We have a darling girl in our home whom we once dubbed "Crabby Abby". Oh my. I'd never had nor been around a grumpier, more unhappy baby in my life. She cried for the first 15 months of her life, until we finally could put our finger on the source of the problem-- painful eczema caused by allergies to citrus and eggs.
The hardest thing for me to learn in regards to eczema is that it doesn't have a cure. One of the first people I spoke to told me wisely, "You'll never beat it, you just have to learn to manage it." Once I came to grips with that fact, I set to work trying to make Abby's life as comfortable as possible.
First, the allergies. I wanted to get to the root of the problem rather than just slap some steroids onto her skin. She was a baby, after all, and I knew there had to be a better way. We took her to an allergist who pin-pointed the trouble-makers as citrus and eggs. We immediately eliminated all sources of citrus in her diet, including citric acid which is a preservative used in just. about. everything. It wasn't easy. When she was around five years old, she announced that she wanted to eat eggs and so we told her she could, but that she had to realize what the consequences might be. That really was a turning point in her care because she took the reigns and has nicely managed it on her own ever since.
In addition to eliminating and now allowing her to choose when and if to eat the foods that tend to cause her to flare up, we've made a few other changes. She sleeps with a humidifier going all winter long, because the cold, dry weather exacerbates the issue. I put a few drops of tea tree oil in the water to keep the humidifier sanitized, too.
We used pure coconut oil for several years on her patches of eczema, but this past year we've used Miracle Skin Salve exclusively. The coconut oil was soothing but the Miracle Skin Salve not only soothes, it heals. Amazing. We passed some on to my mother-in-law who has suffered from eczema for 75 years and she has raved about it, too.
Lastly, we try very hard to limit the time Abby is in hot water, and we don't use soap. The combination of the two sends her into scratching fits that can be heard down the hall from her bedroom. Again, she manages this and aside from a gentle reminder every once in awhile from me, I really don't tell her how long she should bathe or how hot the water should be. It looks as if eczema will always be a part of her life, and the better she becomes at managing it herself, the easier it will be to live with.
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Thanks for your votes, friends. In what was a very fun few weeks of voting, my husband’s blog won Best Homeschool Dad Blog (he had some pretty heart-wrenching pleas-for-votes posts), and Preschoolers and Peace won Best Homeschool Mom Blog! I know some of you were lobbying for us and it was a lot of fun to have been nominated this year.
So here’s the really fun part—I am going to be giving away most of the prizes beginning in January! Sound good? There were so many neat contributions to the prizes, and I think it only too fun to share them with all of you!
Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the week ahead.
~Kendra
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This is the magnet that graces our fridge. Little did I know when my mom bought it for me last month that it was to be prophetic.
We are expecting a baby in May! Yes, that's right- MAY. And yes, the current baby is just seven months old. And yes, we were shocked beyond belief.
If you didn't already know, my husband has quite a sense of humor...
While at the aquarium, we remarked over and over at the marvelous creativity of the Maker of all...
We had a little funeral here last week. Our nine-year-old's beloved "Minn" died unexpectedly, and he was one sad boy. So the children and I gathered ourselves for a funeral by the pond. The oldest boy read a eulogy (I had to keep from giggling) and we said our goodbyes.
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One of the girls dressed for the service...
Minn's sad caretaker...
And Minn's roommate Timmy said goodbye, too...
