Eczema!!

Ho'ea is five months old today! wow, he is almost half a year old! How time flies.

Last week, he started scratching his head/face more and I initially thought he was doing it as a sleep mechanism, b/c he would only do it just before he fell asleep. Well, then his cheeks started turning red, and then i thought he might be sensitive to the bath soap we'd been using (Kaua all of a sudden became sensitive at about 2-3 mos old...so I thought it could be something similar). But when we changed bath soaps without any improvement, and in fact, saw his condition worsening, I took him to the doctor. He was diagnosed with eczema last thursday.

The pediatrician (not his regular one....Kaiser will give you whoever is available to fit you in quick) recommended 1% hydrocortisone ointment and tons of moisturizer. That seemed to do the trick because that night, Ho'ea began sleeping through the night again (he had stopped ever since he first started scratching).

(OMG -side note, Kaua is watching sesame street - so I can have some down time to type - and elmo is on, his favorite, but they're discussing the weather and a tornado is depicted as a puppet and kaua is freaked out! He wants the tornado to go "bye bye" and he jumped and startled when it first appeared and even shuddered! Amazing...this isn't the first time he's seen this episode because we have it recorded for just in case emergencies, but its the first time he's reacted negatively to it. Wow, it really is true that when they watch the same show or read the same book over and over, they learn something new each time).

Unfortunately, the next day, Ho'ea started scratching again, but this time it was his scalp!!! I tried to apply the hydracortizone ointment and moisturizers to his head, but his hair is so thick, I dont know if I got it on properly. Anyway, it started getting worse again, and he even seemed to have it on his eyes and was constantly rubbing them, so I made another appointment today. (I did call the oncall advice line and spoke with another pediatrician over the weekend, who also told me to keep trying to apply the ointment and moisturizers to his scalp). Basically, the same pediatrician said there was not much more we could do....she suggested trying a dandruff shampoo, like Selson Blue, and referred me to the dermatologist. She also said that if I got desparate, I could try giving him 8 ML of benadryl (an antihistamine) (how I get 8 ML is pretty difficult, though, b/c I could only find liquid gel capsules of 25ML...but anyway) but that they did not recommend it to children this young. We talked about it as a last resort and the potential side effects (apparently, drowsiness is the only one, which is something that sounds appealing to me since he's having such a hard time sleeping). So tonight, I went to the store, purchased two additional types of eczema moisturizers, picked up some Selson Blue and benadryl and slathered them on Ho'ea. I have not given the benadryl and really will use it only if I'm desparate because I really try to adhere to the most conservative, less is more, approach to medications.

He's still scratching, but it seems less intense. *cross my fingers, knock on wood* I will still take him to the dermatologist when/if I get an appt. Not sure if they'll be able to do much more than I've already done (I did my google research - at the suggestion of the pediatrician at Ho'ea's first appt), but I want to make sure I cover all my bases.

Oh crap...he's up and crying.


And he's back down. (I'm typing this at night when he's sleeping, and he just let out a couple cries...but when I went to check on him, he was sleeping. This has been typical ever since the eczema came on....he wakes up fairly often, fussing, because he is so itchy).

Eczema is pretty awful. From what I've learned, this condition is common in infants and most of 'em grow out of it by the age of 2. (What, I've got a year and a half more left of this sad torture??!!) There is also apparently no cure, just different methods to help alleviate the itching and the scratching which makes it worse. Skin moisture (or lack thereof) is the key. Eczema runs in the family, and while DH and I dont seem to have it, I believe my dad had it and so did his mom. My cousin on my dad's side also said that her oldest daughter had it.

Ugh...it's awful to have your child suffer and you're helpless to stop it. I've been praying that God heals his condition and alleviates his suffering. My new year resolution is to get back closer to God. I feel like i've strayed over the past year or two, and I really want to rebuild/reestablish the relationship.