Annette Harris
My OC stories
I have had 3 pregnancies. The first was symptom free, but I developed OC in my last two. I hope it may be interesting to other women to hear my experience of having the condition. Although it was a little worrying at times it didn't involve any medical trauma or what felt like an emergency to myself or my children.
OC Pregnancy number 1
It was my second pregnancy (I'd previously had a son 7 years earlier) and things had been progressing really well, I'd felt quite sick in the first trimester, but once that has faded it had all been plain sailing. I'd given up work 6 weeks before my due date so I would be able to do the school run with him when he returned to school in the September. (my due date being October). I had planned a home birth and was enjoying pulling together all my kit for that.
I'd noticed in the night some itching on the soles of my feet at around this time, but it was nothing for me to worry about, it soon stopped and I carried on as normal. I was more concerned with the terrible indigestion keeping me up all night! I ignored the itching for a couple more weeks, as I felt fit and well, I remember breaking down a large shelf unit that had been in the house when we bought it, on the day now known as 9/11. I'd been so busy I missed all the news reports.
As time progressed the itching became more and more widespread. it was now up my ankles, but only at night. it was as if I had been bitten by a mosquito as once it started it wouldn't stop. I'd read an article in a pregnancy magazine about a lady with OC but still didn't believe it was anything like my itching as it was only during the night that it started. The midwife made a home visit and I told her I was fine, I didn't mention the itching because in front of her I was symptom free and showed no probems. She dropped off my homebirth kit for baby to arrive. That night my itching had progressed to my abdomen and I had to go downstairs to have a good scratch as it was keeping me awake. With the magazine article ringing alarm bells in my ears it was now that I decided my itching wasn't normal.
So I went to my GP and was referred for a liver function test. I was told the results would take roughly a week to come back. 3pm that afternoon I got a call from my GP to go to the hospital as my LFT had come back extremely high, and to take a bag in as I would probably have the baby! I was just 38 weeks. On arriving at the hospital I was ushered into a room with a bed and lay there as they were taking endless blood samples, wee samples, taking my blood pressure. My husband sat next to me, we were trying to think of a name for a baby as it was no going back. At one point they thought I had pre-eclampsia as there was protein in my wee, and the doctors were examining my hands and feet where I was itching. "hmm you've got quite sweaty hands" said the doctor. "that's because I'm a bit scared" I quietly told them.
The whole process was quite a shock, and difficult to get my head round, one minute I was planning my home birth and the next I was wrapped up in hospital strapped to a monitor. They decided to admit me "to get a good rest" and they'd induce me the next day. My advice is never be admitted if you can avoid it! Maternity wards are near baby wards, so a good rest is out of the question as there are babies bleating all night..and very often a pregnant lady with a snoring problem in the next bed to you!
The following afternoon after a rather rough internal examination to see if I was 'favourable' I staggered down exhausted to the delivery suite to have my waters broken, and later a syntocinon drip to bring on my contractions, then 6 hours later I had my daughter, Madeleine with no pain relief or stitches. She was 6 lb 7oz. An hour later they took more blood to check my LFTs as they should have dropped. However the next day they said that my LFTs had risen again and that I had to have a full blood screen for Hepatitas infections. I was extremely upset by this news (particularly as they wouldn't let me go home) However my next blood tests came back normal. They thought that the synto drip may have caused the increase in my LFT and bile acid results (the thinking was that pregnancy hormones cause the OC, and so the artificial pregnancy hormone raised it higher).
A week later I had more bloods done and all liver functions were back to normal and my first experience with OC was over. My daughter developed mild jaundice but this is something that a non OC baby could have got. She required no treatment for it.
OC pregnancy number 2
Three years later I found myself pregnant again. I felt a little sicker (who am I kidding I felt awful) in the first trimester, and as I had a history of OC I was put under consultant care. It was decided that at 33 weeks I'd have weekly blood tests to see how my liver functions were progressing. A relatively normal pregnancy then progressed with me having a mild wobbly thinking I was itching, at 12 weeks and asking the GP for early LFTs, but all turning out normal.
At around 34 weeks I began to feel confident that the OC wasn't going to rear its head again and my thoughts turned to the possibility of a home birth again, I trotted along happily to the hospital clinic for my weekly blood tests. At 35 weeks I woke up in the night with pain under my ribs on my right hand side. I did the school run and felt in terrible pain. I spent the day looking up gall stones on the internet as I thought I had some kind of problem (thinking it wasn't OC as my bloods had not shown anything up and I had no itching) I actually felt quite sick, and very sore, and didn't want to be alone. That evening the consultant rang and said that my OC had returned as my last TWO blood tests had shown raised LFTs and they were getting higher. I went to the hospital the next day and was rescanned, and monitored...and of course more bloods (if you get OC you soon get used to the pin cushion arm!) I was immediately put on ursodeoxycholic acid (to control my rising bile acids and liver function) and vitamin K (to help with blood clotting) for the next 7 days to get me to 37weeks when I would be induced (I felt a bit silly for thinking I'd got my hopes up for the homebirth!) and as I was in such pain I was referred for a liver ultrasound scan.
Every day that week I had to go ito hospital to be strapped to a monitor to ensure that baby was lively and happy. I also had to have further blood tests as the 'urso acid' took a while to kick in and my LFTs were getting higher rather than lower, but after a couple of days they were falling again. I made the mistake of asking my consultant how high my LFTs had got, he said "Oh they are very high, but put it this way, when you were admitted in your last pregnancy with OC, your blood results were FOUR times higher" ...ooops! My liver scan showed no problems at all, and I never developed any itching symptoms. My rib pain settled down after being on the "urso acid" for a couple of days, which was a relief as I was finding it difficult to sleep.
At 36+5 weeks I had a sweep (internal) to hopefully kick start my contractions, which after a day of niggling worked and my second daughter, Laura was born when things finally got going she was 5 lb 11 oz. at 37 weeks gestation. This time my LFTs went back to normal almost straight away.
© Annette Harris 2007
