So Now the Detective Work Begins...

After thinking about it I decided not to use Aquaphor on Ruby 8 times a day. The dr. had mentioned Cetaphil lotion as being really good and I already had it at home so this is what I decided to do. I cover her head to toe (skipping the fingers because she likes to suck on them and that would taste yucky) in Cetaphil lotion. If she has any areas of eczema I will also apply some aquaphor to those. I am also still using the hydrocortisone but mainly just on her most itchy areas (head and legs).

I put another call in to the pediatrician this morning because now Ruby has another issue which has pretty much validated my thinking that there is an allergy issue going on here. The poor baby has a nasty cough. Her coughing jags usually end with about 2-3 sneezes. Her nose has started running and her eyes are red rimmed and so watery and itchy that she can barely keep them open at times. When she is drinking her bottle she has to keep stopping to cough so yesterday she didn't even finish 4 out of the 6 bottles she had. I have been giving her the Benadryl that the dr. told me I could give her for her itching but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick (or at least it doesn't last very long with the relief it does provide).

The dr. called me back and said I could increase the Benadryl to 1/2 tsp. but that it may not work either. He said between her skin issues and now this we are dealing with an allergy to something but we don't know what. I've been saying that for weeks...it's nice to finally hear the doctor say it so certain people will stop telling me I am just worrying too much (ahem...my husband). Don't get me wrong, the last thing I wanted was to be right about her having any kind of allergy but I've been feeling like I'm spinning my wheels trying to find out what is going on with her when something very obviously IS going on. Now that the dr. has made this determination, I feel like I will finally have some help in finding the culprit of my poor baby's misery. This is where I start using my detective skills (from my P.I. days) to figure out what to do. Hopefully we won't have to say goodbye to the cats!

Ruby is napping right now but I'll post a picture later of her poor pitiful self so you can see what I mean about her eyes.