I went to my Walmart store around 10am to get some supplies, and saw several of my colleagues who were eager for the latest news. Ed had almost gone through the two packs of disposable daipers we had, and though we're going to cloth daiper eventually, we aren't quite ready yet to give up disposables for good.
In the afternoon/evening we all rested in our various ways, and then Ed had his most unusual experience yet. We wanted to get his hand and foot prints for his baby book, and I had a kit from Walmart with water soluble ink for the purpose. He took it in his stride at first, but by the time the fourth appendage was getting inked he rebelled, so we have two feet and one hand prints so far. A wipe off and then a sponge bath followed, and he expressed his concerns by pooping in his towel wraps. They washed clean, but his point was taken under advisement by Management.
Friday, day eight, and Beth was finally allowed to use the stairs - her semi-bedrest was over. We celebrated by dressing Ed in a smart onesie, pants and socks, and bringing him downstairs looking very grown up. About n hour later, disaster! Ed had developed an angry rash on his upper arms, neck, and as we discovered upon undressing him, chest and back. Now, Edward himself took all this with the calm, philosophical attitude of Pooh Bear, but we were in a mild panic. What was the rash? An internet search brought up a lot of things we knew it wasn't, but no definite culprit. It could only be:
1) the onesie itself
2) the washing soap the onesie was washed in,
3) something Beth ate coming through in her breastmilk, or
4) heat rash?
We could remove the sources of 1), 2) and 4) immediately, and changed him back into one of the swaddles he'd been in all week, and cooled the room (it was up to 77F due to the gas fire being lit, and we though it was cosy!). It didn't look quite like the pictures of heat rash on the internet, however. As to food, Beth had eaten nothing particularly different recently, but we went through the list for clues.
Then we examined the onesie. It was cotton, and he's been in cotton all week, so the material shouldn't be giving him a skin reaction. This one was a second-hand one from a shop in Portland, but had been washed by Beth, as had all our second-hand clothing, cloth diapers and liners too.
Well, all the second-hand stuff would have to be rewashed, several times, to remove any unwanted residues. Our own swaddles had been washed in our usual liquid detergent several times, so we weren't worried about that brand, or new clothes washed in it, but we kept him in the loose swaddles all day.
It was garbage day, but our neighbor hadn't put his garbage out so I popped round to remind him, and then with his permission put a lot of dirty diaper bags in his bin. Just in time, the waste truck arrived as I got back into my garage, then proceeded to knock over the daiper bin, and knock a small branch off a tree.
The garbage man wasn't having the best day either.
Sleep, wake, feed, daiper check/change; the usual rhythm of life went on. Has this little guy really only been with us a week? He's already a part of the family that we can't imagine life without him, and the cats are getting used to the extra presence. Even Ghost, who trusts nobody except Beth and me, is starting to stick around and relax again.
Chunky soup over freshly made mashed potatoes for lunch. Sleep, wake, feed, daiper check/change. In the afternoon I had a sleep in the bed while Beth nursed Edward, then in the evening Beth went upstairs for a rest while I watched Ed, and put on "Tora Tora Tora" to watch, a well known soothing movie for a half-American infant.
By around 8pm we identified Ed's rash as definitely coming from the onesie, and therefore presumably from a washing detergent that was still in the fibers. The rash was limited to areas touched by the onesie, the delineation particularly distinct on his upper arms where he sported a reverse farmer's tan.
We want to use cloth diapers, and now we were both mobile Beth showed me the various systems, and we put one on Ed. Two changes later, and he's showing the same red rash on his tummy below his belly button, that was previously unaffected by the onesie. Curses, the daipers and liners seem also to be contaminated. Back into a disposable, and those go on the list for washing and re-washing.
Any parents who have had a similar rash (reddened skin, with raised whiteheads) on an infant, we'd appreciate any input on how you protected your child. Meantime we're re-triple washing everything we suspect, which is essentially everything that we got secondhand.
The last event of the evening was a bath, partly to try to ease Ed's rash, and partly so we could ink his remaining left hand for a print in his baby book. The inking was a partial success. Ed having got wind of the deal was mostly keeping his fist tight closed, but we got something. His reaction to the bath was initially negative, but he soon realised it was quite a nice feeling. With a fan heater keeping the bathroom warm, he lay still and enjoyed the dribbles and dips, though getting out of the cooling water and into Great Aunt Irene's Duck towel still produced some complaints.
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