Pierce-boy. Poor baby Pierce's skin. It all started around one month old (I kind of posted about how bad his skin was and didn't know if it was just eczema or something more). At his one-month check-up the Pediatrician told me to switch up his detergent and see if his skin cleared up. It helped clear up some of the red blotchiness but in other areas, it only got worse...his cheeks and left arm were the worst! Lincoln had eczema as a toddler so I somewhat knew how to keep it under control. Pierce's sensitive skin was soooo high maintenance and if I slipped at all it got BAD. I switched up to bathing him every day instead of every other (which helped). After his bath I would lather him up with Cetaphil Cream (the best) and I would put Aquaphor on the way bad parts (cheeks, arms, head, etc). I mean OUT-OF-CONTROL. Some days were just so bad that I would have to re-apply at night which would somewhat help. His poor cheeks were so ROUGH and I was sad that my baby would never have those soft baby cheeks again. But this was our new life and I accepted that he had crazy skin that I had to stay on top off (kind of stressed me out, not gonna lie). During that week while my mom was here (middle of June) I had her try and give Pierce a formula bottle to see if he would take it because I would be leaving him that weekend with Adam's Aunt (so we could go see Les Mis). After we fed him the bottle we went to Walmart to pick up a few things. He got pretty fussy so we finally took him out of his carseat and noticed that his skin was on fire! (it looked like he had a crazy sunburn and felt like that). His entire body was bright red, his skin was on fire, and he was covered in Hives. Pretty much freaked us all out. This happened at 9:00 at night so either we take him into a Pediatric urgent care or see if it clears up. The good thing was that his breathing seemed fine so I asked the Walmart pharmacist what dosage of Benadryl I could give my 2 month old baby. After a tiny dose of benadryl and about two hours later, it started to go down and we all calmed down a bit. So I started to google milk allergies, eczema related to milk allergies, etc. I now believed his horrible skin was related to a milk allergy. I was able to get him into our Pediatrician two days later and she said he probably has a for-sure milk/dairy allergy...uggghhh (please grow out of this little man!). She told me to try and take dairy out of my diet and see if that helps his skin problems. She also sent me home with a soy-based formula to try out. As soon as I got home, we tried another bottle with this new formula. He took it down fine and within 3 hours his skin looked amazing. It was kind of crazy but my mom can account for this. His cheeks cleared up, his red blotchiness went down, his arm looked better, it was crazy! So I was bound to take dairy out of my diet to help this little man. (My poor baby's body had been fighting this allergy from my breastmilk for the last months and his skin was showing it). So frusturating that it's all trial and error with new babies. For the next four days I took dairy out of my diet and these were four awful days. I didn't realize how much dairy I actually ate. My milk supply totally dropped off, I felt like crap since I don't think my calorie count was as high as it was supposed to be (I felt like I couldn't eat anything), and his skin looked semi-better but not awesome. I was frusturated. I felt like I couldn't eat anything, I know breastfeeding moms do this all of the time for their milk-allergy babies and keep breastfeeding but I was struggling with what to eat for food, no more milk, and feeling like crap. His skin was all I could think about, stress, drama, worrying...after a week of this I decided it would be best for myself and him if I stopped breastfeeding and switched to soy-based formula to see if we could get his skin under control. So at 2 1/2 months old I switched him over. I called my mom that day in tears asking her if I was a bad mom for putting him on the bottle, I was having serious mother's guilt but didn't feel like I could keep up my milk supply. After two days on this new formula he still wasn't looking great and I started to question my decision. More stress. So I took him in to the Pediatrician to see if I should keep on my plan before my milk completely dried up. She told me to quite having mother's guilt (not being able to feed my baby anymore) but that I had nursed him for the first 2 1/2 months of his life when he needed it most. She assured me that it would be best for Pierce to stop breastfeeding. We needed to figure out his skin problems and my milk was no longer the best thing for him. She told me that it would take about 72 hours for it to completely get out of his system so don't stress too much about his skin not looking instantly better. I left feeling better but sad about the whole situation. Drying-up cold turkey like that is SERIOUSLY PAINFUL - not fun! I thought I was going to die on day 3 and 4. I could barely hold Pierce (the joys of being a woman). His skin started to look better day by day but it took about a week for it to make a difference. I finally started to feel good about my decision. My baby was getting soft cheeks again! (kind of sad that I found myself celebrating over stuff like this). I wouldn't say that his skin is perfect now because it's not, I think he'll still have some eczema but it's 80% better than it was. He still gets flare-ups on his left cheek and left arm which I have to stay on top of but life is so much better. For such a little thing, it sure caused stress in my life because I didn't know what to do to help him. I for sure think this all had to do with him getting 3 colds in his first 3 months of life - his poor body was fighting this allergy which had to have caused his immune system to be running on low. But life's good now that it's all figured out, I'm just crossing my fingers that he grows out of this allergy...we'll see. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to document it all.
Little boy loves to smile at anyone who talks to him.
And gets so much love from his siblings. PIERCE IS MUCH LOVED!!!!
5 comments:
Pierce is adorable! Even with his skin issues :) Too bad you had to quit nursing. I was only able to nurse my kids for the first 5 or 6 months, and I've also heard the first month or two is the most important, so no need to feel bad! I hope things are going well with 3 kids!
What a blessing to figure out what Pierce is allergic to. We had similar problems with Lauren, but not until she started eating real food. She was allergic to citrus, wheat, and peanuts. In that order. They have actually found that most eczema is allergy related and can be stopped. Lauren would wake up with bloody sheets because of hers. It really was amazing how fast she cleared up once we had her tested and figured it out. I do have to say though Cetaphil is good, but it's not the best. There is a cream called Vanicream. You can usually only get it at Walgreens. We used to have to ask the pharmacist to order it, but now it's on the shelves. It is AMAZING. They also make soaps and sunscreens, but I've only used the cream. (make sure you get the one in a box with a pump, it's more concentrated than the tube.) Just cover him in it after his bath and you'll see an amazing difference. Good luck. Oh, and to give you hope. Lauren outgrew all three of her allergies by about 4!!!
http://www.amazon.com/Vanicream-Moisturizing-Cream-Dispenser-1-Pound/dp/B000NWGCZ2/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
What a cute little guy! That is too bad about having allergies, and I hear ya about not being able to feel like you can eat anything with cutting dairy out of your diet. Our 3 year old is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts and it is a major pain but so worth it to have a happy, healthy child. (We found out when she lost a pound between 9 and 12 months old) The good news is there are lots of resources and blogs out there when he starts to eat food for recipes and things. Now the stores have soy milk, soy margarine, soy yogurt, soy ice cream, or coconut milk or rice milk products also. But you can deal with that when it comes.
So I know what you mean about feeling guilty about not breastfeeding. With Tessa, my milk supply was low and I tried everything to fix it... for almost seven months! I finally switched her to formula and she slept through the night for the first time. I was so mad that I didn't switch her earlier- the poor thing was just hungry. So, with my new baby I have to remember that I am a "mother" and not a "breastfeeder." And I will do whatever I need to do to make things work... with no guilt. :)
Pierce is so cute, and I'm so glad that his skin is doing better!
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