If you don’t want to read a detailed account of Levi’s butt rash, scroll to paragraph 5.

Levi’s butt rash has gotten so bad the last few days that yesterday it was bleeding and he was in pain, especially his man-marbles. :/ So I called the nurse and she said I should bring him in. We missed his 9 month check up and he was due for his 1 year so it was perfect timing to take him in anyway.

I’m so fed up with the butt rash…. ugh!! So, it got better when we first stopped dairy and I used the GSE at every diaper change to treat the yeast. It was almost totally clear! I continue to use the GSE a couple times a day now to keep the yeast at bay. The thing is, the rash came back and nothing is working to keep yeast from secondarily infecting it. I know yeast can build a resistance to treatments. I don’t know if that’s what is happening or… I just don’t know. But the Dr said the rash looks like yeast. She said it could be strep but she did a strep test on it and the test was negative. So we are treating him for yeast with Nystatin again but using ointment instead of cream. The Dr just kept commenting on how awful and painful his bottom looks. Keep in mind, there are red dots everywhere that bleed, his scrotum is nothing but peeling skin which also bleeds/gets oozy depending on the day and there is red elsewhere. The big tell-tale sign of the rash being an allergy (not the yeast rash, the diaper rash itself) is that his butt crack is where the redness originates and has the typical “allergy ring”.

Not to be completely boring and reiterate myself crazy but it goes like this with Levi: ever-present diaper rash flares up -> rash becomes infected with yeast -> we treat yeast with antifungal -> yeast goes away and ever-present diaper rash remains -> we continue yeast treatment to be sure yeast is gone BUT….-> back to beginning. We have used Nystatin, store brand Lotrimin AF, and GSE/coconut oil/probiotics for the yeast and a plethora of other crap for the normal rash.

If it’s not better in a week, she said to call and we will go from there. I have already scheduled an appointment with a pediatric allergist so we can get to the bottom (pun intended) of what is causing his butt to remain in a constant state of redness. The normal rash is usually pink and causes him no apparent discomfort. The yeast is red, raw, raised, hideous and causes him to grab at his bottom and cry from time to time. I hate the yeast…

Enough butt talk… Levi is 21lbs 13 ounces now in the 58th percentile. He gained only 1 pound 5 ounces in 6 months and dropped from the 90th to the 58th percentile. I knew he hadn’t gained much and in fact lost weight recently. The nurse and Dr both assured me that this can be normal particularly as Levi is very picky. But do you think I’m not worried? ??? She was happy with him nursing 6+ times a day since he doesn’t wake at night to nurse. In addition to nursing, she wants me to start giving him 16 ounces of soy milk a day. I doubt he will drink that much but maybe if I mix the regular with vanilla flavor? It’s worth a try since he could use the calories.

Levi is 31.25 inches tall (31.5 according to me) in the 92nd percentile so tall boy!! He grew almost 3 inches in 6 months and stayed in the 90’s for percentile. Mommy is happy. 🙂 His head circumference is 45 cm in the 19th. It’s always been around the 25th area so that’s pretty close.

Over-all he is developmentally looking good. I told the Dr that I know we shouldn’t compare but I can’t help but notice he’s pretty far behind Tru at age one. She wasn’t concerned although there are areas he could be further along in by now. So I hope to work on these things now that I can identify them but honestly, I’m not worried. Levi excels in his own areas. He has a very highly developed sense of humor which I find pretty smart for a baby his age and he catches on really fast. Also, I think he knows more than he lets on. Taking advantage of his baby status much?

Poor kid had to have his lead levels checked. He didn’t scream but he wasn’t having a blast either. Otherwise, the appointment went well. 🙂

After Levi’s appointment I dropped him off with my mom and took Tru to the pet store to look at animals. He is obsessed with watching videos of chickens hatching on YouTube right now and after the pet store, we went to look at chicks at the farmer’s shop. In order to get him to leave the store without a fit (cause he could watch the chicks ALL DAY) I bought him a toy duck and we picked one out to take home for Levi. Tru’s favorite animals at the pet store were the snake (he LOVES “nakes”) and the birds although he was pretty excited to see the hamsters, guinea pigs, bunnies and fish. I tried to get him to touch a chameleon but he wouldn’t. 😉 For the longest time he wouldn’t touch the baby bunny I was holding and when he finally did, he grabbed it’s head. Not hard, don’t worry, the bunny is fine. 🙂 But I think we will stick to DH’s suggestion and just get a fish for Tru for now. We thought he might enjoy having a fish to watch and feed. DH and I had fish for years and always enjoyed watching them swim around. We shall see though if we end up getting Tru one.

It was nice to enjoy some time with my little Tru-Tru. 🙂 I knew he would love the pet store. Now I want even more for the weather to warm up a bit more so we can take the boys to the zoo!!

Also, I’m contemplating getting an incubator and incubating some chicken eggs so Tru can watch actual chickens hatch in real-life. My brother raises chickens so the problem of what to do with the chicks is a non-issue. He would gladly take them as I certainly don’t want to raise chickens right now. I’m not sure yet but it seems like a really fun educational project to do with Tru and only takes 21 days. Since I have a home for the chicks to go to…. maybe I’ll do it.