PUPPP is back

The PUPPP is back. It's not nearly as bad as the first time, thanks to powerful Atarax antihistamines, but it's all over my belly, my arms and now starting to hit my legs. I'm doing everything in my will power not to scratch and slathering on calamine lotion, avoiding showers for as long as possible, and distracting myself with work (and blog writing).


I worry about the effect the antihistamines will have on the baby-boy, but I in weighing the pros/cons, I just figure that my sanity is a better deal for the little one than constant crying and who knows what hormones go with the insanity of itchiness. So it is what it is. I hope that a few nights of being virtually passed out will help it to pass and then I can go back to the no-pill routine. 


It seems like there are some other symptoms that come with PUPPP, though I can't find anything online about it. The tiredness/exhaustion may be part of it because now that it's broken out, I feel less exhausted. And I also seem more prone to headaches when it breaks out. This could just be partly due to my crap sinuses, of course, which have not stopped being congested since pregnancy started and worsened with the cold/dry air (it's -18C this morning). I'm also wondering if low-blood pressure is related or not. I seem to get that now and again; yesterday I thought I might pass out in the middle of Walmart when we were buying new blinds for our bedroom. Someone REALLY needs to do a study on this stuff, and I cannot fathom why the medical profession seems so lackluster in this area. Maybe I need to be the one to start the study, just like Temple Grandin (GREAT film by the way, if you haven't seen it yet - we got it out on DVD because my back can no longer handle 2 hours of sitting in theatre seats).


Other than the occasional itch that distracts me, I've managed to keep my energy up for work these last two days. I actually went into the office. I think the face-to-face people engagement is helpful in general. My department chair must think so too, because as we are experiencing a governance crisis at the university (with all the negative media attention that comes with it), he asked me to help put some slides together for yesterday's department meeting so that we can shape an appropriate response to the university's board of governors, as many other departments have already done. 


Being at the business school, and being the management department, and therefore supposed experts at governance, this makes for tricky discussion and construction of an appropriate paragraph. Which showed in yesterday's meeting where, not unexpectedly, many different opinions were voiced and we were not able to come up with a motion. However, I was asked to help frame the actual wording of a statement that will be discussed and voted on next week. It's kind of scary being the "expert governance person" in the department, only having been there 18 months and probably the least politically inclined person in the department. But I got an encouraging note from someone in the department today that it was a fantastic presentation (I only had 4 slides), and that I seem to have mastered the art of doing so without taking sides. I try.


Other than that, we had an hour of excitement this morning: our power went out, and it's -18C (-4F) outside. Needless to say, hubby was beside himself and in contingency planning overdrive. Everything in our house runs on electric, so no heat, no stove, not even a way to get the car out of the next-door building's garage. One of his main concerns was the need to go to Ikea because he's doing his exhibition next week and needs a whole bunch of frames. Luckily, the power came back on shortly after and I was happy because I got to make my half-caf and eat breakfast. 


On today's to-do list: gym, followed by household chores, and then my brother's arrival this evening. Cool.