I already shared this on Facebook but wanted to blog it too. Friday afternoon Dr. Drake called with my lab results for the cholestasis. I had blood drawn on Wednesday to check for bile acid in my blood. This is how they determine if you have cholestasis. The results take 2 days because they have to send it to Utah. So she called Friday and I do have cholestasis.
What is cholestasis? Here is what Americanpregnancy.org says: 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.
This bile in the blood causes extreme itching, especially of the hands and feet. For me it is been mostly my feet. The itching becomes almost unbearable at night. It keeps me from sleeping and I have only been getting a couple of hours of sleep at night - literally two to three hours. I have to get up several times and run my feet under ice cold water to try to numb the itching.
However, the itching isn't the main concern. The elevated bile causes stress on the babies livers which can cause fetal distress, preterm labor, and stillbirth.
Dr. Drake said that singeltons in moms with cholestasis are usually delivered at 36 weeks but twins they will deliver earlier. I will be 35 weeks on Tuesday. We see Dr. Drake Monday at 2:45pm to figure out the plan for delivering the babies. She said they will deliver them this week. It could be Monday. It could be Friday or any day in between.
I am full of emotion right now. I am also so scared. While we know some twins that have been delivered in the 35th week and went home in three days with Mom and Dad we also know twins delivered at 36 weeks who stayed in the NICU almost three weeks. Our goal from the day we found out we were having twins was to have the babies come home with us. If they have to stay in the NICU we will deal with that and of course we want them to be in the best place for their health. But that doesn't make it any easier.
I truly appreciate people who are letting us know they are praying for our babies and for us. I appreciate people sharing their thoughts and prayers that things will go alright and their HOPE that everything will be fine. I hope it will too and I spend every spare moment asking God to keep our babies safe and healthy.
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:22-24
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Thinking of you and the twins! Good thoughts and prayers for you and your family! Keep your faith and remember God knows what we need! He challenges us for reasons we cannot understand, right now, but one day we will! If he gives you a challenge it is because He knows you are strong enough to make it through. He will do what it best! His blessings will be upon you.
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