The Harvey Family: Blake

It has been another week of trying to figure out how to get rid of the source of Blake's eczema. It seems like the main sources are either food related or from contact. Currently we don't feed him dairy or soy except there aren't any readily accessible formulas in the US that don't have soy and his current hypoallergenic formula still has some milk protein, it's just pre broken down to be easier on the stomach. If it's food related, the other options that I'll need to cut out are wheat, tree nuts (almond milk), and eggs.

If it is contact related we're trying to gather the materials to rid our home of detergents and switch over to soaps. This is tricky since we'll have to switch hand soap, laundry soap, dish soap, shower soap, and any other household cleaning soaps. It could take months to totally clear the house of all the dust residue from all the detergent dust and leftovers. Even cleaning clothes in the washing machine can take many multiple washes to clean the washing machine itself out as well as getting everything out of the clothes. We found this site to help us on our way: SolveEczema.org We're concerned that if we let it go too long, Blake could end up like their son and that just makes us upset beyond words. We want to be proactive to make sure Blake doesn't have to suffer anymore than he has so far with his itchy skin. Hopefully it turns out to be a food allergy that I can just cut out of my diet, but if not we'll start making changes to the way we clean things around the house. The easiest place to start will be the laundry detergent and hand soaps.

This week, Blake:

went back on Alimentum for a couple days to see if that helped his skin at all. Turns out it didn't help his skin in the least and it made his mood so much worse. We put him back on Nutramigen after that and he's been in a MUCH happier mood.
went to another doctor on Fri to ask about his skin/tummy/congestion troubles and she suggested we see an allergist, GI, and dermatologist (which we already have the GI and dermo scheduled - but we're hoping she can call and get our appointments moved up).
weighed in at 18 lb 4 oz at the doctor with his clothes, drool saturated bib, and probably pee diaper. Still... he's over 18 lb and poor Mimi carries him around for hours each day!
is still on a poop every 2-3 day schedule. Maybe the rice cereal he gets in the mornings is stopping him up?
has been grabbing our faces, hair, and neck skin which is quite painful! He has really strong fingers for pinching now. He likes to grab my ears like he's driving a race car and then bite my nose, neck, or chin. He loves eyeglasses too.
has been getting really close to sitting on his own. He'll sit in the tripod position and can hold his balance for a couple seconds but we have to be close by to catch him when he inevitably falls over. At least it's typically a graceful fall since he's getting a stronger core.
really seems interested in food. I'll walk him around the kitchen after I've made dinner and he looks at the food in the pans and starts smacking his lips. I really want to be able to feed him more solids but we're scared after the sweet potatoes. He has been eating the rice cereal once a day this week and seems to really enjoy it.
likes to be held on his side. Mimi started doing this since he squirms around so much when you try and hold him upright, and it is great for helping him calm down and get ready for his nap! We just have to get his burp cloth under his mouth since he drools all over the place.
tried Aquaphor on his arm after a bath to try and help with the eczema redness and it seemed to help some. It was just one test that we tried on one arm and it looked a bit better than the arm that didn't get it. We left him in his PJ's for a lot on Saturday and it seemed to help his skin, especially his feet. They were still really dry, but not as red or inflamed. We are still trying to figure it out and it is very overwhelming. Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll know more, at least when it comes to food.