WARNING: This post contains poop talk!
Diaper Rash
We took Raleigh Kate to Urgent Care for a diaper rash. Yep. I'm
that mom. We are
those parents.
Since Friday, RK had been dirtying every diaper after each bottle. It was never much, but whenever she passed gas, something else came out with it. I thought she was constipated (if that makes any sense) so when I changed her diaper and she cried, I thought it was just because she was uncomfortable and trying to get the rest out. I didn't see a rash...maybe a little redness, but that's all. She had never had a diaper rash before. Saturday night, Ray's mom and brother came in town and we all went out to dinner. She had a messy poop while we were at the restaurant, so I took her to the bathroom to change not only her diaper, but her whole outfit. It was ugly! Well, it was in there that I realized it was more than just redness. There was a very fine rash. She screamed so badly when I changed that diaper. That night, she didn't sleep well and I had to change her a couple times throughout the night because I didn't want the rash to get worse. Each time, she screamed and cried like a newborn. Poor baby girl.
Same story on Sunday. She was fine until I had to change her diaper. And she continued to have dirty diapers, so any cream I put on didn't stay there long. I called my aunt (who is an RN) on Monday, and she told me to put Lotrimin on it because it's probably a yeast diaper rash. I also called the doctor on call at our family practice and she told me to make an appointment for the following day. I started the Lotrimin and by Tuesday morning, she seemed a lot better. So, being the smart girl I am, I didn't make an appointment with the doc. Oops. Tuesday afternoon it was back in full force and that's when Ray and I made the decision to take her to Urgent Care (the doctor's office was already closed). I just felt helpless with her screaming the way she was and we had tried everything. We had been giving her baths with baking soda (which she loved), letting her be without a diaper for long periods of time, applying Lotrimin, Desitin, Butt Paste, Triple Paste...everything. The nurse practitioner at Urgent Care prescribed Nystatin - a cream for yeast infections, and Diflucan - an oral antifungal medicine.
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| At Urgent Care |
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| This was the only way we could get her to sleep/relax some nights |
Tuesday night she slept well. I happened to wake up around 4:00 and heard her poop, so I had to wake her up to change her. She didn't cry at all. She did pretty well all day Wednesday, so we decided we could take her out with us Wednesday night. BAD MOVE. She wasn't comfortable, she pooped and changing her in the bathroom was a nightmare. I felt like the worst mom ever that night. On the way home (about 15 minutes in the car), she was screaming non-stop and I was crying. We should have just kept her home, put her to bed at her normal time and let her continue to heal. Thursday-Sunday were exhausting and the medicine did not seem to be helping. I don't think it was a yeast rash, because there were no bumps (just for those first two nights) and no white edges. It almost looked like a burn in some spots where cream would not stick because it wasn't her skin. Horrible. I was giving her baking soda baths 4-5 times per day and those seemed to be the only thing helping the issue.
On Sunday, RK and I headed to Charlotte to see my friend, Marcella, visiting from Germany. Raleigh was comfortable, but still in pain when I changed diapers and her skin was still very irritated.
The Croup
And here's the blessing in disguise. On Monday night, I was hanging out at my parents' house and RK was already asleep. I heard a noise that sounded like the dog barking, but as I got closer to the monitor, I realized it was Raleigh and not Jack. I went to get her out of the pack n play and she was coughing/barking loudly. When she inhaled, there was also a loud noise. My mom was just as scared as I was, which made me think, "Okay, this is bad." I had a couple of friends over, along with my sisters, and we were all very concerned. I took her outside to see if the cooler air helped, and it did for a little bit. Then, we tried the steam from the hot shower, and that also helped a little. RK and I finally went to sleep together and all seemed fine until I woke up to her, still sleeping, but making a loud noise as she inhaled. I now know that this noise is called Stridor and it's very dangerous. Throughout the night, I continued the pattern of steam, cool air, sleep, steam, cool air, sleep...
By morning, she was still not better and nothing seemed to be working. My dad called the Pediatric ER and talked to the doctor on call. He suggested we bring her in to get a breathing treatment. Thankfully, my sister Mary-Chase, went with us at 7:30 am. (Ray didn't come with me to Charlotte because of work.) RK was still having Stridor, but she was smiling and didn't seem too uncomfortable. Her chest was retracting, which was very worrisome. When they got us in, she had a fever of 101.3. They gave her the first epinephrine breathing treatment and an oral steroid. The doc would come back in about two hours to check on her and decide if she needed another treatment or if we're good to go. She was still very noisy, so we were there for round two. She did not like the mask, but thankfully it only had to stay on for 8 minutes. A few hours after the second treatment, we were discharged. The doctor said that we would still probably be up all night, but thankfully we weren't! She slept from 7:45 pm-7:45 am without a sound.
So, here's the blessing. Wednesday morning, after that peaceful night of sleep, I'm changing her diaper and...NO diaper rash! Nada. Back to normal. No diarrhea either. (By the way, the doc said that her diarrhea was probably related to the croup, because it's a viral infection.) The steroid had totally cleared everything up. Praise the Lord! Since then, everything has been back to normal. She's had a little cough left over, but it isn't anything we have had to be concerned about.
I'm now fully educated on Croup, what it is, what to look/listen for, when it's severe, what to do, etc. Basically, it's when the vocal cords start swelling, so the airway is narrowing.
The first video was Monday night, when she was sleeping on my chest. This is what Stridor sounds like and it usually only happens when they're crying or fussing. But, in more severe cases of Croup, it can happen when they are relaxed or sleeping. Raleigh had the latter.
This was Tuesday morning, right before we left for the ER. We wanted to take a video of her chest retracting so that if she wasn't doing it anymore by the time we got to the hospital, we could at least show the doctor.
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| Listening to her breathing |
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| MC and RK after both treatments |
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| She hated this little dinosaur! |
We are SO THANKFUL that she is healthy once again. I have never felt such heartbreak in my life while she was in pain from the diaper rash and then with the Croup.
