Bleeding Diaper Rash, Woe is Ben

Today's off to a slow, dreary start.

Ben's poor widdle butt has a bleeding diaper rash. We changed his diaper when we put him in jammies last night, and we checked for wetness and odor before we put him in his crib for the night. He seemed fine. But he kept waking up screaming. At first I thought it was night terror, because he was inconsolable. That didn't seem to be it, though.

It was a rough night for everybody in the house. This morning, I changed Ben's diaper while being serenaded with his screeches and pleading sobs. His skin was dark red, and it wasn't until I was wiping off the poo that he really started screaming hard. As I wiped, his skin bled. I felt so bad. I tried to clean him as best as I could, as gently as possible, but I knew that I had to get all the poop off of his skin. I let him air dry for a while until I was sure his skin was dry and the blood stopped oozing.

Then Triple Paste, our household's chosen "cure" for diaper rash. After he was diapered again, we went and cuddled on the living room couch for half an hour. All he wanted to do was lay against me and watch cartoons with his butt in the air. An hour later when we were getting him ready for daycare, his rash seemed a little bit better. There were only a couple bleeding spots.

Poor widdle guy. I know it happens sometimes, and it's just a part of having a baby, but geez, it's hard to listen to his pain.

If it's not all better by tonight, we'll be soaking his butt in some oatmeal and baking soda water.

I'm have the beginnings of a chest cold. I can't breathe very deeply, so I'm out of breath all the time. I have the urge to cough, but haven't the strength to actually do it. Very uncomfortable. Chester is trying to convince me to just take the day off and go home and sleep. I might.