Thanksgiving

To all my itchy friends, I hope you are finding ways to be thankful this year! 

I am dealing with a new nasty postpartum PUPPPs rash, but I am thankful...

... For a baby to hold that keeps my hands too full to scratch. 

... For essential oils that consistently heal the flare ups. 

... For a husband that serves me while I adjust to being a mom of 4. 

Look at that face! It's pretty hard to think of anything else when this girl wants to visit. 

Postpartum PUPPPs

Well, I'm holding my 1 week old, precious baby girl! We did it! Made it through yet another pregnancy with PUPPPs. 

And guess what? It's back! 

By the end of my pregnancy, it had calmed down again. It was nearly gone. But after a couple days wearing those funky, oh-so-attractive, hospital provided undergarments (you know the ones??), I developed a pretty good rash on my lower belly. In the last few days, I'm back in my PUPPPs-friendly clothes, but it's too late. The damage was done. The rash is spreading. I'm applying my oils like crazy and considering attempting a 7 star hammer treatment. 

It's hard for a picture to capture just how itchy this is!! See the sheen? I had just put my essential oil blend on it. Ahhh, the cooling relief of peppermint!

I wish I could capture those bumps better! 

I know I am not alone. Many of you mommas have had their rash worsen after baby comes. In the past, mine has taken a good 2 months to go away. Hope it's shorter this time!

Nov. 14th, 2014 **UPDATE**

  Once again, my essential oil blend has saved the day again! After treating the rash for a couple days with it, the rash is fading in size and intensity! Hooray!

We made it!

Our tiny little bundle of JOY is here! PUPPPs, it's time to take a hike!!

The story and more details to come later. 

On the home stretch...

Hello, fellow itchy people! 

I know my last post was about how everything was working well. It mostly still is. But something must have shifted hormonally, because one of my pesky patches of rash has flared up again in the last two weeks. It is SO itchy. 

I do wonder if it has so do with the fact that my 1 year old lost my bottle of essential oils for about 3 days. (I found it under her crib, between some toys!) Right after that stretch of having no oils for maintenance, the rash came back! That does seem like quite a coincidence, no?

Anyway, I'm enduring, because my due date is only 12 days away! We're almost there! Pretty soon, I will have a precious newborn in my arms and plenty of distraction from the itch. What a welcome event! 

I'm thinking about all you ladies out there on your own home stretches! Hang in there!

**Fall in my neck of the woods.**

Something Must Be Working

The blog has been quiet lately, hasn't it?

Well, it's because my rash is pretty much under control! It's hard for me to believe! I guess on my 4th pregnancy with this crazy condition, I've finally tweaked my routine to something that helps!

Here's a Link to my current treatment routine, in case you'd like to give it a try. I'm pretty sure my essential oil blend is the key to all, so here's a link to that Recipe. It's worth a try people!

I've got 4 and a half weeks left in this pregnancy, and then probably 2 more months of dealing with the rash. But the end is in sight! I sure hope all that I've learned helps some of you out there!

How often does PUPPPs reoccur??

In my perusal of what PUPPPs mommas are talking about on various sites, I've noticed that lots of us are concerned about getting the horrible rash again if they have more kiddos. It's a big deal! No one wants to face it again! I'm certainly not a good example, since I break all the typical PUPPPs "norms." (This is my 4th bout with PUPPPs for anyone not familiar with my story...)

But what does the research say? How likely is it really that you would get PUPPPs again with your next pregnancy? 

Well, mommas, be encouraged. It's pretty rare. Here's the scoop:

According to this study, they followed 19 patients for 6 years after their PUPPPs pregnancy, and none of them had a recurrence. 

In this study, only 3 out of 57 patients experience a recurrence. 

Those are the only articles I could find that cited actual numbers. However, I did read dozens more that simply stated that recurrence in subsequent pregnancies was rare. Mommas that get it again are the EXCEPTION to the rule. You can even see on the poll on the right side of my page (when viewing the web version, not the mobile version) that only 20% of voters have gotten it more than once. And that's NOT scientific data.

It would be great if we had more data to work with, but for now the research seems to show that you shouldn't be worried about getting it again. For most people, it's a one-time misery. 

PUPPPs Essential Oil Blend: Amazing Relief!

As some of you may have noticed, I've been working on researching and testing Essential Oils for PUPPPs relief for some time now. It was important to me to be comfortable with the oils I was using and to be familiar with how they worked before I spread the word. Here are a couple links about Essential Oil safety in pregnancy. (But PLEASE, simply consult your care provider before using Essential Oils while pregnant! My midwives have signed off on my blend, but you'll want to have that assurance from your own provider. Also, I would hold off using any Essential Oils until you're through your first trimester. That is when the risk is greatest for birth defects and miscarriage.)

