It wasn't solids and I didn't change my diet. I had always eaten diary, soy, eggs, the sorta foods breastfeeding mothers cut out when their babies develop eczema. If I were to guess, it's teething that caused the mayhem. While the redness and itchy skin was at its peak, Edie was warm from head to toe and she is usually a cool baby. She didn't have a fever but just felt like a little heat pad in our 23 degrees home.
At the peak of the flare up, her face was red and bumpy. No matter how short I cut her nails, the constant scratching would break the skin. Thankfully Edie didn't scratch when she was awake. In these photos she's been up for more than two hours, so this was what her face looked like when it had a little break.
Creams, creams, creams! The creams have officially taken over my nightstand. We tried to do a wet wrap on her one night, that's why there's gauze on the side. It was a complete failure! The two things that I found helpful: 1) nail file. I tried filing when she was a newborn but that made them worse, so I clipped her nails and they were always short. I tried this Revlon "smooth" file and it did the trick! Now she gets a retouch once a day. 2) Antibiotic ointment. The eczema on her face was actually not as bad as her body's, but it just looked worse because of the constant cuts left by Edie's nails. The ointment worked great and we didn't need to use the hydrocortisone cream on her face. Once the bleeding was under control we stopped the ointment and covered her face with Vaseline.
As soon as Edie's body cooled down, her skin improved immediately. The moisturizers helped but it was definitely something happening on the inside that made the craziness slow way down.
On the left, what her cheeks look like when she first wakes up. She rolls and sleeps on her face sometimes, and when she's tired and in between sleep cycles she definitely scratches, but no breaks on the skin! On the right, looking really good after being up for about an hour. A real dramatic change compared to a week ago!
As hard as it was to watch her "help me!" face as she scratched and itched, it was also Edie that kept encouraging me. A few times I caught myself tearing up, even sobbing, as I picked her up from her crib and saw the fresh blood and the blisters on her face, but she'd look at me and then let out a sweet little squeal of excitement. We prayed for healing for Edie, and also for the strength to help take care of her. I needed help for sure. Some days I was just so tired, physically because her sleep was bad, and mentally from the constant battle, I just moped around like there was nothing worth living for. It's amazing how painful and numbing it is to watch your child be in pain. I give God the glory, for answering both our prayers. The key wasn't my unwavering faith or deep hope. Some days all I could mutter was, help God, and then it was back to being mopey. Kel reminded me that if God was allowing this to happen, we can trust that He will take care of us. Yes, slowly I really did sense this was the case.
Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
I know this picture is blurry but this is the face that makes me tear up with joy. After I change her diaper I always put her down on our bed and wash my hands in the adjacent washroom. When she looks up and sees me, that's the smile she flashes. Oh, how it makes my heart burst. She seems to be saying, mama, I'm itchy oh so itchy but I'm ok, so don't worry. Her face is constantly shiny thanks to Vaseline!
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