Hi hon,
Saw that you wanted to chat about oc.
I really hope that you and baby are both ok,if you have any questions feel free to ask.xxx
love zoey.xxx

hiya, yea it seems quite rare, so speaking to someone else who has experienced it seemed to be a good idea. first of all ... did the aweful itching stop after you had your little one? im due for induction in 2 weeks, and the itching is getting me down more than anything, im not a moany person, but theres nothing worse than itchy feet !!! we are both ok as far as i know, i have 2 blood tests, dopplers and USS's a week at the moment, to-and-fro'ing from hosp twice a week, what a drag, but knowing our baby is healthy makes it worth it, secondly, how long did you stay in, and should i prepare myself for the docs whisking him off once hes born in an incubator? i know its all doom and gloom, but id rather be prepared. the induction and birth doesnt bother me one bit, its not knowing whats going to happen to our boy that bothers me most. thanks for any light you can shed on my lil dark cloud :)

Hiya

I had OC last yr and was induced at 37+3 I think and Violet was fine, we were out of hospital within hours and my induction was the best one of 3 so far, 2 hours of bouncing on my ball and then pushing her out! I was going to hospital a couple of times a week for monitoring and was given steroid injections at 34 weeks and then put on vitamin K - I declined anything for itching as I used to have eczema as a child and have a fairly good tolerance for not scratching!

My LFT's went funny last week so am back being watched like a hawk but have made it to 36+3 so know that even if it all goes wrong now he will be OK.

The itching is horrible though and I have had it all the way through my pregnancy on my hands and feet.

I am hoping to find out tomorrow what the plan is with me when I get the results of bloods done today.

Hope all goes well. Carolyn xxx

First of all hon,they should keep you and little one in for a minimum of 48hours as the danger is still imminent 48hours after birth-sorry.
I was induced at 36+5 and had my daughter by emergency section as with early induction there is a higher risk of section, my daughters placenta ruptured and we had 30 mins to get her out. She was fine until she was 2hours old when she had to go into an incubater for a few hours but then apart from the jaundice which laster her about 12 weeks she was fine-she is very advanced for her age too.

I am still itching now. . . sorry-she is almost 21weeks old and my itching has never gone BUT my levels were VERY VERY VERY high! they returned to sensible limits by 8 weeks though my itching has eased not gone.

Unfortunatly hospitals do not like to inform parents to be of exactly how serious and life threatening oc is-i had to fight so hard fro all the facts,the top bloke from london came for my babys birth.

I was diagnosed at 31weeks and told i wouldnt leave hospital without my baby but as i argued i only stayed in 2 weeks-unfortunatly the baby can die at any tiem and no ammount of monitoring can indicate or prevent this i am sorry. i was put on an ecg 2-3 times a day had 2 scans a week and a doppler and my baby only got here by the skin of her teeth.

This is the info from my support group

Cholestasis effects the liver of a pregnant woman and is very dangerous however i like many other ladies had never heard of it before my health visitor sent me for the test which revealed dangerously high levels.
I think it is very important that pregnant woman are aware of this life threatening(baby) condition.
Also it would be good to share information and support eachother, i know that when i found out i had it i felt alone and a failure and wish to help others.

If you suspect you may be suffering from obstetric cholestasis then please seek medical attention asap!

The liver is in the upper right part of the abdomen. The functions of the liver include: storing glycogen (fuel for the body) which is made from sugars; helping to process fats and proteins from digested food; making proteins that are essential for blood to clot (clotting factors); processing many medicines which you may take; helping to remove poisons and toxins from the body.
The liver also makes bile. This is a greenish-yellow fluid which contains bile acids, bile pigments and waste products such as bilirubin. Liver cells pass bile into bile ducts inside the liver. The bile flows down these ducts into larger and larger ducts, eventually leading to the common bile duct. The gallbladder is like a 'cul-de-sac' reservoir of bile which comes off the common bile duct. After you eat, the gallbladder squeezes bile back into the common bile duct and down into the duodenum (the first part of the gut after the stomach). Bile in the gut helps to digest fats.
Obstetric cholestasis is a condition of the liver which occurs in some pregnant women. Cholestasis means there is a reduced flow of bile down the bile ducts in the liver. Some bile then 'leaks' out into the bloodstream, in particular the bile salts. These circulate in the bloodstream and can cause symptoms. Obstetric cholestasis is sometimes called intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.

Cholestasiscan damage the baby's placenta causing stillbirth,there is very little research into this condition which is a very frightening thing when it can be so life threatening. After 37weeks the risk can be increased due to the placenta having to cope with so much,though the later you develope cholestasis the less chance you have of stillbirth usually, though still birth csn occur at anytime without warning and no amount of monitoring can prevent this.
Ursodeoxycholic acid should be used to help control the condition though there is no cure, your levels should return to normal within 8 weeks of having your baby.

