Sick Baby

Eliana has had a bit of a rough month.  She started with a cold and runny nose which then led to a double ear infection.  :(  Poor thing!  So she was started on antibiotics.  She loved the "pink goo" so at least it was easy to give to her.  However, the antibiotics gave her awful diarrhea.  So these pictures are of when it was at the worst.  I had Eliana dressed in a jacket, diaper, leggings, and socks.  Notice what's missing?  That's right, no pants.  We needed quick access to those diaper changes so pants were just too cumbersome.  So then the diarrhea cause terrible diaper rash.  First I tried zinc oxide lotion which seemed to help but didn't resolve the problem.  Then I was told by several moms to try a homemade recipe of mixing equal parts Maalox with aquaphor lotion and using that as a diaper rash cream.  I was a little leery at first, but it came so highly recommended.  I was told the Maalox helps "cut the acid" from the diarrhea and is very soothing while the aquaphor provides a barrier to further damage.  So I mixed it up, tried it out, and was pleasantly surprised when it worked!  What a difference it made for her bottom.  Although I guess I can't say I know it was the only thing.  I was also giving Eliana probiotics in yogurt and tons of bananas to try to slow the diarrhea down.  Finally after 10 days we were done with the antibiotics and almost immediately her digestive system and bottom returned to normal.  Eliana was such a trooper through the whole thing.  Except for right when she first got the ear infections, she has always been in a good mood.  You would never guess that she was feeling poorly or that her bottom looked like a fire engine.  She still giggled and smiled and was her sweet sweet self.  I feel pretty lucky to be her mom.