A.O.
Yes! Have your OB do a blood test that measures how your liver is functioning and also check for the amount of bile acids in your blood!! I had something called Intrahepatic Cholestatis of Pregnancy (ICP) which my doctor seemed to know nothing about, and led me to research it for myself. In my first pregnancy it started in my 34th week, mostly at night. I would wake up around 2am and the bottoms of my feet and the palms of my hands would itch like crazy. It was as though I was itching from the inside out. I tried Benedryl and whole gambit of other treatments but nothing would take it away. By week 36 I was absolutely miserable, I would literally scratch my body until it bled, and sit with my feet soaking in ice water at my desk during the day and trying to sleep while soaking them on the couch at night. I thought I was going to go crazy. My doctor finally did a liver function test and from those results she decided to induce me the next morning. I delivered a beautiful and completely heathy 7 lb. girl at 37 weeks. My itching went away immediately!
Before we decided to try for baby number two I did my research, I knew I didn't want to go through that madness again. Most of the information I found was on european websites, it was like no one in the US had figured it out yet?? But stumbling upon all the information I knew for a fact that ICP was the culprit. You need to do some reading up on this and decide for yourself if your symptoms sound familiar, for me it was all right on the target. If it is ICP you REALLY need to discuss some things with your doctor, as there can be some slight risks for your baby.
Before we got pregnant with baby number two, I did a full liver cleansing diet for a couple months and had my liver functions tested again. According to the research ICP most likely will reoccur in subsequent pregnancies and unfortunately begin even earlier. I wanted to do whatever I could to ward off any liver problems for both myself and for my child.
Once I found out I was pregnant with number two I brought all of my own research in to my doctor and discussed it with her. She had never had another patient with ICP (at least to her knowledge - I personally think it goes undiagnosed or diagnosed as something else) and she made a point of keeping on top of my liver elevations during the whole pregnancy. It wasn't until week 36 that the itching started again, only this time even more intense. It was about that time my liver function test made it clear what was going on. Because of the increased risks that can involve the life of my child, we decided to do an amniocentesis to make sure her lungs had developed fully and with those results we decided to induce at 36 weeks. I delivered another healthy and beautiful (almost) 7 lb. baby girl.
Here is a website I found this morning, it has information on some of the most common liver problems that occur in pregnancy, including ICP.
http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_14543.asp...
At the time of my pregnancies there was no medication available, it looks like now there might be something called Actigall. I can't stress enough how important this is to discuss with your doctor. Print out any information you find relevant and make sure you and your child are both monitored closely.
I would love to hear what your doctor has to say about it. Hopefully he/she is more proactive then mine was. Good luck!
Andrea