In the first trimester of my pregnancy, the life inside you seems fragile and needs to be protected and the actual “birth” seems far away and TERRIFYING (well it did for me anyway). For the first trimester I had to avoid any reality shows that showed what happened in the delivery room – I was really scared, scared of the pain, scared of that big baby coming out of that tiny opening. Yes, the birthing bed seemed a horrifying place.

During the second trimester, as my bump grew I learned how to share my pregnancy. People asked questions, pregnancy was no longer something I could put on the back burner. Labor was still on the horizon but still far away and still a bit scary.

Near the end of my third trimester I went from “I’m scared of Labor” to “let’s get it done.” The closer we get to the end of this journey, the more uncomfortable I am. It’s harder and harder to get comfortable in bed, the baby doesn’t seem to have enough room in there and so he’s constantly moving and shifting trying to find a cozy spot. One night the baby was so restless, I didn’t think I would ever get to sleep and then Ben, my big snugly dog, put his head on my very pregnant belly and the most amazing thing happened – the baby settled down and went to sleep (so I did too shortly thereafter). Ben was definitely earning his keep!

A few days after my weekly check up I noticed that I had some sort of hives, everywhere. I was covered all over my body except for on my face and my palms! I even had them on the soles of my feet. In a panic I called the doctor’s office where I was diagnosed with PUPPS pregnancy rash. (PUPPS is a cute acronym for something that doesn’t feel very cute at all.) I was also told that I needed to avoid taking medication if at all possible.

The closest experience I’ve had to PUPPS outside of childhood illnesses are medication reactions, but even then you take meds and it’s over in a day or two. I went out and spent a small fortune on Oatmeal products to calm the itching, soaks, body wash, the whole nine yards. They all offered temporary relief but the itching always came back. I didn’t realize how much I relied on products like Benedryl for situations like this until that option was off the table.

Getting comfortable at night was hard before PUPPS, afterward it seemed almost impossible. I flopped and flipped and tried not to scratch all night long. I woke myself up rubbing my legs together like a cricket trying to stop the itching without actually scratching. It was awful, and then relief came from the most unlikely of places!

Beth had been nesting and reading all the appropriate books and so she and John put together and send me a package of goodies for my hospital stay. (Yes, there was a sweet card which caused me to cry – happy tears, just a little!) In that box she included Peppermint Foot Lotion. I laughed at the time, as I hadn’t really seen my feet in weeks, but I still put some on my feet almost immediately. (I love that peppermint smell!)

I was curled up on the sofa reading when I realized something – my feet weren’t itching. I slathered myself in the peppermint foot lotion and almost immediately two things happened. The first was that I started to feel like I had a chill, something about peppermint oil was apparently cooling. More importantly though, the itching seemed to go away!

The next day I sent Beth a jubilant email, thanking her so much and telling her about how her Peppermint Foot lotion was my miracle cure! I could almost hear her laughter when she emailed me back to tell me how happy she was to have given me some relief. I was covered almost head to toe in Peppermint Lotion and feeling better than I had since the emergence of those wretched PUPPS!

I felt so much better I forgot completely about them, until Tim came into my office and after a few minutes of chatting he asked -

“Do you smell peppermint?”

I laughed.

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