Purpose of this blog

Hello Everyone,
I have such a response to my post on my other blog. I have heard from so many women who have had similar experiences-to a greater or lesser extent. With every women I come in contact with I am amazed at how many of us are out there.
Starting this blog was suggested to me and after thinking about it, I think it is needed. A single place where we can all share our stories. Share our problems. Let each other know what is working for us, and then one day help the medical community find the answer to why and hopefully help.
As I receive stories, updates, and info that I find or are given I will post them here. If you have anything to share you can email me at judeebeeforme@yahoo.com
Please become a follow if you have had, are having, or know someone who has had this problem.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Baby #4 is a year

I haven't posted much and I am sorry. Baby number for came a year ago. I only had a few of times where I actually had hives after he was born. I itched *A LOT* but there was no breakouts, occasionally just a couple localized hives. We've nursed this time around too. My milk supplies have been good. This baby has been a really good nurser too. It is a baby boy.
Theories on why I have had hives less with each baby:
1- I have been limiting environmental factors that I know cause me allergy problems. Taking these proactive steps I think contributes to my diminished reactions.
2- I also believe that having my children closer together has helped my body and immune system "remember" and react less each time. After my twins were born I had some hives, but it was more on the level of the reactions I was having near the end of nursing my first child. By the time I stopped nursing I was having a few breakouts but never full blown. Then with this baby it has been hardly anything to be concerned about. I haven't even been taking the medications.
3- Along the lines of having the children close together so my body is remembering, my body my be building tolerance to the offending enzymes. This principal is build upon the theory that allows getting allergy shots and treatments work. By exposing your body to the offending enzymes, you are teaching your body what is okay for it to allow and you build up a tolerance. Until the point that you can eat that food, or hang round that plant or animal.

As I have wrote so many times, There is so much we are still learning about immune systems. Not only are we still learning we have also learned that although the major ways our bodies respond is similar we each respond to different things and for different reasons. Since each person is so different narrowing down causes especially when the party is a pregnant or nursing female makes research even more difficult. What we do know is that pregnancy and having a baby changes your body chemistry and can change what your body reacts to. Through sharing my experiences with women, many have shared their stories with me. Some of hives, but some of "all of the sudden" being allergic to new things in their lives (ie their pet, their favorite lotion or shampoo, finding a laundry detergent unusable anymore, finding foods they are now allergic to but use to be able to eat just find)- all shortly after having a baby. Most of these women had doctors that told them it was all in their heads or that they probably would have developed that allergy regardless of  having a baby. There is research to back US up. Immunological changes can and do happen after being pregnant. You are not crazy.

I have a couple final things to say in advice.
1- don't allow others to think your crazy, pregnancy and changing immune systems is a thing.
2- But keep an open mind. I didn't think that environmental factors were playing a part in my hives, But upon finding treatments we learned that my environmental factors were causing my outbreaks to be worse.
3- Don't make your mind up that your hives or allergies are caused by X. Again this is keeping an open mind. Do not go blaming that you used drugs (epidural or others) during delivery as the reason, on the flip side don't blame that you had a natural birth either. Don't blame nursing, or not nursing. Don't blame having gestational diabetes. Don't blame that your baby was a boy or that it was a girl. I have heard all these things *blamed*.  It is true that any of these things could have been a factor but the chances are they are nothing more than a factor in a sea of many factors. As humans we want to find reasons for causes and we want to blame things, but in the end blaming those things aren't helping you or anyone else. If you are really concerned then try to do it differently the next time you have a baby, chances are though if you're going to react to something it will happen either way. If you fixate on one thing causing your allergies- doctors will categorize you as crazy and stop listening to you.
4- Find ways to live life and don't dwell on it. I am a huge believer in that things are always worse when we are dwelling on it. I believe that this last baby it has also be less is I have 4 kids who need a ton of my time. I don't have time to dwell and worry about why I have hives. I notice them and move on because I need to live life and take care of my children.

Good luck to all of you suffering. I look forward to the day of science fiction science where a drop of blood can tell a doctor everything we could ever want to know about our bodies. Until then God bless each of you- I hope you find relief.