eczema = yuck!

Well, I havent really said much about Bens skin lately, mainly because it has been so frustrating and all consuming that when ive sat down to blog, Its been the last thing i wanted to talk about. But, because things are looking up and we see some light at the end of the tunnel, i will fill you all in. As i posted earlier, we took him to the iridologist when we were in TX and felt very positive about it all. His skin started to clear up and then got worse and then just kept getting worse. He rarely slept through the night because he would wake up just scratching the heck out of his skin. We would put him in the footed jammies to keep him away from his legs, but then he would scratch his arms. And if we put him in regular jammies, he would scratch his legs, and when he scratched his legs, i mean he pretty much scratched them raw. It was pretty scary looking and just flat painful looking. I guess the good thing is is that he never seemed to be in constant pain, just when he was scratching. But if finally got to the point where he was scratching more and more and it was obviously getting out of control. It was all over his legs, arms and starting to get on his face and neck. So, the doctor that david has used since living here is Dr. Strong, and he is an allergy specialist. We decided to make an appointment to get some testing on Ben to see exactly what he's allergic to and eliminate that or those things from his body and see if that could be the cause of his eczema (which is probably pretty likely). I called this past monday and they couldnt get him in till next wednesday (i think he sets aside longer times for the allergy consultation). I felt good about that, but in the meantime Ben was still scratching like crazy. My mother in law(she knows the staff really well there) offered to go in with me tuesday morning at 8:30 to see if they could just give him something to calm it down until we could get some more answers. Im so thankful to have had her with me, it was a big comfort and help. Anyways, dr. strong looked at it and said it was definitely eczema, severe eczema. He gave him a steriod shot to just calm it down and get it under control and then put him on an antibiotic just in case there was any infection and then prescribed a cream for when he gets off the antibiotic that will relieve inflamation and itching. Ben hasnt scratched since that appointment!!! His skin still looks a little yucky, but its obvious that its healing. Before it had a pocky look to it and would ooze and then crust over and scab where he scratched it to bleeding. Now its smooth and you can see the sores are healing and im sure some scarring, so its still red. But its pretty amazing how much it has healed in 2 days. Its so nice to not have to watch him every second of the day to make sure hes not scratching and just for him to not be miserable. It just feels good to have some relief, mostly for him, but for me too, it was starting to take a toll on me. I had a couple break downs after a couple of huge fits of him scratching it raw (im sure these pregnancy hormones dont help either). But, thats where we are right now, i will update after we get the allergy testing done.

On Abby news, I went to the doctor on tuesday afternoon (it was just a day full of doctors). It was just an appointment with the ultrasound tech. I got to see our sweet little girl. Shes growing soo much! I remember when i first was pregnant you could see her whole little body on the screen and now you can just see her head. Everything looked good. I also got my glucose screening test results back (high blood sugar test) and everything was normal. I had a feeling it was, but they just wanted to make sure. I go back to the dr. on the 1st and then ill start going every week until she gets here! I cant believe im almost done, it really seems like this pregnancy has flown by. I can definitely tell im at the end though, im really losing steam. I cant seem to get the energy to finish up her room, much less finish my chores around the house. I get bursts of energy here and there and get things done, but not enough to get it all done. I guess it will still be there tomorrow...

The weather has taken a change for the worst...its hot...already...like in the 100's hot. We got a nice little cool spell just a couple days ago though, and it was windy today, so maybe it will cool it off just a tad for a day or 2. Im just glad im only going to be pregnant at this very first part of summer, and not all the way through. Im really looking forward to Abbys arrival, cause that also means my momma is coming!!! And probably Bets and HOPEFULLY my dad (hint hint to my dad) My mom is planning on spending 2 weeks with us, and i couldnt be happier. She will get to spend some special time with Ben (who adores her) and some special time with our little Abby girl. Plus she will be able to help me make the transition from having 1 kid to 2...which im honestly a little nervous about...not so much taking care of them, just being able to give them both the attention they need without one feeling neglected. Anyways, im getting excited!

I think ive made this post long enough. I didnt realize how late it was. David got called out on a job. Like i said, its windy, and appearantly the sign at Dennys was about to fall off and they needed someone to come weld it back for them. Stinks that he had to go out so late, but i guess the overtime is nice. Hope everyone has a good rest of the week!