I am sorry if i have worried you but it is important that you are in full grasp of the facts! It is dangerous.
I have been told that with each pregnancy i run a very high risk of getting it again and will be induced earlier each time.xxxx

Also there is a high risk of disability.xxxx

hi ladies, thanks ever so much for the info. im not naive enough to think that we will be out soon after our boys birth, but its nice to know im not alone!!! i too felt a total failure when i found out, i was totally gutted and very upset, i felt like my body had let me down and i had no control over the protection of my unborn. i developed oc at 31 weeks so im hopin that the risks are low. we have both been very well monitored and i am under the best specialist consultant in the AN unit, which is a relief. back to hospital tomorrow, more dopplers and USS's. bloods and LFT's. as far as im aware, my levels were high initially, 182 i think, then they came down to 150 something after 4 days, cons upped my meds and my acids are now down to 82ish, which is about double what they should be. luckily our boy is hyper in my tum, so i know instantly when hes havin a lazy day. braxtons are happening more and more now so i know my body is getting ready. i was 4/5 engaged 2 weeks ago so im guessing by the pains in my hips and pelvis that hes a bit further down by now.

queen bee - do you know what your levels were? my cons said he'd seen them in the 1000's before, and altho i have been diagnosed with OC, there hav been much worse cases than mine. tbh im not fussed about me, i just want to make sure that our son is healthy and happy and he arrives here safe, whether it be naturally or i go under the knife. in a way (this sounds very selfish) im glad im having him early as we were set up for a 10lb bundle of joy, and we're on target for around 7lb at 37 weeks, and me only being 5' 3", im not quite sure how he fits in my little frame!!! me and my partner were both very big babies and i was squerming at the thought of having a 10lb baby !!

thanks for the info
xxxx

my levels were 672 and stabilised at 500- they are now around 50. they are meant to be 42 or less but i have mild liver damage hon.
it is virtually unheard of to have levels above 500, only 20 cases in this country have ever been 1000+ and all have resulted in serious illness,most in still birth.
600-700= liver damage.

i was told i was having a tiny 5lb baby but she was 7lb 13oz and got jammed,lol.

Are they treating you?x

aaah, your levels were much higher than mine, and i have asked about liver damage and my consultant said i should be fine and all will return to normal after a few days.

yes i am on ursofalk (ursodeoxycholic acid), vitamin k tabs and also chlorphenamine for the itching, along with menthol aqueous cream for my skin, which helps a bit.

im gettin so excited now, cant wait for him to get here !

Do you know how they are inducing you?
It is good you are excited hon, i am assuming you have had your steroid injections?
I had the ursy too but it didnt do anything at all nothing helped, by the sounds of your levels they should return fairly quickly.
They will be able to see if you have liver damage when they do your liver scans,have you had one yet?
Are you having daily bloods?
From what i can grasp a lot of places dont take oc seriously- i was very lucky my hospital did-just make sure they dont muck you around and i would say if your induction is taking more than 20 hours INSIST on a section even if baby isnt distressed cause the chances are the placenta is causing a slower labour which means the stress of the labour is damaging it.
My daughter had a dodgy hb all the way through but in labour showed minimal signs of distress until it was almost too late
However saying all this we are trying for number 2-fingers crossed oc stays away but at least i wont ever have to carry a baby to 40 weeks,lol.

Goodluck and i really hope that you get on okay?
do you use facebook?X

they are starting with the gel and go from there, theres plenty of options. ive had no steroid injections yet, i'll ask about that tomorrow. i have liver function tests twice a week, which is done via blood tests. they have no choice but to take me seriously as ive got a medical background so i wont let them mess me about. plus my partner is really supportive and very switched on so he harrasses our cons every week, poor bloke. my MW came to my house and quite literally put us in the car and rang ahead to the hosp for me when we initially found out, so i know they are taking it seriously. tbh 20 hours is a really long time, so by then i would imagine that i will hav had enough, but ill keep that in mind, thanks very much, altho im not keen on a c-sec, being a mardy bugger and dont like being stuck in !!

