Fleece Carpet, Anyone?

I just realized that I haven’t updated you on LBG’s skin in a while.  Good news is that he’s slowly losing his crusty critter status and slowing becoming a baby again!  Bad news is that it involves lots of steroids. 

I’m pretty sure he’s on his way to have biceps that’ll rival Mr. Universe and balls the size of peas, but at least his skin is baby soft!  We just started our 4th, up you read that right, 4th round of steroids and this time he’ll slowly be weaned off them rather than cutting cold turkey.  He also is taking Nystatin, which is an anti-yeast/anti-fungal medication that was made specially for him.  He has two more weeks of that. 

We’ve worked out a lotion routine that seems to be helping as long as we keep up with it.  Lubing up my baby boy- wow that sounded dirty!- should be a full time job.  Seriously.  Three times a day we slather him up with a combination of Un-Petroleum jelly and California Baby Calendula cream.  You mix the two together then spread it on.  At almost all diaper changes, he gets a healthy dosage of extra virgin coconut oil applied all over.  We do the coconut for a few reasons.  One being that its super yummy smelling, but mostly because it’s a great moisturizer and is supposed to aid in killing yeast.  Can’t hurt, right? 

Even with all the lotions and medicines he still has a few dry patches that are so insanely dry it looks he started to turn himself into beef jerky!  Those are his super itchy places.

We’ve also learned that his has insanely sensitive skin.  Not just use-special-soap skin, but keep-him-from-touching-the-carpet skin.  Seriously, if he lays on the carpet for too long his forearms, thighs, and knees get really rashy and itchy.  As long as he’s on his blankets he’s fine.  Do they make fleece carpet?  If so, I’m in the market for some!

There is also a very special tactic that we have in place.  LBG has to be treated like a prince.  I mean, the kid is NOT allowed to cry.  If he gets mad, he gives himself a big ‘ol hug and scratches himself until he bleeds.  So for now, TF and I bow down and kiss his feet.

…and so should you!

Here's the Skinny!

Yesterday I took LBG to a new doctor.  Mommy instincts told me that if I'm dreading taking him to the pediatrician again, it probably isn't a good sign.  Luckily for me, a friend *check out her blog!* recommended a family doctor for us to try.  Sure, it's an hour and 15 minutes away, but we will be moving closer soon so we decided to give it a shot. 

LBG didn't see the doctor, but saw the nurse practitioner instead.  She was really nice and super concerned about his skin!  We've seen two pedis previously and they brushed it off as a "phase" and told me to keep lubing him up with lotion.  Luckily for us, and not so luckily for my sweet boy, he developed some major flair-ups during the car ride.  It was nice to be able to show that what we were seeing on his wrists and elbows was what usually covers his face and whole body.  We also learned poor LBG has eczema in his ears!

Anyhooo, back to the subject-  Karen, the NP, believes that he might have an internal yeast infection.  This would explain why his eczema travels around his body rather than staying in just a few select places.  Instead of giving LBG more steriods, which haven't helped a whole lot, she gave us some natural remedies to try.  If they don't help, then we'll go back to steriods plus a few other ideas.  She said she's seen better success with the remedies for skin worse than his over conventional medications. 

I'm skeptical, but we'll try it.  If we don't see an improvement in a week, we'll go back and try some more medications. 

She didn't have much to say about his reflux other than suggesting we homemake formula using goat's milk.  You can't buy goat's milk formula on the market in the US and the idea of making it myself is something I'm not comfortable with.  You have to add lots of things to it so he gets all the nutrients and that scares me.  His formula is what he eats to survive, I don't want to risk messing that up. 

The rest of the appointment went really well!  Both the nurse and NP commented on how strong his is which was sweet.  I don't know many babies to compare him to and it's not like I can count how many pounds he's benchpressing!

4 Months!

LBG is 4 months old today!
The grown-ups were right, kids grow up waaaaaaay too fast!  I can't believe that 1/3 of his first year has come to a close.  If anyone knows a way to keep him from growing up so fast, I'm all ears!

We could celebrate by cooking up some pureed peas for him to try, but we aren't.  At the advice of our pediatrician, we gave him a few spoons full of rice cereal for his reflux.  That was last week and yes, things change in a week, but we are certain he isn't ready to eat food.  We'll wait until next month and re-evaluate things. 

He did reach a really cool milestone this morning!  My sweet little boy rolled over!  He needed help the last 3 inches or so because his arm was in the way, but he did most of the work all by himself!  I nearly cried!  Soon we will have a mobile baby and that's just a bit scary!

