It’s Complicated

“Where’s the remote?” I ask patting the bed behind me.

I tell him that we have to watch American Idol as I am sure we’d be breaking some law if we didn’t see who the finalists were. He laughed at me and told me that I should get some sleep instead.

The previous half an hour was a blur. I knew I had been reading some blogs or I was reading Twitter or something along those lines. All the while James would shout numbers at the tv as he watched one of those prime time Price is Right specials that seem to come on weekly. I knew he had left to do something before the show had ended but what and where I didn’t know. The next thing I remembered was him coming back in the room and me noticing it was now 8pm.

I’ve been exhausted for weeks. I shrugged it off as a side effect of being knocked up with triplets. I have suddenly stopped being hungry and started feeling more pukey. Again, side effect of pregnancy and the little space left for my stomach. Last week my palms started turning red and itchy. I shrugged that off as being pregnancy related after doing a search for “itchy palms pregnant” in The Google. Even though I had convinced myself that it was due to increased levels of estrogen in my body I still brought it up with the perinatologists’ nurse on Friday. I’m glad I did.

I have cholestasis. Cholestasis happens when your gall bladder decides to go on vacation and then comes back to work still drunk. The result is a build up of bile which could lead to liver damage. The itching is caused by bile salts trying to get out of the body and the skin is the easiest way for them to break free. If it goes untreated all sorts of shitty thing happen (read the wiki page).

Right now we’re still waiting on all of the lab work to come back. My liver function looks good but the itching is driving me nuts. I suppose it’s a “good” thing I have been cursed with psoriasis because it has taught me to resist the urge to scratch all of the time. What I thought was my psoriasis coming back (it goes away for the most part while I am pregnant) was really cholestasis.

I thought that being pregnant with triplets would be the biggest complication I would face with this pregnancy. I was a wee bit wrong. Between the cholestasis and the going nuts while on bed rest I am also being pressured by the perinatologist we saw on Friday to move down to Minneapolis starting next week. That would be fine and dandy if I had somewhere to move and was able to take my family with me. I don’t and they can’t, so we’re trying to come up with a plan that will please the perinatologists and keep me at home. Tomorrow we meet with my regular OB and then Friday my mom and I are heading down to Minneapolis to see the perinatologists again. James usually goes with me, but he’s quickly running out of vacation days.

Tomorrow I need to get my hospital bag packed. I don’t know when I’ll be locked up in the hospital (although the perinatologist also wanted us to pick a date to have these ladies - as if I am more educated on all of this and should make these sorts of decisions .. you know, the kind doctors are supposed to make). I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get online once I am in the hospital. OK, I will, but when is the question as James would have to bring me my laptop.

Needless to say, I’m scared shitless. I wish I could remain in the dark about this stuff sometimes. (Deleted comment about keeping my mother in law in the dark since I am trying to be nice - need all of that nice karma right about now.)

So, that’s my excuse for being quiet lately. If it was the thought that counted I would be the most awesome blogger ever. I think about writing daily, but by the time I get around to it I am usually too tired to get anything out that might make some sense.

Oh yeah, David Cook FTW!