This Week in Mommyhood: the dreaded double D’s

I’d hinted about Bridget’s horrible diaper rash a few posts ago, but nothing could prepare you for what we had been dealing with for the past week. Ugh!

My next post will be a quick review of our Austin trip for our friend’s wedding, but for now, just know that the cool Texas capital is where the horror all began.

She starting have the 1st of her “d’s” (diarrhea) at the bar we stopped at on the way to the wedding (oh, did I need to say this was a Williams family event?). Yes, Pop was holding her and she leaked on his nice, crisp white button-up. Good thing it was right on the edge of the cuff. He was a great sport about it :). Too bad I had to remove her now-stained bloomers…ruining the outfit, if you ask me! (who am I now??) phew…I had a suitable back-up in the diaper bag. She had another blowout at the wedding. And another in the morning. And 3 on the drive home.

The 2nd D is starting to rear its ugly head (diaper rash) for very obvious reasons and we were fully prepared. Or so we thought. We had already promised a lake visit with Cory and couldn’t, in good conscience, back out. She we went…super fun for Jonathan, horrible for me (it just happens sometimes, ladies, right?). B was tired, I was tired, she didn’t feel good, Penny was about to drown from swim exhaustion…yada, yada, yada.

Doesn’t she look thrilled to be there?

Well, this was Saturday night and Sunday-Thursday were all pretty much AWFUL! Long story, Carmen and I put up with stuff (and I put in a call to the nurse, who recommended the BRAT diet –banana, rice/cereal, apples, toast – just as Carmen had already done) til Wednesday then I finally took her in. Doc said probably due to another ear infection, so it was time to visit the ENT to discuss tube surgery (upcoming post about this visit!). He prescribed an antibiotic (which didn’t make her diarrhea worse…surprising!) and Lotrimin for the rash and it started to dry up and get better after another 24 hours. Now, it still looks bad but I no longer have to put on Desitin every hour and wake her up twice in the night to change her. And she’s back on regular food!

Long story:

1.I will only use Desitin now and I’m out on Boudrouxs Butt Paste (BBP has worked just fine on mild rashes, but not on this one). That stuff literally glued her diaper to her butt (its SUPER sticky, for those who haven’t used it yet) and was super painful to get off…Desitin was much creamier.

2. I will never use Huggies again, if I can help it. I’m pretty sure those diapers made her rash worse, too. I bought some at CVS because they had a good deal going and I’m moving them to the “transition” diaper pile (ones I use between diaper/grocery runs). I’ve always said they were leaky (still true for us), but no they are also irritating to booties (Carmen agreed…she had to stop using them on her last 2 little ones due to irritation). I’m a Pampers mom, through and through. They’ve always been my favorite, anyway!!!

3. If a diaper rash is painful to the touch, it could be combined with a yeast infection (why we were asked to use Lotrimin). Also, don’t continue to use regular wipes if the rash is painful. Either use a regular towel with warm water or wash the wipes in the sink (what we did…worked great) to get rid of the excess chemicals. Even the “sensitive” wipes were too much for her :(

Here are a few pics of her little booty, but they certainly don’t do her any justice (these were taken on Thursday when the rash was still very red and blistery…that’s right, blisters…but dry and no longer painful). She was such a trooper through the whole thing. Still smiled, giggled, played, ate food, slept…no extra tears! The only time we knew she was uncomfortable was during diaper changing time…so sad :(

She loved getting her naked time, though!!! This really helped dry out the rash as lot. It’s not easy to keep the floor clean with a walking toddler (sniff, sniff…not a baby anymore) scurrying everywhere! And check out that butt…and that was the mild part, ‘cause it was on the back. Ugh. My poor little doodle bug :(.