The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Rash

A couple weeks ago, I put Noni to bed in a fleece nightgown and she woke up covered from head-to-toe in a rash. I figured it was heat rash, put the nightgown in the Goodwill pile, and changed her into cotton sweatpants and a t-shirt. The next night, the rash was still there and she was itching fiercely. I looked up hives, decided that she must be allergic to something, and tried Benadryl. It did absolutely nothing.

Toby, Noni and I spent the next five nights completely miserable. But I was like Pam in the Office episode where her insurance allows her to stay two nights at the hospital and so she refuses to go to the hospital until midnight to have her baby. Our insurance allows us three appointments per year and then we have to pay for them. Of course this would be the year when we are hit with a dozen small ailments that require a doctor and Noni has already been three times. So Toby and I didn't sleep and poor Noni didn't sleep either because she was up all night crying and itching and at this point looking like she had measles or mumps or some dread-awful disease.

Finally I broke down and brought her to see our family doctor, who pulled up Noni's shirt and said, "Oh. My. God." That's when I decided that between Noni's rash and Lucy and Hugo's ski adventure, I probably don't need to practice my speech for the Mom Of The Year award this year. She described Noni as having "a horrific case of eczema." Then she told me to throw out the Burt's Bees and California Baby lotion because they do nothing and are full of stuff like lavender oil, which is terrible for a baby's skin. She told me to buy some Lubriderm lotion, gave Noni a prescription for topical and oral steroids and a stronger-than-Benadryl anti-itch medicine and sent us on our way.

When I posted about Noni's eczema on Facebook, I got a lot of responses. Apparently we're not the only ones dealing with a rash, although I suspect most people are talking about a patch of it here and there. My sister has dealt with eczema her whole life so I took her suggestions to heart. She said to buy a humidifier, give her lots of fish oils, replace baths with tubs, and cover her skin with lanolin.

I am happy to report that we have done all four and Noni's skin is much better. She's also a big fan of the "smoke machine" (humidifier) next to her bed at night. It's hard to fight the dry Colorado air, but spring is around the corner, and I suspect that will help too.

And so, another lesson in parenting learned: Insurance or no, it's worth making a trip to the doctor.