I used to think I worried too much. That was before I had a baby. Now that I have one I only wish I worried as much as I used to - now it's magnified...BIG time. With that said, I'll begin my tale.
About 3-3½ weeks ago (around the time Y turned 5 months) I decided that it was time for me to allow Y the opportunity to self-sooth her way to sleep. Well for the most part it worked, the only problem is that her way of soothing herself to sleep is to turn her head from side to side over and over again. I dunno if this friction caused it, but eventually a bump showed up on her little bald spot. It was just a teeny tiny little bump at the time and after a couple days it became a couple little red bumps but I didn't think it was anything to be too alarmed about but I did decide that maybe I should rock her to sleep somewhat (as in wait until she's so drowsy she won't notice me putting her down). Well by the time Saturday night came and we were giving her a bath, B and I both expressed how well the spot looked and it seemed to be healing really well. The next morning was a different story though. During her morning feed I was rubbing her hair as I normally do and when my fingers hit her bald spot I felt something really hard and rough. After finishing the feed I checked it out to find that it was scabbed over and very crusty. I asked a couple of residents (medical) about it and all thought that it was eczema which was no surprise to us because both of us have eczema. We took her to the doctor on Monday, he thought it was infected and gave us a prescription to use. It worked...kinda. On Saturday morning I noticed that small bumps were starting to appear on her neck and around the infected area and called the pediatrician, we scheduled an appointment for Monday. Needless to say it seemed to get better by the time Monday came but the small bumps from her neck were now on her perfect little face. During her appointment her doctor wasn't 100% sure what it was and referred us to a dermatologist (by the way, Y is now 16 lbs and 26¾" long). Now between Monday and today I was pretty positive that whatever reaction she was having was due to me and the proteins from the dairy I drink transferring to Y through my breast milk. Well today the dermatologist basically told me that I would have been lucky if that had been the problem - because then it would be easily solved. It is not, however, the problem. And actually they're not completely sure what the problem is. The rash that has now spread over her entire body is secondary, meaning that it is a result of her immune system trying (probably with little luck) to fight off this bacterial infection of some sort. I say "of some sort" because that is what they don't know yet. The spot in the back of her scalp is what the immune system is fighting because it is apparently infected a bacteria. Today they took some samples from the location and will be doing some cultures in order to figure out exactly what it is and how to get rid of it which will take 3-4 weeks. Meanwhile we got a prescription for a cream for her body and another for her scalp and they said we should notice a difference in a week.
Now it'd be great if the story stopped here, but it doesn't! Y has
Mongolian Spots pretty much all over her backside: upper and lower back, butt, shoulders and even a few on her legs. When she was born I thought they were bruises from the birthing process but her pediatrician pointed them out to us and explained what they are. He also wanted to note it in her file so that no one could accuse us of child abuse if they saw those spots (and believe me people have asked about them)! Well apparently studies have been done that supposedly link children with a lot of Mongolian Spots to children that have weak immune systems (says the dermatologist). The dermatologist was somewhat concerned about this especially since on 2 occasions it seemed to be getting better only to find that it actually got worse. So now, not only am I worried that they're not sure what type of bacteria this is and thus also not sure how to treat it, but I'm also worried that my child may have a difficult time getting over future illnesses. Do I really think she has a weak immune system? No! But she's only had 2 colds so there hasn't been a whole lot to test it, but I do shudder at the thought nonetheless.
I must add though that through it all, Y has been amazing. She has a cold, bumps all over her body, a very nasty infection in her scalp, and we're pretty sure she's teething...and through it all she just laughs and plays all day. I think it affects me more than her. We're lucky parents! Anyway, sorry this was so long but I'm a sucker for the details. And if no one else appreciates the details, I know one person who does...Yep, that's you Aunt J! :-D
I'll try to keep you all posted!
