What's Wrong with Your Feet?

The bile salt scare I had at 36 weeks has subsided except for one glaring fact: the topical steroid cream I was using on my feet has caused them to shed without end, like a snake replenishing itself.

I was shedding and scratching so much I couldn't take my feet in for their pedicure. My big toenails were dragon lady size and had torn into the skin on the opposite heel while I was in bed one night. I only caught this last weekend when my feet were so dry, it hurt to walk on them.

The wonders of Neosporin which brought the swelling down in the right foot after two days; and allowed me to take the feet in for a pedicure. There was also peeling on my hands but it was insignificant compared to what was going on down under.

The girl at the spa worked hard scrubbing them and I immediately went down the road to the store she recommended to pick up the foot scrub and pedicure instrument she used. She kept working and working, pulling away the skin. After the third time, she said:

"What's wrong with your feet madam?"

I laughed. Because when she first sat down, she had asked "Are you pregnant?" Which given the size of my 9 month belly, seemed an even sillier question.

"They are just peeling," I said, "but you are helping."

She shook her head and took out a pair of tiny scissors going all the way around to get the smallest pieces of skin.

My husband has had to put lotion on my feet every night just so it doesn't hurt to walk. All through our marriage he has given me "toesizes" or foot rubs and now in the home stretch they have become more vital than ever.

I used both the scrub and the pedicure peeler this morning in the shower and after an afternoon of walking around, there is a new layer of skin that needs to be removed.

I can't complain given what other women endure during pregnancy. And the size of my Shrek ankles - cankles - the books did warn me about. The fact my boobs are straining even my sports bras which up until now had been the most comfortable solution to wearing any kind of support all points to the day when our son will make his appearance.

Only he and God know exactly when that will be. In the meantime, the rest of us will have to wait (scratching and rubbing as there is no such thing as patience five days before a due date).