I love it when she makes this expression.
I am posting way too many pictures at once – I know – I hope your not having trouble loading.?? I have a full schedule of Tori Birthday shots for Feb so I didn’t want to drag these out.?? Haven’t actually shot any of them due to illness but I still plan to:).?? Tori is sleepy today and I have ZERO energy so I am going to go rest on the couch (wrote this Thurs – won’t post till Fri 1:00 AM)
Her diaper rash is getting so bad from the augmenten.?? I am using the prescribed C-Questran/5% Aquaphor which I love, but even that isn’t stopping it.?? She just sobbed tonight she was hurting so bad.?? I put her in the bath with me and she fell asleep.?? Poor poor baby.?? Ryker now has RSV and pneumonia as well.?? So far he is holding his own and doesn’t need to be hospitalized but this illness gets worse before it gets better so please pray for him too.?? (Doctors say RSV is worse on day 5 or 6 – not sure what day Tori actually was admitted).
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So why am I allergic to men you ask?
Setting:?? Me stroking Tori’s beautiful hair on the couch beside Jim.
Doni:?? Babe I have been wondering lately if her hair is going to be straight or wavy – she is really getting some waves back here.?? Have you?
Jim:?? No.
Doni:?? What do you mean “no”?
Jim:?? No I haven’t been wondering.
Doni:?? Okay.?? Rephrase.?? Do you think her hair will be straight or wavy?
Jim:?? Don’t know don’t care.
SHEEESHHH Louise!?? In serious need of more estrogen in this house.
The above was just anecdotal and not support for my allergy – just aggravation – but I actually do have EVIDENCE that I am INDEED allergic to men – FOR REAL!?? First I have a story for you.
I was reading my friend Shauna’s blog today and she mentioned that when she was pregnant with her twins she had PUPPS.?? How totally random is that because only 1 to 2% of the population get PUPPS with pregnancy and this is the first time I have ever heard of anyone else I know having had it.
When I was about 7 months pregnant with Tanner I broke out into this HIDEOUS rash on my belly.?? Being a first time mom, I naively assumed that my skin was stretching terribly – was very itchy, and I was scratching it to kingdom come creating nightmarish raised hives.?? Didn’t occur to me to go to the Dr. because (a) I thought I was doing it to myself and (b) I wouldn’t have let them prescribe anything anyhow due to first pregnancy anxiety.
Some nights were so bad that Jim would coat my belly with Band Aid’s anti itch gel and then run a cool hair dryer while holding my hands together (he IS a multi tasker hee hee) so that I wouldn’t scratch anymore.?? It was painful on body and mind.?? Having hives this bad for most of the last trimester was miserable.
When I went in to labor, the rash exploded down my back, arms, and legs.?? Doctor after Doctor kept coming in to evaluate me and it took them several days to figure out the cause – Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy – PUPPS.?? They prescribed a topical steroid for it and yes I felt stupid for not bringing it to someone’s attention earlier.?? The funny thing was, the day I left the hospital, a volunteer was helping me and Tanner to the car.?? She took one look at me and said “Oh my gosh!?? You have PUPPS!?? My sister had that and she wanted to scratch her skin off with a fork!”?? – Well where in the heck was SHE all week??? LOL.
So now I get to my point…
When I was reading THIS article online today, I discovered a couple of facts about PUPPS.?? One I already knew.?? It most often occurs in women pregnant with multiple babies.?? Tanner was a twin so I always figured that was the key factor (and it probably was).?? I lost his twin in the first trimester but my body was apparently ignoring that fact.?? (Also wonder if that is why my hyperemesis was so bad?).?? Here is what I didn’t know – and I will quote from the article:
“One study has shown that male fetal DNA can be found in skin biopsies of the rash. Since 70% of women with PUPPP give birth to boys, a new hypothesis is that male fetal DNA acts as a skin irritant.”
So you see….it appears that I really AM allergic to male DNA.?? LOL.?? Funny.
Just out of curiousity…anyone else ever had PUPPS?
