Episode 363 Aubrey's Induced VBAC with ICP (Cholestasis)

Aubrey shares her three birth stories that tell of resilience, healing, trust, and miracles. She has had a vaginal birth, a crash Cesarean, and a VBAC– all of which presented cholestasis. 

Aubrey’s first birth was a long but routine induction. Her second birth was a traumatic whirlwind including a complete placental abruption, general anesthesia, and her baby miraculously surviving 15 minutes without oxygen. 

Though her third pregnancy had many complications, the open and honest relationship Aubrey had with her provider is what ultimately led to her TOLAC and successful VBAC at 37 weeks and 6 days after another medically necessary induction. 

Aubrey is proof that no two births are the same, and miracles happen even when circumstances threaten to say otherwise. 

**Aubrey also wanted to mention that after her VBAC, she was readmitted to the hospital for postpartum preeclampsia. She had a headache every day, decided to eventually buy a blood pressure machine, and it was through the roof. She took herself to L&D, and they put her on magnesium. Aubrey had no idea it was even possible to get it postpartum and wanted to share!

Managing Cholestasis Symptoms

How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for Parents

Full Transcript under Episode Details 

Meagan: Hello, everybody. It is almost Christmas, and I am so excited to bring another story your way. This is a VBAC story from a mama who is from Louisiana. She had quite a few roadblocks within her pregnancies that could have easily stopped her from having a VBAC, but she really established a good relationship with her provider even though her provider wasn’t actually as gung-ho or excited about the VBAC specifically because she was nervous, together they communicated their feelings and understood where each other were, and came up with a plan to ultimately have a VBAC.

I just respect that so much. It’s important to know. We talk about providers all of the time. Providers are so important, and they make such a big impact on our outcome, but this provider, even though she wasn’t really comfortable with VBAC, she truly believed in our guest, Aubrey, today. You’ll have to hear it from her own words. It’s awesome to hear how everything unfolded. 

We also have a topic today that maybe isn’t shared a ton. It’s called ICP or cholestasis that we are talking about. It is a liver condition that can occur during pregnancy and cause a range of symptoms. A lot of the times, it is baby being born that is the thing to end cholestasis. We are going to talk a little bit more about that, but I wanted to go over some of the symptoms. 

We’ve got dark urine, pale or light gray stools, and she’ll talk about this. That is definitely something that is not normal in pregnancy, so if you are seeing that, that is a reason to contact your provider. Nausea, she described some other symptoms there. Decreased appetite, pain in the abdomen, or jaundice. These are some things to look out for. 

Now, there is a website called icpcare.org. We’re going to make sure to attach that in the show notes, so if you have had cholestasis before or you want to learn more about cholestasis and how to manage the symptoms, and what types of things like healthy diet, they have so many amazing resources on their website. They even have recipes and different types of healthy fats and grains and legumes and things that we can focus on. We know that all of the time in pregnancy, really what we are putting into our body is so important. 

Definitely check out icpcare.org if you want to learn more about ICP and managing symptoms and resources and community support and all of the above. 

We do have a Review of the Week, so I want to get into that, and then turn the time over to Aubrey. 

This reviewer is reneekc89. The review title is, “A Turning Point”. It says, “When I was pregnant with my first, I was one of those ‘whatever happens is fine’ moms about birth. Then I had an unplanned Cesarean after a stalled induction. It wasn’t until I saw family members and friends so easily have vaginal births that I knew I had to try something different the second time around. I found this podcast through a local mom’s group and immediately binged every episode. I continue to listen every week even after my successful VBAC in October 2020.”

It says, “Listening to what seemed like every possible outcome helped me release my fear that I might have had. I felt emotionally prepared for anything that might have come my way. I switched hospitals and advocated through my entire 25-hour labor in the hospital, and felt like every decision was a conversation between two adults rather than demands.” 

Oh, what a powerful thing right there, you guys. She says, “I advocated throughout my entire 25-hour labor in the hospital and felt like every decision was a conversation between two adults rather than demands.” That is how it should be. 

