Mysterious rash

About 2 and 1/2 weeks ago I developed a rash. It started just below my collar bone and spread very quickly over my neck, face, upper chest and arms. At first we were concerned that it was Chicken Pox, as the red marks were beginning to form tiny blisters and getting very painful and itchy. And since I don't have a regular doctor we went to our local Urgent Care center.

The doctor at Urgent Care was unable to confirm Chicken Pox, and was unsure what else it could be. So I was given a referral to a Dermatologist. I would have to wait 2 days for an appointment, but that would at least give the rash time to develop more and make confirmation of Chicken Pox easier. That night (2nd night with the rash) I started having quiet a bad fever. We never took my temperature, but it definitely got high enough to concern Rob. We were sure that whatever was causing the rash I was ill, and Rob stayed home from work to look after me and the boys.

After the 2 day wait it was finally time to see the Dermatologist. It was not Chicken Pox, and he didn't think it was anything contagious. However what else it could be was a mystery. He took 2 biopsies to send for testing and ordered a long list of blood tests. He seemed to think that the rash was a photosensitive reaction due to the rash only being present on skin that is normally sun exposed. I was prescribed an anti-viral and an antibiotic as a precaution and Prednisone for the actual rash. I was them instructed to keep my skin completely covered when outside in daylight. I live in South Florida. The sun shines almost all year here, and it rarely gets cold enough to wear more than a t-shirt. I owned 1 long sleeved maternity shirt, and yet I was supposed to stay covered up.

I started the medications, went shopping for a few extra tops and light-weight scarves and started trying to avoid the sun. After the weekend I went for the blood tests. The rest was a waiting game.

Last Monday I went back to the Dermatologist to have the stitches removed from the biopsies, and to find out my test results. The stitches were removed easily, but the test results were not. After being kept waiting for an hour and a half I finally saw the doctor. Other than showing the anemia that I already knew about (I've been anemic for over 10 years) none of the tests could show any cause for my rash. The doctor had asked the pathologist to carry out some more detailed studies on my biopsies, but that would take more time.

The one thing that the biopsy did show, as explained by the doctor, was that the type of dermatosis (medical term for the rash) I had was neutrophilic, although there was no sign of infection (or bacteria induced dermatosis.) This basically means that they do not know exactly what has caused the rash. It is probably not linked to my pregnancy, but they cannot be completely sure of that unless they can identify an actual cause.

So we continue to wait for the new detailed biopsy results, and meanwhile hope that the rash doesn't flare back up.

A Day of Trim Healthy Mama in Photos

Yesterday I decided to photograph everything I ate. It was an S day, but as you will see there was plenty of food and I never got hungry all day long.

Oopsie Rolls, fresh from the Oven (you'll see me use these for lunch)

Breakfast, Eggs scrambled in coconut oil with a fresh sliced tomato & sauteed onion, pepper & mushroom.

Oopsie Rolls filled with creamy Tuna Mayo & Cheese for a filling sandwich.

My favorite snack, Greek yogurt with a dash of vanilla, shake of Nustevia and a few chopped strawberries.

Dinner, Crockpot Chicken Alfredo (homemade sauce) with sauteed green beans & onions and a small spoon of Dreamfields Pasta. This was so much food that I actually couldn't eat the whole serving.

Chocolate Nut Slab, made as individual truffles with crushed Pecans instead of peanuts. Rob & I had a few of these with a cup of decaf after we had the boys safely tucked up in bed for the night.

As you can see there is no going without on this Trim Healthy Mama journey. I never felt hungry the whole day, and couldn't finish my dinner as it was so much food. Everything was wonderfully tasty, some of it even a little decadent, but all of it within plan.

I'll try to take photos again when we have an E day, as it was really fun to see just how wonderful all this lovely tasty food can be.

Trim Healthy Mama Tuesday, Week 1

So I've been walking the Trim Healthy Mama journey for a week. That is a week of delicious healthy food in abundance with no guilt about what it is doing to my weight.

I started this journey at 18 weeks pregnant and 198lbs. That was up 9lbs during the first trimester from all the carbs I ate to stave off the all day nausea. Once the nausea lifted at 12 weeks I stopped gaining and my weight remained the same for the next 6 weeks. Then I started my THM journey. Even though I'm not aiming to loose weight at this point, just to keep it to a healthy gain for growing this baby, I am now down a lb. So I now weigh 197lbs.

