These past few weeks have been trying for us. 2 weeks ago we went to our weekly OB appointment and we discussed with her this terrible rash that I've been battling since around Christmas time. It started out on my tummy, which was quickly dismissed as "pregnancy itch," and has slowly overtaken me. My arms, hands, shoulders, and legs are bruised, scabbed, and have millions of what appear to be tiny ant or mosquito bites. All of which itch beyond belief - it feels like I'm wearing an itchy wool sweater or a brillo pad - and it won't stop. I've tried every trick in the book - hydrocortisone cream, numerous lotions, benadryl, soaps, aloe vera, ice packs, changing laundry detergent, and the list goes on and on. My OB had pretty much dismissed my concerns as simply being "uncomfortable" however this last time she saw me I think my appearance shocked her. She sent me for tests to rule out cholestasis, which essentially means that my liver can't appropriately/fully process the bile in my body, and so the bile floating around triggers an allergic reaction on my skin. This, aside from being annoying, can also mean that the bile can flow to the baby as well. This would be VERY BAD, and if I had it, would mean the baby would have the be delivered ASAP. Thankfully we got the tests results and cholestasis was not causing the rash. Sadly, we don't know what is and the OB's guess is that it is PUPPS which is a pregnancy related dermatitis. The only cure: delivering the baby. The PUPPS isn't life threatening to me or the baby therefore I just have to wait it out......scratching my life away.
This past week my blood pressure was VERY high (for me), and so this meant more tests. I had to have blood drawn and had to do a 24 hour urine test. There is nothing more degrading than peeing in a "hat" (aka: fancy schmancy butter dish) and then pouring into a bladder looking jug. THEN you have to keep it refrigerated - thank goodness we have a 2nd fridge out on the garage - nothing like grabbing the wrong jug at 4 am!! We got the results back which indicate pre-preeclampsia. The treatment of choice at this time: bedrest, ultrasounds 2x weekly, and daily blood pressure monitoring. We got the results today and were told, while we were at clinicals, to get to the ultrasound place by 2 pm today. So we arranged to leave early and had ultrasound #1 for the week - everything appeared to look good. "The bump" was a little sluggish and didn't want to move, which I think alarmed the nurse however she soon showed her kicking prowess, and saved us an emergency situation today. So we go back.........and wait.......
We are not fully done with our clinical hours - we've been doing hours at Rio Rancho High, some shifts at the Pediatric ER (12 hour shifts on your feet when you are 38 weeks prego is NOT fun!), a few nights we go to a child birth class for teen parents as part of our clinical rotation which is from 6pm-9pm, we still have classes, we have home visits to do for clinicals, and poor Justin is also still working. Life is chaotic.....on top of trying to figure out how to cope with the impending birth of our little "bump."We truly cannot wait for her to come - to be safely with us and for us to be a family!! Until then....we keep trucking along.......
