FYI another thing new mothers need to be aware of

As if we don't have enough to worry about, I just found out the hard way that postpartum women can develop new allergies.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/536031-allergies-after-giving-birth/

This morning, I woke up to change and feed Sophia. As soon as my eyes opened, I noticed one of my fingers was itchy and another spot between two other fingers was also. I figured it was just dry skin from extra hand washing before handling baby and after diaper changes. I put some lotion on then changed her diaper. I noticed the itching started getting worse and spreading slightly. I put her on my boob to eat and within 30 seconds both of my hands were itchy beyond belief. I was trying to ignore it so I can finish feeding her and then I was going to go see if we had anything in the medicine cabinet (we don't tend to take OTC meds that often so they usually expire before we can finish them). It got worse and worse as little one was truly dawdling through her meal (of course). Luckily I left the monitor on so I called to my husband to grab a pumped bottle from the fridge to finish feeding her and I promptly found some hydrocortizone cream but no allergy meds. By that point my feet started to itch. I slathered on the cream then looked up what OTC meds are safer to take while breastfeeding. It was over an hour until the local CVS opened (one of the longest hours in my life). He went out and got me some regular clariten (class B med). By the time he got home my hands has swelled a bit, too. Luckily, the clariten seems to have done the trick and I will call my OB to leave a message later (I don't see him for another two weeks).

After asking some of my friends on FB, I found out that it's not unheard of to develop a new allergy after giving birth. The only two things I can think of in my case is that I either got bit by something overnight (though I don't see any evident stings/bite marks) or I developed an allergy to apples which I haven't eaten in over a year (I ate one late last night before going to bed). Apparently, food allergies sometimes don't trigger symptoms immediately. Luckily, it didn't progress to anaphylaxis but it was certainly a heck of a lot worse than any allergic reaction I had in the past. I'm going to avoid apples for the time being and vacuum up the bedroom really good in case there is a little bugger hiding out to feast on me again.

I just wanted to make you all aware of this. It really sucked big time!