Peanut was back in Iowa City last Thursday for her post-surgery checkup. The schedule was three-fold. Peanut met with her surgical team for a recovery follow-up. She met with her GI doctor for a routine check-up. And, she met with her wound care nurse for some special attention for a horrible case of diaper rash.

With Peanut’s incision slowly healing, her blood work on the right track, and her appetite coming back in a big way the previous week (she’s gained a pound and a half since being discharged following the surgery), the doctors’ main concern was Peanut’s diaper rash. We were warned prior to Peanut’s surgery that a bad diaper rash would follow. Peanut’s bottom had never been exposed to a dirty diaper so her skin didn’t have the chance to slowly adjust like a typical baby would. Additionally, the stool in short gut kids is more acidic – gasoline on a fire. We took every piece of advice we could find and tried just about every type of diaper rash cream out there – and even mixed our own (thank you to many people for the suggestions), but Peanut’s 14-16 dirty diapers a day were just too much for her skin. We’ll save you from any pictures, but we’re not talking about a red bottom – this is full on broken skin/bleeding patches. Remember when you skinned your knees on concrete as a kid? Now imagine that on a baby’s butt.

The solution? A detailed three layer diaper cream regimen that includes a stoma powder, burn wound cream and – under the guidance of Peanut’s medical team – we have started adding Metamucil to four of her green bean shakes every day. I know what you’re thinking, but the type of fiber found in Metamucil also helps slow everything down in the intestines. Slowing things down helps Peanut absorb more and poop less frequently. Peanut’s dirty diaper count had dropped from 17 on her worst day last week, to 12 on Saturday and just 9 on Sunday. Math like that means more time for the skin to heal between diaper changes.

Tickle, Tickle…

The crazy diaper rash will be something we battle as long as Peanut is in diapers. The good news is that with it under control for now, she’s much happier and back to playing as a 16 month old should. At this point it looks like she’s put the set-backs of the last few months behind her and is ready to start growing again. Saturday night marked the first time since some time in August that Peanut slept through the night without waking up sick, hungry, or dirty.

As thick as thieves…