Typically, The Father and I don't buy him gifts for his monthdays, but we did this time.  We ordered a dozen unbleached Indian prefolds for him!  New undies always make for a great gift!


Happy 4 Monthday, Peanut!

Fashionably Late... Go Figure!

Sorry for being slightly late to the party, but here is LBG's 3 month photo! 

Don't you just want to gobble him up?

Human Food?

The Father has a dream that one day humans will only eat one thing... Human Food.  It's kinda like dog kibble but for humans!  Personally, I don't like that idea.  I like some variety in my diet.  I'm sure LBG would enjoy a little more of a variety, too.  He doesn't know it yet, but there are so many yummy foods out there to enjoy.

Next month he will be 4 months old!  I can't believe my sweet little boy will 17 years and 8 months from adulthood! *Did I do my math correctly?*  How time flies! 

Ok, back to the subject.  Many people being feeding their wee ones purees right after they turn 4 months.  Many people wait until they are closer to six months.  The Father and I have no idea when LBG will be ready for human food.  I'd like to wait until he is sixish months old, but if his current barf situation continues, I foresee the doctor recommending we start earlier.

What to do?  What to do?

I fully intend to make all of his food myself so I've come up with a master plan!  Begining roughly February 1st, I'll start making and freezing foods for him.  That way, if we deem him ready/needing some solids in his belly, they will be ready and waiting for him.  If he isn't ready, they will be there waiting until he is.  Either way, it ensures that I'm not rushed to cook a million peas and carrots and broccoli, Oh my!  I can't wait for the Spring/Summer vegetables to be available through the CSA, which we will be joining as soon as their Spring enrollment begins.  I know there were be lots of yummy fresh fruits and veggies for LBG to try!

A blog I follow recently posted about feeding baby the 21 plant groups.  Check it out here!  I'm now very interested in the book Feeding Baby Green,which she sites.  I think it will be a fun challenge for both The Father and I.  I'm fairly picky when it comes to veggies and I don't want to have my sweet little boy be the same!

Here are the 21 plant groups!  I'd like to thank The Good Wife for typing them all out!
Mushrooms
shitake
crimini
oyster
portabella

Bromeliads
pineapple

Woody trees
banana

Cruciferous vegetables
broccoli
cauliflower

Myrtles
guava
clove
allspice

Umbrellifers
carrot
celery
cilantro
dill

Heath plants
blueberry
cranberry

Legumes
black beans
peas
lentils

Gourds
cucumber
pumpkin
squash
watermelon

Composites
artichoke
lettuces
sunflower seeds

Sesame
sesame seeds

Lilies
asparagus
chive
garlic
onion

Rosy plants
apple  
apricot
blackberry 
cherry
peach 
pear
plum
raspberry
strawberry

Grapes

Citrus
orange
lime
lemon

Nightshades
eggplant
peppers
white potatoes

Laurels
avocado
cinnamon
bay

Amaranths
spinach
swiss chard
beet

Loosestrifes
pomegranate

True grasses
barley
oats
brown rice

Bindwinds
sweet potato

I can't wait to take photos of a LBG covered in his yummy homemade food! 

Stabbing Baby!

Throughout my entire pregnancy, I kept hearing the various debates about vaccinations. I fully believe in the benefits of vaccinating a child and knew that we would be vaccinating LBG. I don't like the idea of depending on other kids to be vaccinated in order to keep my unvaccinated child healthy. However, I didn't exactly know which schedule we would follow. We'd decided to waive the Hep B vaccine while in the hospital because we knew there was very low risk of LBG contracting it. We could always get it at the pediatric clinic.

The CDC has their recommended schedule and Dr. Sears has his. Both make sense to me. What was I to do? We could go fewer trips to the pediatrician and follow the CDC schedule or we could go almost every month and follow Dr. Sears'.

The CDC version involves a lot of injections all at once. Dr. Sears suggest spreading the vaccine out and only doing a few at a time.

The more and more The Father and I discussed schedules, the more and more it seemed to make sense for us to use Dr. Sear's schedule. Then one idea cemented it for us. What if LBG has a terrible reaction? How would we know which vaccine caused it? If we only did a few at a time, then we could narrow down the possibilties.

There ya have it! Dr. Sears for us. We will continue to delay the Hep B vaccine until he is older and starts socilizing with other children.

So, now you probably wondering why I'm writing this. LBG turned 2 months old on the 17th but our pedi cancelled his appointment and rescheduled it for Tuesday. Tuesday is the big day. Our vaccine journey is about to begin. Hopefully it isn't too traumatic.

Please wish us luck!