questions,but many thanks for your replie.

 

[lillou]

dont be silly, ask anything and il try to help.

whilst in labour they had said to me it depends how ava's breathing is if i get to hold her straight away or not. the pead's were outside the delivery room waiting to take ava to neonatal.

ava didnt have much problems with her breathing, was a bit grunty but i managed to hold her for about 10 mins, skin to skin, some photos and OH got a hold then a pead came and took her up to neonatal. she stayed there for just over a week. she was off the CPAP within 24 hours, was tube fed until she got the sucking reflex, was a bit jaudice but thats common in prem babies.

i expressed milk for the first few days but was unsuccessul at breastfeeding therefore Ava was on a SMA high energy formula until she was changed to SMA gold the day before we got home. if you are planning breastfeeding im sure you will manage, it was personal problems that stopped me the staff will give you any advice on breastfeeding once your in hospital but ask your consultant or midwife just now and they should be able to advise you. its my understanding that babies get the sucking reflex at 36weeks so if you manage to go to then im sure breastfeeding wouldnt be a problem. if this is wrong please correct me though, someone might know more about this than me.


good luck for your appointment hun, sending you lots of

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

many thanks for the reply lillou,im so pleased ava is doing well,i hope my bubs does too x

 

[Gem & Leland]

Hi

i went in to hospital for itching also at 31 weeks , i didnt come out till a month later . but i had OC and i also had HELLP , it was the hellp that made me stay in hospital and also like lilou i had leland at 34 weeks , unfortunatly we tried to bf for 3 weeks buy due to zero sucking action and tongue tie my milk dried up and he went full time forumla at 3 weeks . he was only in hospital 5 days tho and was a very healthy 6lb5oz born.

for the itching , i also use to put damp towels on my feet and keep cool , even tho it was jan last year i had a fan on and was wearing vest tops !!!
keep a kick chart of bubs movements and any worry just go to your walk in clinic.

i cant say much about your car , like i said i was hospitalised as soon as i got my results ( my lft were into the 800's tho and blood count down to 40 this was due to hellp not oc so please dont panic)