Her early arrival was due to Cholestasis of pregnancy, a condition that can cause miscarriages or stillbirths. At 38 weeks, Casey suddenly got very itchy all over her body and it was worse at night. There hadn't been any changes in body washes, laundry detergents, lotions, or anything that would trigger an allergic reaction. A quick google search showed that the itching was a sign of the condition. This prompted Casey to go into the OB on a Friday afternoon for blood work that would confirm whether she had Cholestasis. We went in for our weekly appointment the following Wednesday at 4:45 pm and were immediately told she had Cholestasis and to come back to the hospital at 8 pm that night to start the induction process since we were already full term and there was no reason to wait and risk any complications from Cholestasis.
We went home, grabbed our hospital bags, tidied up the house a bit and drove back to the hospital. After a rather restless night hooked up to several monitors, the nurse started pitocin at 7 am the next morning. By 11:30 there was no progress. Since the doctor couldn't break the water at this point, they upped the dosage of pitocin. After that the contractions were getting rather painful and Casey asked for 2 doses of narcotics to help cope with the pain. At 3:15, the water broke, the contractions intensified, and Casey immediately asked for the epidural. An agonizing 45 minutes later, the effects of the epidural finally kicked in and Casey began feeling much better. An hour and 45 minutes later, it was time to push. After 15 minutes and about 5 pushes, she was here. The biggest surprise was the full head of dark hair!
Here are photos of Casey (first) and Vince (second) as newborns--does Leena (bottom) look like either of us?
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