good luck with number 2, at least you know what to look out for now ! we only want one, so im on the injection or implant once our boy is here, i really dont want to go through pregnancy again (sounds aweful) but ive had a terrible time, and really made my partner suffer with my moods and constant crying for the first 16 weeks, poor bloke ( i have a lot of making up to do!! )

thanks for all your advice,
Emily & Bump

I wasnt keen on a section but it was fab i was out shopping in 2days-no diff to a natural bled for nine days less than a normal.
20 hours isnt really that long, i wish i had just said yes to a section instead of carrying on for 40 hours.
Glad they are taking you seriously,they do tend to be a bit cagey with giving out info.
If you ask the hospital they are obliged to give you the web address an dpassword for their governing body-again only certain cons will do this let alone admit to it.
i was lucky i got it- and it scared the hell out of me,lol but did prepare us for everything.x

im very open minded so if he gets distressed then i wont hold back, they can send a 3yr old in to do it i really wont mind, his health is my number one priority. im glad that ive spoken to you, it has put my mind at rest, and hearing the scary stuff doesnt worry me too much, i just like to be prepared and know where i stand. my SIL had an induction so shes been filling me in with all the gorey details! yum ! anywho, up at 7am tomorrow so im going to go and take all my pills and get off to bed as my son has been asleep for a couple of hours now and will no doubt beat me in the ribs as soon as i lie down!!! good luck with baby no2!!

Hi i am just popping over from pregnancy and thought i'd add my experience. I had cholastasis when i was pregnant with my daughter, i started to itch on my hands and feet at 31 weeks and so i called the triage as i had looked this up on the internet and knew that if it was oc and i wasn't checked out it could be very dangerous. So i spoke to this midwife and she asked me if this would be my first baby and i answered yes and then she just said take piriton and see how you go!! I was so angry as i knew the itching wasn't normal pregnancy itching as it was so intense and th only way i could calm it down for a couple of minutes was to bath my hands and feet in cold water! The next day i had a anti-natal class at the hospital and afterwards i mentioned my itching to the midwife who took the class and she got me up to labour ward for blood tests straight away and after an hour they came back positive for cholastasis. At this point my levels were obviously high but i can't remember what they were. I was told to see a consultant a week later which i did and then he told me i had to have a steroid injection ready for an early delivery and told me i would possibly be induced at 38 weeks depending on my blood tests. I had many blood tests and at 35-36 weeks i was going into hospital daily for monitoring and blood tests. One day i was on my way to the hospital was in so much pain i was crying on the bus and when i got there i discovered i was bleeding when i went for a wee, they put me on antibiotics for a bladder infection and kept me in- i was 36+4. That day when i was on the ward my consultant came to see me and told me levels for oc had gone up so much that i would be kept in and induced exactly a week later, he also took more blood that day. He came back 2 days later which was a saturday and said that he wanted to get me induced ASAP as he was was concerned how much my liver functions blood tests were rising. He got me induced on the monday i was exactly 37 weeks. I was so relieved to be induced as the itching had spread all over my body and it was driving me mad and i couldn't sleep, also i was really worried about my baby too. I think my levels were close were about 500-600 when i was induced.
I had the prostin gel to be induced and my contractions started as soon as it was applied (to be honest i think emma was so ready to be born a sweep would have started me off!) I won't lie-the contractions were very fierse and close together and they had to be slowed up with pethadin after 6 hours as i wasn't dilating because they were only 30 seconds apart. But after that i started to dilate and my waters were broken and then it was pretty much a normal birth. She was a tiny 5lb 3 oz and i was in labour for 12 hours.
The itching stopped almost instantly, Emma was fine and breathing on her own ect. I had her on the monday night and by the wednesday i was waiting to see a consultant about letting me go home as my daughter was ok to be taken home, I waited all day and in the end i discharged myself as i got fed up with being in hospital and i felt fine. On my way out the consultant turned up and looked at my blood results and told me that he would not have let me go home for another few days as my liver functions were still too high(about 230ish) but i told him that if i had any problems i would see my gp.
The itching did come back after about 3 months but only slightly-if i get too hot or when i'm in bed i itch more than i should but i just think these are effects of what my liver went through with my pregnancy.
I am now 26+3 with number 2 and so far i have had more itching than before but not all the time- i have a consultant appointment for when i am 29 weeks to have bloods done etc.
Sorry i went on a bit but just thought i'd let you know my experience of cholastasis. I know you already have a lot of information from Queen Bee but if you want to ask me something about it i'm usually in pregnancy forum. xxx

hi vicky, thanks ever so much for filling me in on your experience. my levels are no where near as high as yours were, but my consultant is still concerned as my itching is getting worse rather than better, which is why im being induced in 11 days (aaarrggghhh!!! cant come quick enough) ... my LFTs are coming down slowly, but still double what they should be. im at hosp twice a week still, but to be honest im having good days and bad days with it, im up 10+ times a night and i cant settle to sleep unless im literally walking dead. im preparing myself to be in for a week or so once ive had our boy, as ive had no steroid injections or anything yet im not sure whats happening, got a list of q's to ask consultant tomorrow.

we're both gettin really excited now, im just aprehensive about the induction as i know it doesnt work for some women, and i dont want baby getting stressed out ...

will keep posting on here if i have anymore questions

thanks again
:-)