Our First Steroid Free Day

Finally...bebis' skin is almost back to normal and we have our first steroid free day. Diapering has been much easier since I only need to apply moisturizer and bebis is not scratching himself silly. What a difference!

Hoping and praying that this is going to be the norm going forward...

Our First Picnic!

Beautiful weather...mid 70s with low humidity and ample of sunshine. Took bebis to Meadowlark Gardens and he had a great time rolling on the blanket. Did we say photo op? :)

And the best news of all...his flare up is gone and his beautiful soft skin is back. Needless to say, he is in a great mood!!

Perfect day.

9-month visit

So we are doing the 9-month wellness visit a bit earlier this time due to bebis' first upcoming international travel (yay)! All seems well, except he is a bit anemic (could it be due to the two rounds of blood test? Poor guy also had his first MMR shot. He was a trooper though. I am proud of him.

Now we need to get his iron supplements...uhmm, perhaps we should add meat to his diet! :) Did we say moooooo?

What about work?

So a decision will need to be made soon in terms of work arrangement. Would I continue to stay at home and take care of bebis? Or would I return to work and get someone to take care of him? Should we take him to day care? Or should we hire a nanny (we know how "great" the last one worked out...)?

Apparently, taking a year break does not make the decision any easier. If anything, having more understanding (and still not coming to terms with his condition) makes it even harder. Would I ever trust anyone else to take care of my child? Knowing how picky I am...probably not. If we send him to day care, would he get the same amount of attention as he would 1:1? Probably not. Would someone be able to watch him like a hawk to make sure he would not scratch himself silly and make the eczema worse? (See...I have no hope of the condition improving in three months...and it doesn't take much to crack his skin and make it bleed)

But then if we continue to keep him at home, would he be able to develop the necessary social skills? I know mine suck; according to my mom, I refused to share any toys with anybody else when I was little...and I didn't particularly like interacting with anyone either. See, I developed an attitude way back when I was young. And I don't want bebis to be like me.

I know parenthood is not easy. And I know there are going to be many more obstacle courses that we would need to overcome in the years to come. I'd just tackle one at a time...I just don't know what to do with the one in front of me.

Spoke too soon!

Of course as luck would have it, the little guy is flaring up again. Could it be the food from Cosi (hummus?), or Mon Ami Gabi (but then it was just salmon and I thought I ordered it w/o all the known allergens already)? Or is it just...nature of the beast? (Hate that)

Just right when we thought we were on the right track...it started w/ the legs three days ago, and it is slowly spreading its way. Though not as much as it were last time around.

We are now using a more potent steroid with Vanicream. I don't like either of this, but it doesn't seem like we have any other options. We are going to follow the doctor's recommendations, for a change.

Poor guy...let's hope we made the right decision for him. I am still hanging onto the hope that one day, we will see light at the end of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, we are taking him in for the 9-month wellness visit tomorrow. And he will be getting the MMR shot ahead of schedule due to our travel in two weeks. From everything I have read, he would likely have a flare up again due to the vaccine.

Great...