When we came home from France, there were two dead birds in our house. One was in the entryway, the other upstairs in our bedroom. I checked every single door and window, and all were closed and sealed tight. I have NO idea how these birds got into the house.
Mystery #2: Itchy Rash
I got a strange, horribly itchy rash when I was in France. I visited the doctor twice, took 3 prescription & 2 OTC medications, and spent almost 2 weeks in misery before it started to clear up. I suspect it was an allergic reaction (possibly a photoallergic eruption) to a sunscreen. Here are my reasons:
- the reaction showed up only where I applied sunscreen (face, arms, chest, and back of the neck) but not on any other part of my body
- the reaction wasn't immediate
- I got a rash, which took a few days to appear, when I applied sunscreen to my torso as an initial test
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| look at those lovely original "tomette" tiles in our apartment! |
A rash started appearing 2-3 days later in the top circle, where I had applied Equate Kids Lotion. I compared its ingredients against the other two products I did not react to, but I wasn't much closer to a solution. Each sunscreen had 20-30 ingredients and very few were the same! I haven't solved this one entirely, but I've been staying away from any Wal-Mart brand sunscreens. So far haven't had any reactions to Coppertone brands.
Mystery #3: Early Miscarriage?
The day we flew home from France, my period was due to start. I had saw some red spotting before I got on the plane and figured that was it. But then, for the next 6 days, I only had very light spotting. I figured it had been a really weird period.
Then a week after I got home, I got a really heavy period. Torrential is a better word. I was completely filling a Diva Cup every 2-3 hours. My flow continued for 9-10 days, and spotting continued almost until the 14th day.
I took a pregnancy test a few hours before the heavy flow began. It was negative, but that doesn't really prove anything either way. I strongly suspect this was an early miscarriage based on the timing and volume; my cycle is always regular within +/- 1 day.
So, what do you think about these three unsolved mysteries? Any additional ideas?
Could the birds have entered your home through a chimney?
ReplyDeleteWe do have 2 fireplaces, but they're both blocked in.
DeleteI had a weird period last month too. ALMOST THE SAME EXACT actually. I thought possible miscarriage but how will we ever know for sure. I also took the test with super light spotting it was negative and then a day and a half later the super period (Ill call it) showed up.
ReplyDeleteDo you know you ovulated? I had a "period" like that one cycle which ended up being annovulatory. When I finally ended up bleeding it was like that. If you took a first response/ high sensitivity test and it was neg (and of course, don't know if you ovulated for sure or not) I would tend to think it was an annovulatory bleed.
ReplyDeleteTwo thoughts on #3. I had one early miscarriage where I got a positive test and started bleeding the same day. It was like you said - very heavy and very long. However, that's also how my first period (or two) is after it resumes from breastfeeding, and with each passing child, it gets worse. With #3 (pregnancy #5), the first period back at 10 months PP was so awful that I had to go back to the Depends I had left over from lochia (I'm also a very heavy/long lochia mama - this time peek-a-boo bleeding for 10 weeks). So it doesn't solve your mystery at all, but I'd guess either early miscarriage or hormones still trying to regulate with your cycles coming back and still nursing.
ReplyDeleteThis was my third postpartum period, and the other two were normal and on time. Just weird all around!
DeleteIf your period was a week late you would have been between 4-6 weeks pregnant, depending on when you ovulated/conceived, and even the day you started to miscarry, your hormone levels should have been high enough to detect with a home test. It's probably more likely the travel (since you were in France around the time you would have ovulated, right?) delayed things and your lining had more time to build up.
ReplyDeleteCould the flights and changing time zones/sleep patterns have affected your cycle? Or perhaps the rash- maybe that affected your cycle?
ReplyDeleteAs for the birds... that's all kinds of creepy. Sounds like something out of a thriller hehehe
Maybe the birds got in when you were loading the car up before the trip?
ReplyDeleteRixa, have you heard of the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep report? It's a cosmetics database that lists ingredients and ranks according to potential toxicity. I looked up the sunscreen you thought was causing a problem and it is 6 out of 10 in its hazard rating. Depending on the Coppertone product you're using, it could be ranked as high as a 9. Yikes! I never buy any sunscreen or other cosmetics without first checking there. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
ReplyDeleteOur favorite sunscreen, by the way, is Badger Balm (which score zero for hazards). It's a little pricier but it's worth it to me and I have found that it lasts a lot longer than expected (I'm still using the same tube from last summer and we live on an island). http://www.badgerbalm.com/
Amber
http://www.amber-hinds.com
My son and I are very sensitive - to sunscreen, detergent, shampoo etc. He used to run away/cry when I put sunscreen on him & I thought it was b/c he just didn't like it (I don't either). Once he was verbal, he told me it hurt. I tried it and it did really sting. That had never occurred to me as it was a baby, "sensitive skin", formulation. It gets a horrible rating on the EWG site (it was Banana Boat).
ReplyDeleteOnce I realized we had to change, we used CA Baby for a while, but it was just so expensive. We're very fair, and live on the lake, so sunscreen is a must most days. Then I found Coppertone Sensitive Skin which gets almost as good a rating as CA Baby, is easier to find, and is much more affordable...
I live in Germany, so the range of sunscreen products are different here. On a trip to the US last year, I borrowed a friend's banana boat sun screen, and it burned! I use something called Lavera here. It is a natural brans, a bit pricer, but it works and doesn't sting
DeleteI had the same type of bleeding as you after having light, regular periods. Drugstore pregnancy test said “no” but I knew a blood test would tell me. I had to know. So I went to my OB and had a blood test. Turned out that I had been pregnant. I am glad I found out. I mourned the loss but I at least knew what was going on and that gave me peace of mind.
ReplyDeleteMel, I am strongly convinced this wasn't just a weird cycle, but that it was a really early miscarriage (similar to your situation) because I've never had anything like it, ever. I'm okay not knowing and honestly this early on I don't feel sad (except I would have been excited to be pregnant again, of course).
Delete1. Could the birds have possibly gotten in before you left?
ReplyDelete2. Super disappointing that the sunscreen marketed to kids gave you the reaction.
3. Do you know what the HCG cutoff was with the test you used? With my early loss (6 to 6.5 weeks) -- I got a positive home test (first response early response) even after the bleeding was over (even with no retained tissues -- HCG as tested by blood draw after that went down and down to 2 on its own in about 4 days), but that might be due to a difference in how far along we would have been, even though both were early losses.
I second the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep - the website is terrific and I have found it helpful when picking products.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog - I found your birth stories so inspiring! thanks for sharing.
Could the birds have gotten in from the attic? Oven vent/hood?
ReplyDeleteWhat about a washer or dryer vent? Small birds can shove through really tiny spaces that you'd never imagine!
ReplyDeleteWhat about a washer or dryer vent? Small birds can shove through really tiny spaces that you'd never imagine!
ReplyDeleteHave you been eating limes? There are some photo-sensitive foods....my daughter had a rash in the spring and I came across some wierd rashes...a bartender who cut a lot of limes...but I think there is a medication that's also taken at the same time and it's a wierd inter-action....
ReplyDeleteWe've had birds nest in the stove vent. The little covers that have 4 (or so) flaps, do not stop birds from squeezing in.