Now, before you think I'm talking gross itchiness, I'm not. When I was around 37 weeks pregnant with Wee Z, tiny red spots started to appear on my belly. They also appeared on my legs and arms. At first there were only a few however, within a few weeks I was covered in red spots. And they were super itchy.
I tried everything to relieve the itch but nothing helped. I mentioned the itch to my midwife who didn't think much of it. Then, when I couldn't even sleep due to these spots, I phoned the maternity unit and they booked me in to have bloods taken. I was about 39 weeks pregnant at this point.
I went to the day unit to have my bloods checked as they wanted to rule out a condition which affects the liver called intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). Most seriously, it can cause stillbirth if it isn't caught and monitored. If I had ICP then I was to be induced there and then.
It took ages for my bloods to come back and I was shattered. The Doctor eventually came through to the day unit and told me the results weren't causing them concern however they wanted to bring me back in in a few days to redo my bloods and monitor me. He gave me some antihistamines to take home.
The antihistamines did the trick to send me to sleep. I think I fell asleep on the couch, (the only place I could get comfy) for at least 4 hours.
I was booked to go back in to the day unit on a bank holiday so it was going to be much quieter and hopefully my bloods would come back a lot quicker.
We went along on the bank holiday armed with plenty of reading material. We were taken in to another unit that day and had the room all to ourselves. I had my bloods taken and then we sat around, waiting for news. I was 39 weeks + 5 days so I was either going to be induced straight away or left to suffer with my itch until Wee Z decided to make his appearance.
I never expected what happened next...
I'm linking this post up to Flashback Friday which is hosted by these lovely ladies...
