The Case of the Disappearing Bile

"God always answers prayer. Sometimes the answer is 'Yes,' sometimes the answer is 'No,' and sometimes the answer is 'You've got to be kidding!'" [author unknown]

This time He answered "Yes." And we are so very thankful.

Today the doctor called with Bethany's followup tests that show the level of bile acids in her blood. The first set of blood tests looked clearly like cholestasis, so we prepared ourselves for a potentially sad and scary high-risk pregnancy. We knew Bethany's next round of blood tests would come back eventually, but we weren't getting our hopes up. The test generally takes a long time to get back--last time it took 10 days. But today was only the 4th day, and the results were already here. What were those results, you may wonder?

(Drumroll, please...)

The bile acids are now all back to normal.

How this happened, no one knows. Even the doctor was amazed and considered this "remarkable." Bethany's acids were so ridiculously high before. Example: One acid they tested for is normally supposed to be from 0 to 3. If it got up to 9 or beyond, doctors would label it cholestasis. Bethany's was 69. That's at least 23 times normal. Crazy.

We are puzzled, the doctors are puzzled, you're puzzled, everybody's puzzled. Doctors think that the virus that sent Bethany to the hospital was just trying with all its might to destroy her liver and wreck as much as it could in the process. But it didn't. And again, we are so very thankful.

Bethany is still somewhat itchy, but every day gets better. She has not had to take meds to go to sleep for four nights in a row now. The doctor thinks there was just so much bile junk packed away in her that the itch lingers as the bile junk leaves the skin and other storage areas. We are confident that the itch will soon be gone, slowly but surely; the doctor is confident that the virus had no debilitating effects on the baby; and again, we are so very thankful.

Thank you for all of your prayers. God heard. We give Him all the credit for this miracle.

(Next miracle to pray for: Finding maternity jeans that are long enough...)