PUPPP

So I thought that I had enough to deal with in this pregnancy, but apparently the powers that be thought that it would be funny to give me something else. (I’m a little on edge at the moment, can ya tell?) Anywho, I have this INTENSELY itchy rash covering my stomach, mostly in the stretch marks but spreading outward. It’s seriously horrible and sometimes I feel like I can’t function because it itches so badly. At first I thought that it was the intertrigo rash coming back from a month or two ago so I started using the creams that the dermatologist gave me before. Then it just started getting worse and worse.

I called the dermatologist’s office first thing Monday morning, hoping that I could get an appointment right away but apparently he’s out of the office until Thursday. THURSDAY! I have to wait through this horrible itching for three more days before I might get something to make it feel better in a few days.

So today I sit at work and all I can think about is the itching so I decided to hit my favorite medical diagnostic tool, Google. I learned that there is a common skin condition during pregnancy called PUPPP or Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy. Basically, these red bumps form in the stretch marks on the belly and then they get bigger and spread out and get more intense and itchy. It generally affects women in the third trimester and resolves itself a few weeks after delivery. Treatment options include steroid creams that can be applied up to 6 times a day (yeah, like I have time for that at work…) or oral steroids (yikes, that doesn’t sound good for the baby).

Last night I tried a home remedy for the itching because it was bad enough that I just wanted to cry. I got a cold water bottle out of the fridge and held it on different spots on my stomach. The cold helped bring the inflammation down and stop me from feeling like I needed to scratch it incessantly. The funniest part about this whole thing was that Zoey went crazy over it! She really did not like the cold!! It felt like she was climbing around in a big circle trying to get away from the cold of the water bottle. It was cute and funny but slightly uncomfortable at the same time. As soon as my tummy warmed up again she stopped and I finally went to sleep.

So now I will wait until Thursday to find out what the doctor thinks and see if I can get some relief or if this is another thing that I’m doomed to deal with for the next three months. Stay tuned…