ack, cen, tuate the positive...

E, lim, i, nate the negative...

(this week's mantra)

10 great things about this week:

1. my studio is finished and full of all of my stuff. I get to blissfully organize and put away my supplies all day, each day. I also get to actually work out here and it is all more than I could have ever imagined it to be. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my wonderful husband for building me something so special.

2. my husband finished his night class he was taking and his hockey league is over for now so I get to see him and snuggle with him all night, every night.

3. the lemon tart I am about to make.

4. yoga and being able to talk to other pregnant women about anything. I'm going to miss my prenatal class when I am no longer pregnant. We all keep joking that we're going to keep coming to class anyway. But I am looking forward to continuing with another yoga class, I think it'll be a life long relationship for me and yoga.

5. a clean kitchen and cooking dinners.

6. all of the irresistibly cute things I've been making for Ray. I bought a couple of Sublime Stiching's patterns and I can't stop. We've got embroidered blankets and burp cloths and onesies... Hey! maybe I'll post some photos. 

7. I'm getting very excited about this next little chapter in our lives. We're gonna have a baby!

8. rain followed by warm sunshine.

9. dare I say? a dialated cervix. Not by much, but at least we're heading in the right direction.

10. Being able to sleep through the night.

1 icky thing about this week:

I've got puppps.

And no, I don't mean lots of dogs, hence the extra p's.

PUPPP stands for "Pruritic Uticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy." In English, this means "really itchy rash gotten by pregnant women."

It blows. 

It started on my stomach, in my stretch marks and has now spread to the whole front and underside of my belly and onto my forearms, and I think it's creeping it's way onto my back. I hate rashes. I mean I really, really, really hate rashes. I used to get one around my nose and mouth when I was little and then just around my nose when I got older. Recently, my family discovered that cutting anything with Sodium Laurel Sulfate out of our lives was the answer and it has completely gone away. 

But back to my itchy belly, I hate rashes. 

And this one not only itches so bad that sometimes I forget to breathe but it is very unsightly. Just the thought of having a rash makes me itch all over so it is taking great feats of strength to not scratch myself silly. Supposedly they have no idea what causes it or why women get it but their latest theory is that you are allergic to your boys DNA. I guess only 1% of pregnant women get it and 70% of those women are carrying boys. Go figure. All I can say is that I am glad I did not get it sooner. It's supposed to get much better if not go away completely right after the baby is born (if you have a story to the contrary, please do not share. I am clinging on to the idea that it will go away when he is born).

So in the positive vain that I am trying to maintain: "Yay! Go me! I am Special!"

I found a great site for any fellow sufferers:

Naomi's PUPPP Page

Sometimes it's just comforting to know you're not the only one and {gasp} someone else has it worse off than you. Personally, Aveeno anti-itch cream and Vitamin E (straight outta the capsule) work the best to relive the itch and soothe the skin. That and wearing my husband's shirts so that there is no clinging.

You should see me today, I am a sight. 

I washed my hair before bed last night and now it has been sticking straight up all day in every which direction. I have on my husband's dingy white tee shirt (which I slept in) and some "I've definitely given up" black pants. Lucky for me I've been alone with my dogs all day and they like me "Au Naturale".

Now back to that lemon tart...

xo