The Great Butt Rash Debacle of 2009

The sickness has been making its rounds at our house, leaving one after the other of us hacking, feverish, puking or squirting.  Sometimes one of us is unfortunate enough to have all at once. 

Blythe, with her allergies, is impossible to medicate because pretty much every medication ever made has some corn-infused thing in it.  That means she can’t have Imodium A-D for her diarrhea, Tylenol or Motrin for her fever, or any kind of cold-symptom relief.

The result: Diaper rash.  Oh, and diaper rash creams have corn, too.

I made an executive decision during Blythe’s bout of stomach flu, and dosed her with Infant Motrin (with a shot of Zyrtec on the side) for her high fever several days in a row.  She was miserable, what was I supposed to do?  I’d given her the combo in the past and she seemed to handle it well.  Apparently, though, THAT much corn starch built up in her system and we can’t get it out.

My poor baby is now allergic to her own pee and poop.  We’ve dealt with the poop thing before, but the pee is a whole new ball game.  Her ass is on FIRE, and it hurts so much when she pees that she’s started holding her urine for hours at a time.  Oh, and that medication to help with burning pee?  One word: corn.  Are you sensing a pattern here?

We had to take a urine sample to the lab to rule out a urinary tract infection, and it took three hours, 16 ounces of milk, 4 ounces of diluted juice and 3 ounces of water before she’d pee.  Seriously, folks.

So with all that going on, I decided to go ahead and get her potty trained.  I mean, the more she pees in a diaper, the more rash she gets.  Every drop of pee or smear of poop that touches her skin leaves hives and a burning rash in its wake.  It’s been nearly two weeks now, and I can’t even give her anything for pain.
                
                                                       

Let me say, trying to potty train a 1-year old is interesting.  She’s completely aware of when she has to pee now, because of the whole “pee-pee is on fire” thing, which helps.  She’s getting better at letting me know she has to go BEFORE the pee is running down her leg (and yes her legs will puff up too, but I’ve gotten pretty quick at getting her butt in the sink*), but poop is another story.  I’m just grateful the diarrhea phase of illness is over, because it’s hard enough to scrape it out of her pants, as-is.

We spent our long weekend in the living room, watching movie after movie, pushing fluids and sitting on the potty.  More than once I’ve seen foot-shaped pee puddles across the floor.  It’s all good though, because at least we’re going through this BEFORE we replace the flooring in a few months.  Every cloud has a silver lining, no? 

* If you happen to stop by any time soon, I recommend you NOT lick our bathroom sink.