It says, “I have to thank this podcast for helping me gain that kind of confidence. Thank you also to the Facebook Community for always answering my questions.” 

Oh my gosh. Thank you, reneekc89, for that review. Just a reminder, you guys, if you have not found us on Facebook yet, check us out. You can find us at The VBAC Link Community. You have to answer a few questions to get in, and then you’ll get into this amazing community. We have the community on Instagram, and Facebook, and in this Facebook group. I believe so much that this Facebook community will empower you along the way. Like she said, you can ask questions, share pictures, and share concerns, and share triumphs and feel that love and support along the journey. 

I also wanted to throw out that we have a CBAC group, so if you are going for a TOLAC and it does end in a Cesarean, or you choose a Cesarean birth after a Cesarean, this group is here for you as well. You can find that at The CBAC Link Community on Facebook. 

Meagan: All right, Ms. Aubrey. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here. I know you’ve probably been waiting. I feel like there are so many times when people are really excited to record their story, then I’m like, “Hey, you’re going to be aired this much further out.” You have two months to wait. You’re recording now, and then in two months, you’ll be airing on, but I’m so glad you are here to share your three stories. 

You had a C-section, then two VBACs, right? 

Aubrey: I had a vaginal birth, then a C-section, and then a vaginal birth. 

Meagan: That’s why I’m thinking two vaginal births. So vaginal birth, then Cesarean, then vaginal birth. You’ve got all sorts of different things added to your story. 

Aubrey: So many. 

Meagan: Cholestasis is one of them, right?

Aubrey: Yes. 

Meagan: Okay. I’m excited to talk about that, because I think a lot of people think with cholestasis, there’s only one answer. We’re going to be talking about that, but I’m going to turn the time over to you.

Aubrey: Okay. I guess we’ll start with my first birth. Heads up if I cry at all during it because I just do that sometimes. 

Meagan: That is okay. That is okay. 

Aubrey: My first pregnancy was totally normal. I had no complications. I was big and miserable, but that was about it. I did have SPD, so my pelvis hurt really bad. I didn’t know enough about it to go to a chiropractor to fix it. That was really my only thing until right at 38 weeks, it was that night at about 11:00 at night. I started itching on my feet. I couldn’t scratch the itch. I got my husband’s socks, and I put gel ice packs inside of them and wore them. That helped, then the itching started in my hands. 

This had been going on for about 2 hours, so I got in a really cold bathtub. The itching had started to spread more. It wasn’t just my hands and my feet. It wasn’t a normal itch. It was coming from underneath my skin. It was like my blood was itching. 

Meagan: People have described it to me as an unreachable itch.

Aubrey: It is. It’s the most miserable. 

Meagan: You touch the spot, but you can’t get to it.

Aubrey: Yeah. It’s like when the inside of your ear itches. You’re like, ugh. It’s like that but all over. Nothing helps. I called the after-hours line at probably 4:00 in the morning. The doctor on call was like, “Pregnancy can be itchy. Take some Benadryl.” I was like, “I’ve already taken Benadryl. It’s not helping.” 

She was telling me to take some creams, and I knew something else was wrong. I spent the rest of the morning researching. I came to the conclusion that I was 99% sure that I had something called cholestasis, and that I was going to have to be induced.

One thing that solidified that was that there were other symptoms that I didn’t know about. My stool was white. It was really weird. It just was white-colored. I had this really violent episode of vomiting beyond anything I had ever experienced in my life. That’s one of the things. It’s this uncontrollable exorcist-style vomiting. 

Meagan: I actually did not know that. 

Aubrey: Yeah. It was unnatural. I remember thinking, “That was so weird,” but it was a couple of days before that, and then the next day or so was when I had the weird white-colored stool, but again, I had never been pregnant, so I was like, “I guess this is just pregnancy,” then the itching. That’s when I put it all together, and I was like, “Well, I