- Is it safe to use essential oils while I'm pregnant?
- Essential Oils

I've been working on refining a special blend of essential oils for PUPPPs for over 3 months, and I think I have something pretty exciting! It hasn't completely cured my PUPPPs, but it has kept it so minimal that I consider it a practical cure. I am functioning again!

Like I said, I've been using and refining this blend for over 3 months. I am very impressed with the combination of immediate relief and healing relief. The cooling effect is amazing. It calms the itch immediately and much more effectively than ANY other product I've tried over my 4 experiences with PUPPPs. But on top of that, it appears to keep the inflammation at bay! I chose each oil in the blend for it's anti-inflammatory properties. I have seen two other blends out there for PUPPPs that seem to use oils traditional for itchy rashes. My blend focuses on inflammation. From all the research I've done, PUPPPs seems to be some kind of an inflammatory response.

Here's some pretty impressive proof of my relief!

These photos were taken 1 week apart. The first is my rash at it's worst for this pregnancy after 1 day of using the oil blend. Miserable. The second picture is after 1 week of using the oils, and the third is after 2 weeks of using the oils! The photos are NOT edited at all! The lighting difference is simply that the first picture was taken in the evening under artificial light, and the last two were taken in the morning in natural light. 

As I have posted about before, my rash is not completely gone. It seems to be on a monthly cycle. Once a month, it "peaks," and I develop a couple of small patches (1-2 inches across) of rash. The peak lasts roughly a week, and the oils seem to take it away! I have never been this functional with PUPPPs before! Not even with steroid use! You know I've tried it all!

I've decided to make my recipe available to all of you, because it has been SO VERY HELPFUL for me! It has been more effective than the STEROIDS were with Baby #3. I'm so impressed that it is competing with and even beating the big guns! 

Here is my Recipe for Anti-Inflammation Oil Blend:

Materials: Essential Oils, carrier oil, and 1 oz glass roll-on bottle.

(Click HERE for a link to these bottles, which I have been very happy with. Not ONE leak!)

Makes 1 oz of Oil Blend (which last 1-2 weeks, depending on the severity of my rash)

Ingredients:
Peppermint Essential Oil - 45 drops (This number is flexible! I find that I like a more intense cooling effect when my rash is at it's peak, thus 45 drops. However, in-between peaks, I often make the blend with only 30 drops. You can vary this to your preference!)
Lavender Essential Oil - 15 drops
Geranium Essential Oil - 15 drops
Frankincense Essential Oil - 12 drops
Myrrh Essential Oil - 12 drops
Ylang Ylang Essential Oil - 7 drops
Eucalyptus Essential Oil - 5 drops
Tea Tree Essential Oil - 5 drops
Organic Jojoba Oil - Approximately 3/4 Oz.

Directions:
Mix all the Essential Oils in a 1 oz roll on bottle, then add jojoba oil until bottle is full. Cap with roller top and start applying for immediate relief! Apply as needed. Note: Be sensible! PLEASE PLEASE test this blend on a small patch of skin first and avoid use in sensitive areas such as the groin, armpits, nipples, and mucous membranes. The oils are no joke, so be careful! Ask your doctor first before using Essential Oils in pregnancy!

My Happy Bottle of Sanity!

A note on purchasing Essential Oils:

They can be PRICEY! Two companies I am very pleased with are Plant Therapy (available on Amazon) and Beeyoutiful (available here). They have reasonable prices and a high quality product. (Note: I am not associated with either company. I'm just a fan.) I have done some reading on other popular companies, and while I believe they have quality products, I also believe they are over-priced. Please don't take offense if you are a loyal supporter of some particular brand! This is just my personal opinion.

Here is an article from the Beeyoutiful company that does a fantastic job explaining the ins & outs of essentials oil quality: Essential Oil Quality

Even with purchasing from companies with reasonable pricing, getting all the oils you need to make this blend is a financial investment. I have found it to be EXTREMELY worth the money, but I understand that some of you may be wary about spending a bunch of money not knowing if the oils will work for you. I am considering selling my oil blend on Etsy, just for some of you who want to be able to try it before making the plunge to buy all the oils. Is anyone interested in this? If I get a positive response, I'll get serious about setting up an etsy store!

UPDATE (November 1st, 2016): I'm riding out my 5th case of PUPPPs. My oil blend is still helpful for itch relief. I wanted to try making a blend that wasn't so oily, as it tends to make all my clothes oily. I whipped up a batch with witch hazel as the base instead of jojoba oil. My conclusions? It burns more, so don't use it in sensitive areas or on places you've scratched til they bleed. It'll hurt. And the relief doesn't seem to last quite as long. But I like alternating it with the oil-based blend. It cuts down on the greasy factor!

UPDATE #2: A fellow PUPPPs sufferer is selling my blend on Etsy! Find it here: OhioEssentials