Week 34: The Itch, The Rash, The Devil's PUPPP

This week I learned that it doesn't matter how late in your pregnancy it is, the hormones can still mess with you. Most things have been going well so I'm thinking, ok we can make it to the end. Then wham! The pregnancy rash really begins to rage. The belly itch was nothing. Next my wrists begin to get bumpy and red, my knuckles flare up with angry papules. It climbs up my arms, elbows get bad, and creeps into my armpits. from the belly is slinks down into my groin and around my sides, hips, and back. here it is not as rashy and bumpy as my arms and is probably the least of the itch. Also,, shortly after my OB appointment where she says, "no big deal you whiner, its only your arms," it getsbetween my  toes, backs of my ankles, and up to my knees and knee pits. The bumps begin to merge into red raised itchy plaques over the worst parts. I look like a leper, itch ALL the time, and things get worse at night so you can't sleep. All you wanna do is scratch but as soon as you take one relieving scratch you cant stop and the whole area gets raw and inflammed. Its an evil, horrible, unrelievable cycle.

What's a girl to do... A whole lot of research. So I spent this week tired as hell and miserable, looking up and trying so many creams and baths and natural remedies for rashes that I couldn't even list them all. Nothing really helped much and this peaked over the weekend so the rash consumed me completely, all of my energies and tolerance went into suffering this thing. Maybe I was being a baby through it all, but I was ready to be induced just to get rid of the itching on Sunday night.

Then I found some longer term relief rather then reapplying creams and bathing every 2-3 hours. Its not perfect but it helps a bit... Scalding hot water treatments. Yeap, after spending all that money it's as simple as letting hot water run over your itch for 30 secs to a minute that provides the longest relief, just hot enough that you can almost not stand it. Its a fine line and one has to be careful, but boy does it work. Lucky my worst itching was on my extremities. In case you wondered, the theory is that it opens your vessels/cells and the slow release antihistamines come to the surface all at once and you get them out of your system for a bit. Sound science to me. In the meantime, I also ordered Grandpas Pine Tar Soap from the states as the internet consensus is that its one of the only things that makes the rash go away. Oh yeah, and staying dry in all those moist crevices is very important to not propagate the rash. I use baby powder, a lot of it, so the bathroom looks snow covered when I'm done. Who says it's just for babies! So between the soap and the hot water and the baby powder the rash has more or less cleared up, though some patches remain, and it is now tolerable. Still am in the shower/bath two to three times a day and usually around 2 am at night, but it is better. Even so, I will be glad to be rid of it.

The babies are happy, dancing small cantaloupes. Am curious to see their growth at next weeks ultrasound! On the fun side, here are the fully decorated cribs and library...