Frustration

I am so frustrated today with eczema! Things were finally starting to improve. I have completely, and I mean completely eliminated soy, dairy and wheat from my diet. I have even begun to make my own veggie broth in order to avoid soy! I have also upped my probiotic intake, and I have began taking Evening Primrose Oil to help cut down inflammation. We were seeing results. Henry's little cheek was smooth! It felt so good to smooch on smooth baby skin!

But then......Tuesday night/Wednesday Morning, at 2:00 am, Henry woke up with a 102 degree fever. I knew it was an ear infection. Wednesday I took him to the doctor and he showed an ear infection in his right ear. The doctor prescribed amoxicillin. We got it filled and Henry got a little bit in on Wednesday and two full doses on Thursday. Yesterday he woke up and was super irritated. His poor little eyes swelled up. It finally calmed down and he spent the day happily with Nana and Papa while I worked. Today he woke up completly flared up. His back was covered and his face was scaly and super irritated. I was concerned because it was more blotchy in some areas. We called the doctor and took him in. Henry continues to be happy and smiley! The doctor noticed the blotchy dots and agreed that it was a reaction to the amoxicillin. My mommy instincts were right! He said it was good we brought him in. So now we are on a new medicine and back to healing and getting the nasty stuff out of Henry's system. The doctor also gave us a prescription for shampoo to help Henry's itchy and yucky scalp. I am so happy that we may get that under control too.

It feels like we take two steps forward and then one step back. We are slowly making progress and seeing results and then something causes a flare up. It is super frustrating. Yesterday I just wanted to pig out on a big juicy burger and a cold beer, but I couldn't. It is so heart breaking to look at my baby and see him trying so hard to be happy, and be so irritated. Matt compared this journey to hiking. You think you are about the the peak of the mountain, but a bend in the trail shows more climb ahead. You feel so close but there is more hard work ahead. The good news is that it feels like we are on the right path.

 I pray for healing for Henry. It is awful. I know that there are so many other things that could be wrong with him, things other mamas deal with with their little ones, but it is still a struggle and still really hard to live with day in and day out. The doctor said a lot of patients grow out of eczema, and I am hoping that that is the case for Henry. So we continue on. Henry is worth every little sacrifice I have to make.  Through it all he continues to be a happy and calm, content little fellow.

Here is Henry as I type this post :)