My journey with ICP began in 2023 when I was 23 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child in 2023 and started having uncontrollable itching all over my body. It was worse at night and nothing I did brought any relief. I wasn’t sleeping, was extremely uncomfortable, and knew that the level of discomfort I was feeling was not normal.

I am so thankful that I had a wonderful obstetrician that listened to my concerns and agreed to test my bile acid levels. When my levels came back technically “within normal limits”, my OB consulted with the maternal fetal medicine specialists and agreed to continue to check my levels, eventually leading to a diagnosis of Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy and treatment with Ursodiol. Thankfully, Ursodiol helped my symptoms immensely.

We began fetal monitoring when I entered my 3rd trimester and I was eventually induced at 37 weeks 4 days and had a healthy 9 lb 2 oz (!!) baby boy after 27 hours of a pretty difficult labor. He didn’t require any NICU time and I felt an almost immediate relief of symptoms after he was born.

Prior to my diagnosis, I had not heard of ICP. In my frantic, middle of the night, “I can’t take this itching anymore” internet searching, I found ICP Care and knew it was something I needed to bring up to my OB. ICP Care provided the resources I needed to not only advocate for myself with my care team and understand ICP, but it also allowed me to find a community of understanding during an extremely difficult time.

My interest in getting involved with ICP Care really stems from the gratitude I have for the resources and advocacy I was provided from ICP Care during my ICP Pregnancy. While I had an excellent care team, I know there are many pregnant individuals that do not feel heard by their providers, and because ICP is so rare, many providers are not even aware of it. Continuing the mission and growing the work of ICP Care is essential to ensuring positive outcomes for ICP pregnancies.

Professionally, I’ve spent my career working in the non-profit sector with a focus on Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, grant management, cross-sector systems work, and supporting the workforce that supports and cares for young children. I received my Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences from the University of Arkansas, and my Master of Science in Developmental Therapy from Henderson State University. I have my Infant Mental Health Endorsement® through the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health as an Infant Mental Health Mentor in Policy.

I look forward to bringing my experience and expertise to the ICP Care team and the wonderful work that is already happening.