Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Taking Off My Skin and Other Good News

There's a poem by Shel Silverstein I absolutely loved when I younger.  There are actually a lot of poems by this man I adored and still treasure today, but this one has been on my mind.



I loved this ridiculous idea of taking off your skin to get cool.  I even remember sharing this with my sister one night as we were laying in bed.  My little 8 year old mind having a literary discussion about the possibility of taking off your skin.  (Remember, Shauna?)  Such an insane solution to a problem I was familiar with in the sweltering weeks of summer.  

But the heat is not why I've been thinking about this.  Although it has been hot.  

My skin does not like being pregnant.  Last time I was pregnant I developed cholestasis, a lovely condition where your liver produces too much bile and in turn makes you itch. like. crazy.  This was remedied by a pill (not my first choice for physical maladies, but oh baby did it help).  It's also not the greatest thing for the baby come 3rd trimester, although I never made it there.  This time around, I am itching like crazy again.  But a blood test confirms it's not cholestasis.  Booo!  Of course I don't want to have this.   But I was hoping I did, because I already know how fast I can get relief.  But no pill.  Hydrocortisone works for about 15 minutes and I went through 16 gallons of it in 2 days.  Expensive, drug store, dermatologist recommended lotion works for about 10 minutes. 

So I was hoping for that western, manufactured pill.  So now I will see about taking my skin off and replacing it with a brand that's not so sensitive.  That and dandelion root and banana peels.  Both things I read in the oppositie spectrum of western, manufactured pills and potions.

Itch me luck.  I mean wish.  Wish me luck.

Anyone else have a favorite Shel Silverstein poem?  Or any methods of taking off skin?  Or ideas to get me to stop scratching the good gravy gumbo out of myself?  I'd love to hear it all.     

(Gasp!)  Also!!  This is officially the longest I've ever been pregnant.  29 weeks.  Quite happy about that.  Keep growing little bean.  Although we can't wait to meet you, we can wait 8-10 more weeks at least.  

7 comments:

Mike/Margaret said...

Have you tried oatmeal baths? It is supposed to work for measels, etc. We are so glad you have made it this far.I can wait to meet him/her.

michael. mindy. dane. said...

yay for 29 weeks! wahoo!

i had no idea you had chole....whatever. where WAS I last pregnancy?

and sorry you're itchy this go-round. i didn't know that either. forget my last question of where was i. WHERE AM I?!

Abby said...

29 weeks!!! woop woop! I am just 3.5 short weeks behind you! sorry about the itching! I don't have such maladies but I do have a few other ones I might want to trade for itchy skin...I was also going to suggest oatmeal baths, as well as Nutrogena body oil....best of luck.

Carrie said...

my deepest condolences to you! i didn't know pregnancy itchy skin could be diagnosed like that! i had the worst ever imaginable itchy skin when i was pregnant with abigail. it was soooooo itchy all over but especially on my stomach. i took such extreme caution that nothing ever touched my stomach because anything could set off a scratch attack. i would scratch until my stomach was raw and bleeding (i used to think only kids did that until i saw myself do it daily). the thing that worked best for me was icing it. making my whole stomach so numb that i couldn't feel the itching. replacing the terrible itching with the terrible freezing burning of ice was somehow better. it gets tricky when your stomach gets super huge but i just kept lots of big packs of frozen peas in the freezer and would strategically place those all over my belly until the itching attack stopped. no other lotion, cream, home remedy or anything worked as well as the ice packs and peas. good luck!

disclaimer: it would probably be a good idea to check and make sure this is not harmful to your baby in any way. ;-)

Kelsey said...

I'll try ice. I am insanely miserable with my itching. For me, it's my legs. Also, I have excema on my hands that has been flaring up. I have scabs all over my legs from me itching. It's disgusting. Anyway... I'm SO GLAD others have this! I itch when I am not pregnant, but it's been 100 times worse since becoming pregnant. I have a product from Europe being shipped to me, I'll keep you posted.

Shauna said...

I wish I had your memory and I am glad you have such a great doctor instead of a lazy lazy lazy lazy Jane.....you would never get a cure for that crazy itching ( or a drink of water:)

Eden said...

So sorry to har about your itching. Consider looking into Dr. christopher's product Itch Ointment. Here is a good link http://www.herballegacy.com/Itch.html

Also, you could try a chickweed bath (the good earth in sandy sells powdered chickweed). Or you could take an Epsom Salts bath.

Hope that helps.

I love reading your blog. So glad your kiddos are doing well.
Eden