14 responses to “Allergic to Men”
I like your conclusion – LOL When I had it, I LIVED in my bathtub, it didn’t take the itching away completely, but seemed to help a little. Then I would coat my belly with aloe vera gel. I wish I would have taken a picture of my belly – I don’t think people would believe me when I tell them how bad it was. I looked like I had some major disease or something, my entire belly (and it was big) was bright red with little bumps and hives all over it. I guess I was too itchy to think of taking a picture – lol. The funny thing too is, I know we were talking some by email when I was pregnant with them. I wish I would have told you about me having it, it would have been nice to have talked to someone who had experienced it.
first about Tori’s rash. Devin has been on MANY rounds of augmenten now and he too gets a bad bad diaper rash every time. if it’s red little bumps like pimples that can bleed with just a swipe of a baby wipe (which is very painful use water instead) then it’s progressed into a yeast infection. There’s a prescription diaper cream and that is the only thing that I’ve found that gets rid of it. I wish i could remember the name of it. One of our docs gave us some samples and we’ve used our last one. but mention it to her doc – if the prescription cream you’re using is not targeted for yeast you need something different.
as for Pupps – I had a very mild case of it with devin. I got some light red bumps but not quite to the extent of hives that you and Shauna went through but yes I wanted to tear the skin off my belly. I slathered by belly multiple times a day with Eucerin Calming Cream lotion (it’s one of the few lotions on the market that doesn’t have alcohol in it) and I’d take baths with Aveeno oatmeal bath – the stuff you use when you have the chicken pox. I even carried a small tube of Eucerine in my purse so that if I was out somewhere I wouldn’t be stuck with out some releif.
Vusion is the name of the diaper cream that helped Devin.
That sounds just awful. I think I would take the gestational diabetes any day over PUPPS after you ladies described it! So sorry that you had to experience that!
Doni I just love the pictures of her in the chair just too cute. So sorry your still not feeling well. And poor little ryker I will be praying for him and hoping that he does not need to visit the hospital.
Oh my goodness, this is what I get for not checking in often enough! I’m so sorry that you all have been going through this and so glad that Tori is doing better.
I KNEW THERE WAS VALIDITY TO AN ALLERGIC TO MEN THEORY!!!! So, do you have a rash now??? Watch out – it might be coming. Jim, oh dear Jim…. 🙂
The pictures are precious. You made sweetness out of a sour situation.
Hannah had bad rashes when she was teething. Brayden got them when he was teething and with the ear infections. I would always use Neosporin + Pain for any diaper rash they would get. It worked better than EVERYTHING!! Everything else would burn. Also don’t forget how much good a baking soda bath can be!
And you said my blog was gross! I am GLAD none of you have pictures! You couldn’t show them anyway. Speaking for all me, we deeply apologize for being the irritations we know we are, but as you have proven it is not totally our fault, it is in our DNA.
Too funny Papa Z. Also, you ladies may know this, but if your child is on antibiotics and gets diarhea and a rash – giving them yogurt to eat will help. It replaces the good bacteria in the GI tract and will help with the diarhea and ultimately the rash too. You can also ask for Nystatin diaper rash cream for a yeast infection.
So Doni, did Tori have to come home on any breathing treatments or anything? You may have said that before now, but I am scatterbrained sometimes.
Doni contends that only 2% of women have this physical allergic reaction to male DNA. It is my personal and professional observation that the other 98% of women have an emotional alergic reaction to male DNA on a regular basis as evidenced by Doni’s reaction to Jim’s prefectly reasonable and honest answer as posted above.
Goodness, Doni! I haven’t been on-line very much lately and was shocked to see the pix of Tori w/ all her tubes. I’m so thankful she’s home now.
I didn’t have PUPPS w/ Carter, but I did have colestasis (sp?). My liver wasn’t functioning properly so I had excess bile in my blood stream and itched for weeks from the inside out . . .it was terrible. I think it can be the precursor to PUPPS. My doctor had only seen it once before in her intern days but diagnosed me and another gal w/in a few weeks of each other. I also had pre-eclampsia. You know what she said about both conditions? They are most likely caused by an allergic reaction to the male DNA material! I have more info on that too, but will have to send you an e-mail “off-line”.
Just so glad Tori is home. Hope everyone else is feeling better soon. Carter has the super sore throat and fever. I’m hoping he sleeps well tonight and is feeling better tomorrow. It’s sooooo unusual for him to sit still in a chair all day long!
i’ve never seen papa Z so WILLING to get into trouble on YOUR blog. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Yes, i had PUPPS with my first pregnancy… A BOY! I have a friend who had it with her 3rd baby (her first girl). I think that correlation is hilarious though! It was the WORST thing. The only thing that helped me was sitting in a cool bath. i’m so glad i never had it with any of my other pregnancies!
Hope little sweetie pie is feeling better…