At only 5ft 2in my end goal weight (pregnancy not included) is going to be somewhere in the region of 120lbs. I know that is a long term goal and I am in no hurry to get there, especially as I won't actually be starting the weight loss part of this journey until after the baby has arrived in May.

Right now I'm getting used to thinking about S & E for meals and snacks, enjoying the lovely Fuel Pull sweet treats as snacks, and balancing in a few crossovers each week to keep my weight healthy for the growing baby.

Right now I'm loving S meals on week days, as I am finding those easier to get to grips with, and they help my pregnant body with the insulin resistance that is more common during gestation. The crossovers are looking like they will be more easy to integrate during the weekends when my wonderful husband is home all day.

So far my favorite foods have been Fuel Pull snacks. I made the Lemon Mousse and the Choco Pudding this past weekend. Rob really enjoyed the Choco Pudding, as did my two toddlers. Aiden liked it so much he cried when we told him it was time to leave the table, and this from a 2 year old who is usually the first one to ask to leave the table. I was looking forward to enjoying the Lemon Mousse to myself, as I made is quite tart to suit my own taste. However I forgot to factor on the toddlers both having a rule that whatever mama eats must also be eaten by them, so I'm now sharing the Lemon Mousse too. I just want to say here that I think glucomannan is our new favorite ingredient to have in our kitchen.

My other go to snack, and one I was having even before I got the book, when I was just picking up tips from the Facebook page, is Greek yogurt with a dash of vanilla extract, half a sachet of Truvia and a few strawberries. I had been trying to keep to the Brewer's Pregnancy Diet as I did with my previous pregnancies, and it recommended drinking lots of milk. However during that first trimester where I always bloat up by about 10lbs I found this time that drinking milk was making me more constipated, so I switched to Greek yogurt for some of the dairy requirements. However it has taken me until this week to realize that the way I'm eating the yogurt puts it in Fuel Pull territory.

I know that once I'm ready to loose weight postpartum Fuel Pulls will be a good friend to me, but right now I need to balance them out a little more so I don't loose too much and hinder my growing baby's development. I will be interested to see how much being a THM effects this baby's birth weight. My boys were both big babies at birth, with Aiden arriving at 8lb7oz and Seth arriving at 9lb8oz. I did Rob even before we got pregnant this time that I'd love to have a baby that actually looked like a newborn rather than a 3 month old.

So, while it is still very early days and we are still making baby steps to integrate this new way of eating, I am still very encouraged. We are eating lots of really tasty food, and I never feel hungry.

My tip of the week. I've started to think of the "junk" carbs I used to eat in terms of how my pancreas sees it. Now when I see an advert for potato chips (or other snack) I just tell myself that its a spoonful of sugar. All the pasta, pizza dough, bread products that used to dominate my diet, just a spoonful of sugar to my body. I wouldn't just stick a spoonful of sugar in my mouth, so why put in foods that are just as bad for my blood sugar levels?

Trim Healthy Mama

I recently joined a Facebook page for the book Trim Healthy Mama, then just a few days ago my copy of the book also finally arrived in the mail.

I'm still working my way through the book, but so far I have been both encouraged and inspired.

The book is written by 2 sisters, both of whom are mama to many children, and both of whom have had their own "diet" challenges over the years. They write with a humor and honesty that is refreshing and open. They have very different approaches to food, but agree on the basic principles of this book. This isn't just another "diet book" or a quick fix to weight issues. It is a philosophy of food that is both healthy and sustainable.

Their key to being a trim healthy mama is to control insulin spikes by how we eat, and to keep the metabolism high with variety. The main focus, especially when there is excess weight to loose, is to separate high fat foods from high carbohydrate foods. Protein is included in all meals and snacks, but this isn't a high protein diet either.

As a "Whole Grain Jane" I've watched my weight rise my entire adult life, even though I was eating whole foods. I knew I ate too many grains, but had no idea just what those grains were doing to me that made weight control such a problem.

So I am joining the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle. At 18 weeks pregnant and over 70lbs overweight this is going to be an interesting journey. One I know I am not taking alone. I hope that as I walk this journey others will be encouraged and inspired to join in too. The best part is I've nothing to loose except those excess pounds.

So I will be blogging once a week as accountability to see how I am progressing, and hopefully linking up with other blogging mamas who are also taking this journey.