Saturday, December 19, 2015

After Pupps... Baby and Postpartum Itchiness



One day before my due date, our baby was born!!!  It's a BOY!   Little Lucas is just wonderful, sweet, cuddly, fun, and adorable!  We are so in love, and so blessed.   



I had to have a C-section because his heart rate was dropping with each contraction.  I had been in labor for 27 hours, so I didn't care at all that I had to have a c-section.  Maybe because I was active and working out (at least power walking for about 3 miles most days, some light weight lifting) all through my pregnancy, but the c-section recovery was much easier than I anticipated.  I didn't even need to use all of my pain meds which was a total surprise.  Anyway, I hope that if you have to have a c-section, it isn't terrible.

In the Pupps realm, I followed the 70% or so who have Pupps and then go on to have a boy!

The bad news is that I had some terrible postpartum itching.  It wasn't as bad as Pupps because it wasn't over my whole body, but it was like a jumping rash!  For a week or two, I was insanely itchy on the back of one of my legs.  Then the rash moved to my lower back, later to my chest, and then to my stomach a bit.  This rash jumping happened for about two months.  Now I am 4 months postpartum and I still have a very itchy scalp.  It doesn't itch all day long, but at least some part of each day.  I read about it online, and there is definitely a solid-sized online community who also deals with itchy scalp after baby.  Damn hormones!  I have been using Head and Shoulders Instant Relief Scalp Soother, which I originally bought for my Pupps problem.  It is a godsend.  It smells so good and immediately cools the itch.

For my itch, I tried my old stand by coconut oil, but it really wasn't working for my postpartum problem.  At that point, I was SO SO sick of the smell that I was over it anyway.  I had used coconut oil every day of my pregnancy from 20 weeks on to deal with the Pupps itching.  I never got stretch marks, so that was an added bonus!  When I needed a new solution, I went to my doctor and got prescribed Triamcinoloe Acetonide Cream, 0.1%.  That works well for me when the itch pops back up again.  I am still nursing my son, which my doctor obviously knows, so I am assuming it is safe enough for that.  Since it's a topical thing, not a pill, I think that's the difference.

Anyway, good luck in your fight against Pupps.  It is just the worst, and I couldn't believe how little is known about it.  I hope this little blog will give you a few ideas of what to try, and what might work.

I'm thankful for this little guy!!  As they always say, all this lousiness in pregnancy is worth it in the end.  You get a wonderful little baby to love!!!