The Bishop Family: eczema

As I've said previously, we've been having a hard time trying to figure out what's going on with Will. In his first few weeks of life, he showed signs of reflux and had already developed eczema...two problems that I, unfortunately, know all too well. At his 4-month check up, I asked his doctor about his skin because of how bad it was getting, but she said "keep doing what you've been doing," which is Cortisone cream twice a day. I was uncomfortable with that, but she's the doctor, so I listened. The next week, I went back in because it had gotten so bad around his eyes that they were swollen. His normal pediatrician was out of town, so we saw the other one. As soon as she walked in, she said she was going to refer us to an allergist. THANK YOU!!! I had been asking if we should have him tested for a while, but his normal doc never entertained my question.

This is what his back looked like last night. His whole body looks like this. As someone who suffers from eczema myself, I can't imagine how bad that must feel to him. Thankfully, he doesn't know to scratch it because that makes it so much worse.

His appointment with the allergist was today. After talking to the doctor for a while about his symptoms and how long it had been going on, they did the scratch test to test him for the most common food allergies. I have been praying for an answer. I've never wanted my child to suffer from anything, but when he does, I want to know what it is so we can fix it, or at least treat it. Not long after they did the scratch test, I knew we had an answer. (This was after only a couple of minutes...it was even worse by the time the doctor came in.)

PEANUTS. No wonder eliminating dairy and soy from my diet didn't make things any better. He's not allergic to either one of those! Fortunately, it's not anaphylactic and we caught it early enough so I doubt it would ever turn into that. And although he didn't react to tree nuts, the doctor told me to stay away from those as well because he could develop that allergy over time if he's exposed to them.

The doctor said eliminating peanuts from my diet alone won't get rid of the eczema, so he prescribed a steroid cream and gave us instructions for a strict bath/lotion regimen that we'll follow until it gets better.

He'll also be on baby Zyrtec until the itching and scratching gets under control. He scratches his head so much that he's pulled all of his hair out except in the back. He also scratches his eyes. The scratching only makes the itching worse, so it's a vicious cycle that has to be stopped. Wouldn't you think this was itchy, too?

Bye bye weekly PB&J's and daily almond milk...

Of all the food allergies he could have had, I feel like peanut is probably easier to avoid than things like dairy, soy, egg or wheat. He'll get to have a cake on his first birthday... just not a Reese's Peanut Butter cake (his daddy's favorite).

I don't love the diagnosis, but I'm thankful to officially and finally have one. No more guessing and wondering. Maybe now our precious baby boy can get some relief and start feeling better.
(And maybe mom and dad can, too.)

Here's to hoping.

Things have been crazy around here, and I feel like I've been going nonstop lately. Yesterday (July 4th) was the first time in who-knows-how-long I laid on the couch...although it only lasted for maybe 10 minutes.

So, our sweet Will is 4 months! I'm not going to lie...time didn't fly by for me from 3 to 4 months as much as it did previously. I'm sure that had something to do with Wayne being gone for 3 weeks and the changes that Will went through behaviorally in that time period. I don't think I ever got around to doing an actual post on Will's sleeping, but he did start sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. He was sleeping 5-7 hours, then by 8 weeks, he was sleeping 8-9 hours. It was amazing! Wayne left to go out of town for work when Will was around 12 weeks, and all of a sudden, he stopped sleeping through the night. I'm not talking he'd wake up once or twice. I mean, he'd wake up 3 to 4 times a night, minimum, allowing me 1.5 to 2 hours of sleep at a time, maximum. Newborn stage. And of course, this would start when Wayne left. This was also the time period that his reflux got worse. We had already seen the GI, but we were still trying to figure out the right meds for him. He didn't gain weight (as in, not a single ounce) for 5 weeks. And last but not least, the car accident also happened while Wayne was out of town. Oh - and I was supposed to return to work the week Wayne left. Thank you, Jesus, that we had already decided I'd take extra leave! I really would not have been able to function at work; I could barely function at home.

I'll move on to the positives, now that I've gotten the negatives out. Will's hand-eye coordination really developed from 3 to 4 months! It started the night of the American Idol finale when I was trying to get video of Will "singing". He kept finding my phone with his eyes (I was trying to not let him see it because he would stop singing if he did), and then he suddenly reached for it and hit it with his hand! The next day in his play gym, he started hitting the hanging toys like crazy.

This is the first day he started hitting the toys.

This was the next day, so you can see how quickly his coordination improved! (Yes, he's in mittens. Yes, I cut AND file his nails, but he still cuts his head and face like crazy.)

He also started talking a lot more. Oh, how I love to hear his sweet voice!! One night, we met my parents for dinner, and he was talking to my dad the whole time. It was so cute! You can't hear the noises he's making in this video, but the faces alone are funny enough to watch.

One of my college besties Melissa came to visit and meet Will. She and Will had the best time together, and he loved giving her his big, open mouth kisses. It was a sweet time for us since she's moving to Sudan this fall for 2 years. She'll be teaching the kids of a missionary family as well as training Sudanese teachers. Please join us in praying for her while she's over there!

Since his hand-eye coordination really kicked in, he started touching my face whenever it was within reach. The best is when he's on his changing table, and he reaches up and touches you and smiles at you. MELTS.MY.HEART.

And as previously posted, he loves sitting in his bumbo! I know I've already put this pic up, but it's too cute to not post again. I love him so much!

He also found his feet. He plays with them all the time now!

This picture has a funny story behind it. My mom stayed with me while Wayne was gone, and one night went in to give Will his pacifier b/c he was being fussy. When she got in there, she couldn't find it. She picked him up and saw that it was in his swaddle! (It's sticking out under his right arm.) She brought him out to show me, and I was laughing so hard when I saw his hand on his face like this, as if he was posing!

He kept it there, and then started smiling when he realized we were laughing at him! I think we might have a comedian in the making...

At his 4-month check-up, he had finally gained a few ounces, but his pediatrician wasn't impressed. We're actually going back for a weight check today. I mentioned to her how he's not sleeping anymore, and there are a couple of things she brought up. First, there's something called the 4-month sleep problems. I'd read about it, heard of it, and even know friends who've dealt with it but was hoping we could bypass the issue. At 4 months, babies brains undergo a major growth spurt. All of the extra activity going on inside of them makes it a lot harder for their brains to relax enough to sleep. For Will, it started with nighttime sleeping, but it has now carried over into naps. The other reason she mentioned is that he could be trying to make up for the calories his body isn't holding onto. I told her I'd feed him when he woke, and to my surprise, he'd take a full feeding each time. Makes sense, honestly. And if his metabolism is anything like his daddy's, that really makes sense.
His eczema has also gotten really bad. His head itches so much that he's constantly scratching it (hence the mittens), and has pulled out all of his hair on the front half of his head. Seriously - he has no hair on the tops and sides, but it's all still in the back, except for one line where he turns his head back and forth when trying to go to sleep.
His doctor has referred us to an allergist to find out exactly what he's allergic to (if anything) to see if we can get the eczema and weight issue under control. We're going tomorrow...and praying for some answers.

Here are his stats from his 4-month check up on 6/21/11:
Weight: 12lbs, 12oz, 11th percentile
Height: 25 inches, 54th percentile
Head circumference: 16.15 inches, 20th percentile

And now, for the 4-month photo shoot :)