32 Weeks

This week was..........interesting.

I think anyone will tell you that I'm staying upbeat, even though my neck (and chest, and some of my stomach, and parts of my arms, and my hips) look like this:

Can't see it? Let me describe it for you. Red. Splotchy. Slightly bumpy. And - you can't see this part - ITCHY. I know I've been talking about this itch for a long time, off and on, but this is the first time I've had a visual image to go along with it (aside from the tiger stripe-like streaks I leave on myself after a good scratching binge). I really thought for the longest time that it was just dry skin combined with the inevitable third-trimester stretching, so I was using lots of lotion and cocoa butter and stuff. (LOTS of it.) That wasn't helping a lot, though, if any, and then it started spreading. It was on my hips and across my chest, too, at that point, so I thought, "Uh-oh......I'm going to start stretching and expanding there, too." Kept using the lotions. Then it moved up to my neck, at which point I began doubting the "stretching" theory. Then the splotches appeared, and I was becoming less amused, more itchy, and even more skeptical about the dry and stretchy skin idea. Yesterday I remembered that I had switched fabric softeners a couple of weeks ago, so I thought that if I went back to Downy, which I've always used, it would go away. (Never mind the pain of having to figure out what had been washed with the culprit Purex. That was a whole other story entirely.) At church this morning, though (once I made it there after being late due to a scratching fit) a friend said she thought they looked like hives. I was not happy with that idea. I asked a doctor in our church what he thought, though, and he poked at my neck for a minute and told me to call my doctor tomorrow morning and tell him I think I have something called PUPPP. The only part of that I can remember is "papsules and plaques of pregnancy." (I thanked him for using such lovely words to describe it. Made me feel quite gorgeous.) Essentially, from what I've gathered from talking with him and reading one of my books, there's nothing I can do about it (if that's what it is) except to give birth...........which I obviously don't want to do right now. I'm calling my doctor tomorrow to get his suggestions. I have an appointment Wednesday anyway. I did get some more hydrocortisone cream and plan on using it every bit as liberally as the package instructs.

In other areas, things are kind of just moving along. The indigestion has led me to believe that this baby is going to be born with quite the head of hair (think AFRO), and my joints are preparing for something quite extreme and are popping constantly. (If I could get my back to take part in that, I'd be a happy girl!)

No leg cramps yet, but Scott had some last night. I told him that the sympathy peeing of the first trimester was sweet, but he doesn't have to take on the painful symptoms. That makes me worry that he's going to get sympathy contractions, which would be bad since I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as sympathy epidurals.

I had a cold earlier this week, too, which I treated (quite bravely, I think) with rest and lots of fluids. I'll be back at work tomorrow, which will be a good thing.......provided I can stop scratching long enough to get something done.