18 weeks - cholestasis and other stuff

I had my June obstetrician's appointment on Friday. All is going well as far as E3 is concerned. His little heart is beating away and my fundal height is 18 cm, just what it should be so he is growing at the right rate.

My tummy has really popped out in the last week or so. Most people still wouldn't realise I am pregnant but its a fairly obvious 'bump' now.

When the dr asked me how i was feeling, I mentioned that I was itchy. I know from reading my preggers books that this can be a symptom of pregnancy.

Problem is, in my case, because I have persistent but fairly mild eczema, I spend most of the winter itching away with it so I'm not sure if it is just business as usual. Still, I was glad I mentioned it.

He said it could be a sign of cholestasis, which is a condition where the bile acids build up in the blood stream. It's caused my high levels of pregnancy hormones and one of the symptoms is itching. It mainly happens in late pregnancy though.

The dr said it can cause issues later on in the pregnancy, so he is sending me for a fasting blood test to check liver function and bile acids.

I think it is really unlikely to be cholestasis and much more likely to just be my crap immune system having its usual eczema attack. Anyway, I am feeling very assured that I mentioned it, and he has decided to do a blood test to check. That's the kind of reassurance I am looking for from the obstetrician and its good to see he takes these things seriously.

I also mentioned I'm getting some heartburn, which seems to be getting worse. He prescribed me some Losec, which he said would sort it out. I am reluctant to take any drugs though, so am working on the non-drug approach so far - eating slowly, staying away from spicy things and all the usual recommendations. I will take the Losec if it gets really bad, but I'm not at that stage yet.

He is also testing my blood for immunity to chickenpox, since there's an outbreak of it going on at the moment. I'm pretty sure I will be immune, since I had them when I was in primary school but no harm in checking I guess. They are not a good thing to get while pregnant.

My other slight fear at the moment is swine flu. It is spreading rapidly around Australia because we are now into the 'flu season and because it is so far mild, the government have decided to stop testing everyone who looks like they might have it. They are also not dolling out Tamiflu anymore either, unless you are in a high risk group.

Unfortunately, the high risk group includes pregnant women. I asked one of the GPs at work why this is and she said its because you are generally immunosuppressed when pregnant, so much more likely to get more severe attacks of things like the 'flu.

There's not a whole lot I can do to stop getting it, other than the constant hand washing and so on. The most likely place I will pick it up is going to work on the train each day, but hopefully I will be ok.

Lovely husband had a head cold the other week, and I didn't get that from him. I pride myself on having a stronger constitution than him, so maybe I can sail through this winter illness free.