My ICP journey began in May of 2024, when I woke up, at 33 weeks & 2 days pregnant, SO itchy. It was all over my body, including the palms of my hands. An hour & a half into my shift at work, I was so itchy I had claw marks on my arms and legs from scratching myself so much. Enter: google.

I googled “extremely itchy at 33 weeks pregnant”, & was greeted by articles about a condition called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy. I didn’t get too alarmed at first— until I saw that stillbirth was a common concern. I left work & went to the OB Eval department at my hospital. They immediately began running tests on my Liver Enzymes & my Bile Acids. By the end of the day, I was diagnosed with ICP.

The original plan, after I was discharged two days later, was to receive weekly ultrasounds to track my baby boy’s health & make sure that he was okay. Well, two weeks later exactly, when I was 35 weeks & 2 days pregnant, I could have sworn my water had broken. So, I went to the hospital. Apparently, my water had not broken. However, they did notice heart rate decels when they had my baby on the monitor. After a couple of hours, the decels had become pretty significant & they tested my bile acids again. They were even more elevated than they were when I was originally diagnosed, so due to that & the decels, they took my baby boy via C-Section later that night. Now, I’m an extremely proud momma to my sweet baby boy, Jace.

I decided to get involved with ICP Care because even though everything turned out okay, I still didn’t feel as if doctors knew enough about Cholestasis of Pregnancy to make informed decisions. For example, if I had not thought that my water had broken, it would have been 3 more days before my next ultrasound, & things could have been very bad for me & my baby. Imagining that is absolutely terrifying, so I decided that getting involved in spreading knowledge about this condition, that I had never even heard of until the day I was diagnosed, was a passion & a sort of calling for me.

I have a background in social media management & marketing and non profit experience here in Daphne, AL. I am excited to put my experience to use in spreading awareness of this scary, yet manageable (with the proper knowledge), condition.