...and my body says "I QUIT!"

Not so good news on the home front, kids.

After a very unpleasant doctor appointment on Friday, followed by immediately going to the hospital to get my blood work, it's official. My body says NO MORE! Well, it's trying to say that. We just aren't QUITE letting it yet.

First, there is the protein in my urine. For about 6 weeks now, there has been a consistent small amount. It hasn't been anything to worry about though, since the amount was only +1, and I had no other warning signs for pre-e. Apparently, my blood pressure is now on the rise. It's not clinically high yet, but it's high for me. Add that to the +1 protein, and now we have warning signs that need to be watched regularly. Little bit of good news is my fifth disease blood work came back, and I don't have it - but I assumed that since they changed my niece's diagnosis. I also never have had it though, so I am not immune and still need to be cautious. And then there is my liver.

For a while now, my hands and my feet - ESPECIALLY MY TOES! - have been SUPER itchy. Like, I may have had mosquitos trapped in socks and gloves itchy. That went on for a week straight, and one day, I erupted into a full body rash. The rash disappeared 2 days later, but the hand and foot itch stayed. A week later, I broke into the rash again, and the next day, it was again gone. So at my bi-weekly appointment, I brought it up. I told Cheri, my midwife, that I was super itchy. She guessed "The belly?" and when I told her no, my feet and hands, I watched her face drop.

Uh oh.

She then told me I needed to go from the appointment to the hospital and get the blood work done then. The rash is unrelated, a typical pregnancy thing. Good thing it appeared though, or I would have never thought to mention itchy hands and feet! They swell up and down, so I thought itching would be a logical side effect of that. Apparently, I thought wrong.

Itchy hands and feet are a major warning sign of a condition where essentially, the pregnancy hormones are clogging up my liver and it's leaking bile into my blood stream. My body can handle a small amount of this, but any kind of concentration in my blood is a MAJOR danger. It's an acid - and it would work like an acid on my organs. Not only will it wreak all kinds of havoc on my organs, but it would also cross the placenta to Cole.

The results came back today. My liver function test came back with elevated levels. I have it. Currently however, it's not yet in the danger zone. What does this mean? For one, Cole gets to stay put... for now. Two, Megan loses more blood - weekly, from here on out. There is a number that once I hit, Cole gets handed an eviction notice stat. Hopefully however, he makes it just two more weeks to 37.

I however, expected the test to come back normal. I freaked out at first, but then calmed down and figured it was just some precaution that wouldn't turn into anything, so I was completely blindsided by this news today. And didn't think to ask how far away from that "Bail" number I was. Genius. :\

So for now, it's a holding pattern. Wait and see. Google tells me that it's pretty darn rare for these numbers to hold steady, so I should expect them to climb, and fairly fast at that. When Cheri explained it to me on Friday, she said she's had 3 cases - and while 2 made it to 37 weeks, one had to be taken at 34. Luckily, we are mostly out of the danger zone with Cole - if he needed to be delivered this weekend or next week, we would be so close to full term that he shouldn't see much effect.

The only attempt I can make to help out my liver is to, basically, overhydrate. Realistically, it's not going to make a difference. Most times, you can't flush out the liver until the hormones have stopped producing. I figure however, even if I can get my little guy just one extra day closer to full term by downing a buttload of water for a little bit, then it's worth it. Plus, it's just water! I already know where every bathroom in the county is :D

That also means it's time to finish up with last minute things - time to pack the hospital bag, install the car seat bases in the car... I've already made up his bed, finished his laundry, and the toy bin is being picked up tomorrow. As soon as the pack-n-play is set up in our room, we're all set for him!