I started getting stretch marks on my hips which weren't horrible and really weren't that noticeable. Then a few weeks later I got some on the front of my belly near my belly button and those blew up like fireworks! Next thing I knew they were bumpy, itchy, red/purple, huge and did I mention itchy? I have lotioned down my belly in hopes that I would not get any, but they came anyway and they came fast.
Shortly after they popped up I noticed a rash on my thighs that spread to the back of my legs and my up and down my arms front and back and then my lower legs and feet and hands. Before I knew it I was completely covered in this horrible, itchy, nothing-cures or relieves this itch rash. I looked it up and mentioned it to the doctor and was diagnosed at PUPPP (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy). Guess what? NO CURE except delivery! I was desperate to find something to help me. I wasn't sleeping and I was completely miserable. Over $150 spend on creams, sprays, lotions, bath and shower stuff and nothing helped! The only thing I found to relieve some of the itch was taking a warm shower and before I got out turn the heat of the water up some (enough that it makes you itch) and then once you cant handle not itching turning the water down to cooler temperature and then getting out and air drying. Basically if you freeze yourself to death you wont be as concerned with the itch. I looked up PUPPP everyday almost trying to find something to help me because I couldn't last 3 more weeks with this. (a lot of times women start getting it sooner than I did, so in a way I was fortunate??) Anyway, I found that dandelion root can help. So I got some and within 24 hours I could notice somewhat of a difference. After about 2 days I could see the rash part actually fading and just the red/bruising and some itch left. It has now been a week since I started the dandelion root and while its not completely gone and some parts of me still itch it is a lot better! Its more like dry skin now than a horrible rash. So living in that hell on earth kind of kept me occupied for awhile.
On top of that I have been having pressure down there since week 30! I mean it would hurt and be very uncomfortable, but it was somewhat expected I suppose. Well about the same time the rash came about the pressure down there got INTENSE! Like it went from being "pressure" to straight PAIN! It still hurts like a mother and doing anything including sitting, standing, laying down, rolling over, bending down anything that requires movement of the legs or hips is excruciatingly painful. Mix this terrible pain with the worst itch of your life that NEVER goes away and after a week I was bawling my eyes out! I'm not much of a crier unless it involves a tv or someone elses life. When it comes to mine I tend to put up a wall and hold back the tears. So when I cried a legit boohoo ugly cry 4 times within 2 days people knew I was for real.
Even still as much as I cried there wasn't much we could do except see the doctor 2 days early for my 37 week appointment. I was still 1 cm dilated and he could feel her head, but no other progress had been made. Although I did have protein in my urine, blood pressure was up and I had gained 4 pounds of fluid within 5 days. That was not quite normal so he sent me right over to the hospital to do more blood work, urine samples and to be monitored. Everything there was perfect! So it was a bit confusing. However, I still had to do the 24 hours urine sample thing which is completely gross. Every time I had to pee I went in this jug and had to keep it cold which meant either putting it in your fridge or a cooler of ice. I opted for the cooler of ice!! Well that came back fine too, but my doctor just wasn't convinced and wanted to be safe rather than sorry so he treated me as a preeclampsia patient anyway. Which meant I had 3 NSTs done, 2 ultrasounds to measure amniotic fluid, visits to him 2 times a week and blood work done. (Urine, blood pressure and that stuff is done every time I'm there). He also scheduled me for induction on Monday, March 9th at 6am!
So to catch us up to speed for Thursday, March 5th's appointment everything was great. Blood pressure was 116/68 which was down from the 130s/78s, no protein in the urine was seen, weight gain wasn't much, but I am still swelling. I think the swelling is quite normal for this stage of the game though and the pain isn't going to go anywhere. He checked me and I am still at 1cm and my cervix isn't as soft or "ripe" as they want it to be for an induction (which can be expected since its a week before my due date).
So the plan now is I will go into the hospital Monday morning on the 9th. Once I get settled in the doctor will come in around 7ish to insert something called cervidil which is like a tampon looking thing to help soften my cervix. This could take one time or 2 or 3 times. They leave it in for 12 hours at a time. So from 7am to 7pm on Monday i'll have this in and they will obviously check me throughout the day to see how its going. If all is well after the 12 hours they will start me on a low dose Pitocin to start the induction so that Tuesday morning I should be ready to have a baby. If the cervidil didn't completely soften me enough after the 12 hours then I will start over and do another dose Tuesday and basically repeat this until its safe enough to start the Pitocin. He told me it could take up to 3 days for this to work, but he knows I can have this baby vaginally and we shouldn't need a C-section otherwise he would have already scheduled it. So I'm a little nervous that this wont work after 3 days and i'll end up in a C-section, but I'm staying hopeful that we'll have a baby on Tuesday, March 10th! After the cervidil is inserted i'll be able to eat and walk around. I have read some stories that the cervidil actually started labor naturally for some women so that would be nice too!
I will be enjoying our sweet girl at some point in time this week and really only care about our safety! The best way for her to get here and obviously the healthiest way for me. He diagnosed me with mild preeclampsia and definitely do not want to take any chances of me getting worse. I have avoided mostly everything so far so we probably shouldn't gamble on this either. Plus I don't think I could take another week of the pain and rash and new found swelling that actually hurts.
I will however, miss my sweet puppies while I'm in the hospital waiting for little miss to show up :( so for the rest of this weekend i'll be spending my time loving on them!
P.S One good thing about having to be there Monday at 6am (which is deathly early) is that its daylight savings time this Sunday so i'll get to skip an entire hour of "trying" to sleep. There will just be way too much excitement. Maybe i'll just pull and all nighter that way i'll get to waste some time by getting some sleep at the hospital. I've heard its impossible to rest and sleep at the hospital, but surely if you are that tired you'll get some rest?
P.S.S my next post will have pictures of our baby girl!!!!!!!!
Final bump photo!
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