Summer Bostock was diagnosed with the painful condition polymorphic eruption of pregnancy (PEP) while pregnant with her son Izaiah. She woke up at 30 weeks during a normal pregnancy with new lines on her expanding stomach.
She thought they were stretch marks, a normal – but “unfair” – symptom of growing a baby.
But the marks didn’t stop on the Brisbane mum’s belly. The red blotches spread up her back and down her legs, soon covering her entire body and becoming increasingly painful.
A visit to her doctor revealed a strange and unexpected diagnosis.
“The doctor said, ‘you’re basically allergic to your baby’,” Summer says.
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“It was so, so itchy. I was in agony”
Shocking pictures show the horrific extent of the 29-year-old’s allergy, which occurred virtually overnight a month-and-a-half before her first child, Izaiah, was due.
“I woke up to heaps of stretch marks. I just thought it was normal – but pretty unfair,” she says.
“Then, suddenly, there were more lines. They started to rise and a rash appeared.”
Summer, from Queensland, Australia, and her husband Daniel, an IT professional, were overjoyed when she found out she was expecting Izaiah.
She had a regular pregnancy until she awoke one morning and found fresh lines on her enlarged tummy.
When the markings began to itch, she went to her doctor, who prescribed a calming lotion and a mild steroid.
Summer’s oatmeal bath, however, was ineffective. So she went back to her doctor four weeks later, who prescribed additional ointment, which failed to relieve the itching once more.
“It had really flared up,” she said. “It was so, so itchy. I was in agony.”
“I couldn’t even have showers, because the touch of the water against my skin was too much”
After investigating her daughter’s symptoms online, her worried mother, Kym Holwerda, feared polymorphic eruption of pregnancy (PEP), a persistent hives-like rash that affects certain women during pregnancy.
Doctors verified the diagnosis but indicated there was nothing they could do because the illness was self-limiting.
“By this point, I couldn’t even have showers, because the touch of the water against my skin was too much,” Summer says.
“I would vomit, the itching was so intense, and at night I couldn’t sleep, I’d just cling to Daniel’s hands.”
By 37 weeks pregnant the pain was so intense she was admitted to Redlands Hospital in Cleveland, Brisbane.
“The medical staff crowded around me, as they hadn’t seen a case so bad before,” she recalled.
“They looked after me, but were also fascinated.”
Four days later, on January 20, 2012, Izaiah, now five, was born via C-section. Her little boy’s heart rate started dropping during labour, although this wasn’t linked to the rash.
As soon as her little boy was born, the rash started to disappear
It’s believed Summer had an extreme case of the pre-natal condition, polymorphic eruption of pregnancy (PEP) which, while harmless to mum and baby, caused the expectant mum agonising pain.
“As soon as he arrived, the rash started to clear,” Summer says.
“By the next day, it had virtually gone. So, yes, I was actually allergic to my boy.”
“Since having Izaiah, I’ve seen other examples of PEP, but none as bad as mine.”
“It’s only when I see the pictures I remember the pain he caused me”
Despite her negative experience, Summer fell pregnant again, twice with two more sons.
Although it is believed that PEP is more common in expectant mums carrying boys, as there may be a link to testosterone, she was fine with her second and third boys, Elijah, three, and Josiah, one.
Now, she cannot believe her eldest caused her such agony.
“It’s only when I see the pictures I remember the pain he caused me,” she says. “Then it all comes flooding back, never again.”
PEP, also known as PUPPP (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy), has an unknown origin. Higher maternal weight growth during pregnancy increased birth weight, and sex hormones have all been linked in studies, although this has yet to be established.
It is thought to be related to the stretching of the skin on the abdomen. Somehow the rash develops as a sort of “allergy” to the stretch marks and spreads elsewhere on the body.
It is most common in a first pregnancy, when the abdomen is tightest and develops late in pregnancy.