Although it was unintentional, our newborn spent the first weeks of his life with his buns on fire from a horrific antibiotic rash. After considering quite a few possibilities for this post, I realized that by far the worst thing we ever presided over as parents was most likely this very early period where we were desperate to find a solution, but failed multiple times at trying to give our baby some relief before we finally got it taken care of once and for all.
Our son was born with a pneumothorax - a small tear in his lung that caused breathing problems and required a 6-day NICU stay to be sure he was operating at 100% before he came home. Otherwise, he was a huge, 9 lbs. 6 oz. baby in perfect health. But because of the long, difficult labor, he also had to be given antibiotics to ward off the risk of sepsis. Unbeknownst to us, the NICU nurses were waiting patiently for several days for “the rash” to arrive.
Apparently, antibiotics make baby poo extremely acidic, causing a monster diaper rash. This flaming red beast showed up the morning we were being discharged and they sent us home with a tube of Desitin. A week later, if anything, the rash was worse. We started to worry - he was so uncomfortable. We tried different remedies, we searched the internet, we took him to the doctor. If I remember correctly, it was only on the second trip to the doctor that we were given a true solution to our poor sweet baby’s painful and worsening problem.
Finally, the doc told us to spend 15-20 minutes at least four times each day in the bathroom, cheeks exposed to let the rash dry out and start healing. We blasted the heat and aimed the blowdryer at his bum on low to help things along. We were told to get Triple Paste ointment and mix it with Vaseline, smear a generous amount over the affected area and repeat with each diaper change.
This method showed immediate results! We were so relieved. And we spent a lot of quality time sprawled out on the rug in a superheated bathroom with our amazing little naked sweetie-bird trying to keep him happy while his sore butt dried out.
When I told my husband I was going to write about this incident, he said, “but, that wasn’t our fault! How is that a fail?” Fair point, my darling, fair point. It wasn’t our fault at all, but when I think back over the last five years, it is the time when our son was the most helpless, the most vulnerable. We were brand new parents and it was agonizing for us to see him suffer like that without being able to find a solution. I felt like I was failing him. After all the poking and prodding he had been through in the NICU, it was so sad to see him cry in pain every time he filled his diaper.
Thankfully, once we got things cleared up, his butt was in perfect health most of the time from then on. Further rashes were a rare occurrence and we became the most perfect parents on the planet - just kidding!
All photos by me: Orangina
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