Now it's PUPPP

This pregnancy is much more eventful than my first. With my first, I practically sailed through the whole thing. No contractions, no aches, no pain, no cravings, no drama. What little symptoms I had were a form of entertainment for YL - a swollen red nose and pig's feet (sort of a composite of Rudolph and Babe). I was mobile with the agility that befits a 29 year old.

This second time is different. Does four years older really make you four times less fit? These last 6 months were filled with backaches, fatigue, minor ailments, clumsiness, bloatedness, loss of appetite, poor quality of sleep, atrocious memory, and overall INCREASE in size.

I am so big now even my maternity clothes don't fit. My stomach juts out such that my tops can't cover the whole stomach. So strangers on the streets and colleagues in the office get a nice view of the lower part of my shiny round belly every now and then.

I also now officially waddle. It's embarrasing and robbed me of my last shred of dignity, but I'm just-too-heavy to care!

Early in my second trimester, I was diagnosed with placenta previa. Fortunately the situation corrected itself in the subsequent weeks, but then baby's kidneys were found to be borderline large, so we have to monitor the situation post-delivery. And now, well into my 3rd trimester, I've just discovered I've got PUPPP. Here's what some websites have to say about it:

"Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP), also known as polymorphic eruption of pregnancy, is the most common rash in pregnant women. It normally occurs in first pregnancies during the third trimester with an average onset of 35 weeks. Thankfully, PUPPP does not usually affect subsequent pregnancies.

A rash of PUPPP almost always begins in the stretch marks (striae) of the abdomen. The rash itself consists of small, red wheals in the stretch marks that grow together to form larger wheals on the abdomen. Over the next several days, the rash can spread over the thighs, buttocks, breasts, and arms.

The rash is very itchy, or pruritic, hence the name. This condition is harmless to mother and baby, but can be very annoying. It lasts an average of 6 weeks and resolves spontaneously 1 to 2 weeks after delivery. The most severe itching normally lasts for no more than 1 week.

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."


Carrying a boy is indeed different from carrying a girl.