Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP)

What is this you ask? Its a rash that a small amount of women (and myself) get while pregnant. I had no idea what this was when I had it with my first pregnancy. I thought it was due to receiving my lovely stretch marks but when it didn't clear up for a few months after the pregnancy was over I thought it was something else. My doctor tried giving me a steroid cream but since I was nursing I wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten foot pole! My dad finally gave me a natural (but smelly) salve and it cleared up quickly.

For some reason this dreaded rash skipped my last pregnancy. I have been doing some reading and according to research a biopsy of the rash has shown that male fetel DNA can be found. And that 70% of women with PUPP's give birth to boys. They believe that the male fetel DNA acts as a skin irritant (Which is just another reason I'm still convinced were having a boy!) I also read that usually you don't get this lovely rash with subsequent pregnancy's.... Guess I'm just lucky. Perhaps the surrogacy was skipped because I was having a girl??

So Yesterday my belly was itching like mad! I though I had just gotten a little too much sun and put some aloe vera on it. When I looked in the mirror my belly didn't look sun burnt so I just tried to ignore it. That night I turned on the bathroom light and really tried to get a good look at the underside of my belly ( something I cannot see on my own any longer) and sure enough, there was the rash! NOOOOO! I called Joe in and asked if he could see it (He had to put up with my itching and whining all day I just wanted to show him I wasn't faking lol)

I guess I'll venture to the health food store and see if they have any smelly salve that may help. There are some drugs you can take but since this rash can't hurt me or the baby (its just really annoying) I'll live with it if it cannot be treated naturally. Pregnancy is hard enough without having a super itchy belly to accompany it! Pray for me that I don't loose my mind before this baby is born