Caught with my pants down

Yesterday my husband and I took our daughter to her one year doctor's appointment. I really love her doctor and I enjoy learning how she is doing from an outsider's point of view. My husband was updating paperwork as I took Baby J to get weighed and measured. 

Baby J was hesitant to stay on the scale without holding on to me; she's just recently become super clingy in strange places and around people she doesn't know. It took a bit of maneuvering to get her weight, but lying her down to measure her height was easy. Go figure. For those curious: she's in the 80th percentile for height and in the 50th for weight-she doesn't get either of those stats from me.

As I pick Baby J up and carry her back to the private room, something terrible and horrifying happens to me. My shorts fall off. No, I am not kidding. They just fell straight to the floor. I couldn't believe it. First, we are still in the hallway, and the door to the lobby is wide open. My bare buns are hanging out because *TMI alert* I'm wearing a thong which is my usual undergarment. As I realize what has happened, I shimmy to the room (luckily it's the first one so I didn't have to go too far) and put my bare buns to the wall. I tried to pull them up as inconspicuously as possible as I backed into the examination room. It was not easy with Baby J in my arms and while trying not to bend over and expose more of my nakedness. The poor nurse-she was probably just as horrified, but laughed with me during this horribly embarrassing moment. 

Now, you might wonder, "Bridget, why would your pants just fall off?" Well, here comes the cheapo side of me. I have lost a good deal of weight since two summers ago. Last summer I was a very pregnant woman who only wore her husband's basketball shorts which fit on her big belly around the house and just nice cotton undies after baby arrived. I didn't go out much last summer. Even though I lost a ton after Baby J arrived, nothing really fit right, so I was super excited to have clothes that I could put on and not see a muffin top over the edge after getting them zipped. Actually, most of my shorts I'm able to pull up without unzipping at all now. I like it that way. I'm not lazy, but it makes me feel better. 

Anyway, I knew this particular pair was big, but not 'fall off my butt in the middle of the doctor's office' big. I know I need to buy some new shorts, but I need to lose more weight and I don't want to buy a pair I can only wear for a short time. (Not that I'm having any luck losing the weight as my obsession with chocolate and sweet treats has overcome this need.) I am just super cheap. After my husband got a good laugh, he said we should go shopping afterwards. Score! 

Did I buy the shorts I tried on? No. They weren't even on sale.

Not the best picture of me, but here I am two weeks before this event occurred in my baggy shorts.

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Ammonia Attacks!

My baby had a stuffy nose one night a couple of weeks ago and I bought a humidifier for her room to help her breathe. Seems like a simple addition, but when that thing is on, her diapers smell so strong of ammonia in the morning. Disgusting!! It makes me glad to live in Arizona, where I don't have to worry about humidity. I can only imagine what I would have to deal with if I was back in Dallas!

Then one day, this mysterious and horribly red rash appeared on baby J's bum. It arrived out of nowhere, and my usual treatment for any redness, coconut oil, wasn't cutting it. It was time for me to buy some actual diaper rash cream. I wanted something cloth diaper safe and easy to get, so after reading many posts on Babycenter and on a cloth diaper chat group on Facebook, I decided to get California Baby Diaper Rash Cream which is easy to find at Target. 

 

 As a self declared cheapskate, I was not happy with the price, ($10.49 for 4oz.) but I can't stand a red, rashy bum on my little baby, so I bought it and I bought some California Baby Diaper Area Spray as well. 

Baby J's nine month well check just happened to be the same day, so after my run to Target, we headed to the doctor. The doctor said it looked like ammonia burn-something I had never even heard of. Yes, my diapers smelled a bit more than usual before washing, but I didn't know I would have to worry about them affecting her bum! Oh my! 

The doctor suggested stripping them, as she used cloth with her young babies, and then she checked out my new rash cream I just bought. She was glad to see it was absent of all the extra crap so many diaper creams have and she watched as I put the first application on.

24 hours later, Baby J's rash was all gone! Amazing! I have also stripped my diapers and we are rash free over a week later. I hate having to go through this process of determining what has caused a rash, but I'm so excited when I figure out the problem and find a solution!

Of course, I will have to use that humidifier in the future, but I will now be better prepared to either wash my diapers more often or strip them all of the yucky ammonia!

Cheers to rash free bums!

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Going Bananas!

A couple of weeks ago, I went to change a stinky diaper and I found the grossest poo since my daughter first began solids. It was almost a blowout which made me so glad I use cloth! 

After cleaning up the bombed area, I had to go use the diaper sprayer for the very first time. I had been so lucky for the last three months of solid food and now I had to face the inevitable. Disgusting, but necessary. Before cleaning the diaper though, I decided to take a picture and send it to my husband, Lee, at work-just so he knew what I was dealing with at home. 

Lee and I debated what could have caused this. We decided it must have been the black beans I gave her when we went to Chipotle for dinner the night before. Sure enough, she had another explosion, and after a quick inspection, those little black beans were there. 

For a couple of days, these types of diapers appeared and had to be dealt with. I got worried it could be some sort of illness, so we called the doctor and took her in.

What an interesting experience to say the least! Trying to explain baby poo to the doctor was not an easy task! 

Dr: Was it more like water or peanut butter? 

Me: In between.

Dr: Was it like apple sauce? 

Me: Kind of, but not that runny. 

Dr: What do her normal poops look like?

Lee: Twinkies

Dr: Are they soft or are they hard?

I answer soft and Lee answers hard.

Dr: If you squished them with your finger, would they crumble or are they more like peanut butter?

Me: They would squish if I were to stick my finger in there.

Dr: So her poops are normally...

Lee: Like a Snickers

Me: Could we please stop using food I like to eat to describe her poops?

Dr: If the poops aren't watery, it's not diarrhea.

Lee: Show her the picture.

I bust out my phone and find the picture of the very first explosion our baby had. The doctor is very excited we took a picture and upon inspecting it she tells us this is in the normal range for bowel movements. This is not diarrhea. If we want her to stop having these types of bowel movements, we needed to go back to the diet she had previously eaten. 

So I thought: What has changed in her diet?? I came to the conclusion that, among other things, she hadn't had as many bananas as usual lately, so I decided to buy some.

As soon as she had a banana, her diaper changes were normal again! I didn't need to use the sprayer, I could just plop that thing in the toilet and flush it away. This was good. I was beginning to worry about what to do because Jaelyn was starting to take an interest in the toilet, and I cannot be having that!

The bad thing is, I'm out of bananas again. Time to go grocery shopping!  

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