Why Caleb was early part 3

As I mentioned in a previous post I had a bad rash. The beginning of the third trimester I started to develop what I thought looked at first like bug bites. But I didn't have bed bugs and there were a lot all over my legs, it didn't make sense. It started to appear on my belly, that is when it mutated into big patches of red that had little tiny blisters all over the red patches.


I tried everything I could think of to avoid going to the dermatologist stuff like coconut oil, diaper rash cream (that was fun), anti histamines, just to name a few. Nothing was working it started to grow and made me have more red skin then white skin. It was so itchy that I couldn't not scratch it. If I tried to not scratch it would be clutching my fists and shaking, it was so intense. I had scabs and now scars all over from making my skin bleed from scratching. Right before I went to see the dermatologist it was the worst! It was no longer slowly spreading it was very rapid. When I went in to have Caleb my back had a few 6 inch patches on it, the morning I had him I looked in the mirror and it had almost covered my whole back!



I started to feel relief from the itch right after I had Caleb, but then 5 days later I was starting to see new patches and the itch was intensifying. So I went back to the dermatologist and she has me taking the steroids, starting at 40mg a day and every week going down on the dosage. I have read on line that people have a hard time getting rid of this. That a lot of times when they think it is good they go down on their dosage 10mg and start to have new blisters appear and new blisters are the worst itch. Also many people struggle to put PG into remission, and I do mean remission because this is not curable and will comeback. Many people have taken 13 months or longer to finally be able to be free of steroids. But due to my surgery (which I will talk about in my next post), we need me off the steroids or at least to 10mg for my safety in the next 2 weeks. But I have been ever so blessed and am now down to 20mg a day and will be dropping to 10mg in a couple of days. So I should be able to be steroid free for my surgery. I still am itchy all the time, which is actually a sign I am going down too fast, but it is a manageable itch. The saying it is amazing what you can learn to live with defiantly applies here.



So Pemphigoid Gestationis is an autoimmune disease! Depending on the website, it is said to effect 1 in every 50,000-100,000 pregnancies! It is very rare. My dermatologist had only seen it once and she said she has never heard of anyone test positive for both PG and Cholestasis! PG can come back when I start my period or take oral contraceptive, and it will come back in future pregnancies. It will be worse in future pregnancies and onset earlier. All we can do is antihistamines, which didn't work for me, and then when it starts to get really bad we can put me on steroids for a few weeks (while prego you can't be on longer then that) but inevitably it will be a preterm birth. There is a 10% chance of baby getting it, but really the risk is all in having a baby too early and the meds. Before the rash my doctor said we should really think hard before we get pregnant again, and I said if this is the worst of it then there is no way it would stop me from getting pregnant again. Now with PG it really could be dangerous and not a good outcome. Plus the blood tests confirmed I had Cholestasis, a liver disease that only shows up in pregnancy. Cholestasis effects your liver function and can cause fetal distress, preterm labor, or still birth. It causes stress on baby's liver as well. Cholestasis will require constant monitoring and serious consideration should be given to induce as early as safe for baby. There is a 90% chance of getting Cholestasias in future pregnancies. So to get pregnant again is not a decision to make lightly. The doctor continually said throughout my pregnancy, the baby is fine but you are not. The day he called to confirm the diagnosis with me was a very emotional day. How could I be holding this perfect little child in my arms and be thinking it would be the last, especially since I really thought just over the last 6 months that there would be one more. I can't! So when the time comes to worry about it, there will be lots of prayer and temple visits to know what to do. For now I just will focus on what I have and how blessed I am to have made it through everything.



I am posting links if you would like to read more about

• Pemphigoid gestationis


• Cholestasis