A New Record!!!

I love new records. Particularly this one. I'm sure some of you are pretty tired of me continually saying that J has another diaper rash. I am too.

Today we hit a new record. Over 48 hours without a diaper rash! It's been over six months since this all started. And ya' know, I could get used to this. No battling to change a diaper, no screaming, no bleeding raw spots, no crying baby, no... you get the idea.

We were going though 2- 4oz tubes of Walmart's version of desitin a day. Basically Then I saw a post by Fitteds and Pockets and Snappis, oh my! that reminded me of her Mailbox Mondays posts. So I asked if she had any suggestions for diaper rash creams/salves. She mentioned three we hadn't tried... so, we got them.

• Boudreaux Butt Paste

It was the first one we used and while it seemed to clear up the rash for a couple changes, it came back. So we moved on to the next one.

• Triple Paste

It was really thick and worked okay at night, as long as we changed his diaper every couple hours... which we were already doing. It worked only so-so during the day. No big improvements.  

• Earth Mama Angel Baby: Angel Baby Bottom Balm

I didn't have high hopes for this one. While we do use a fair amount of herbs, I hadn't noticed that they worked too great for diaper rashes... and this was an 'herbal' salve and I was sure it wasn't going to do a thing... none of the more powerful creams had helped. But... it worked. His raw cheeks healed over and didn't bleed, it started to look pink instead of a fiery red... It almost looks normal!

J likes the balm too. So much that he's been getting into it and rubbing it all over his hands and arms. I don't mind. It's much better than all the other creams he was getting into and rubbing on his hands and all over his changing table. But, it was a two ounce tub and it's almost gone now! No one is complaining about the tea tree oil smell though. I think they've gotten use to it!

Thank you Maria for your suggestions!!!

The Diaper Diaries: The Finish

Finishing up The Diaper Diaries series. J was released on June 6th from the hospital and things have been a whirlwind since.

J was very nervous about walking at first. But the PT (physical therapist) brought by a little walker and he decided that he 'might' try it.

A stop at the hospital library to read a book.

Sunday morning, J started developing a diaper rash. Thankfully coconut oil took care of it for the day. His belly was a bit swollen so we left his diapers on the larger settings.

He wore Thirsties Fab Fitted, Happy Heinys, AppleCheeks and FuzziBunz that day.

What came in handy for us:

Tiny Tush Diaper Liners (though you could use any diaper liner really)... they are large, but they will protect the diaper! It's been a real lifesaver for us since we've been home.

Wet bags! We were washing diapers that morning and didn't have a chance to dry them before coming home. We put the wet diapers in the bag and dried them once we got home.


Diaper rash... It appears that J's diaper rash has finally cleared up (knock on wood). I ended up using Calmoseptine and Sween Critic-Aid Skin Paste because if I just used one of them, it got worse. Hopefully, it will stay away for good!

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. We are so excited to be done with J's ileostomy!

The Diaper Diaries: Day Five

J rockin' his Happy Heinys pocket diaper. (in Silly Monkeys print). He got the okay to start eating and is currently watching Zorro and eating a whole hamburger patty! He is one happy boy... but he still maintains his desire for "pretzels, bowl, please"!

We took J down to the garden here at the hospital. He enjoyed the fresh air and throwing pennies in the fountain! He was tired though by the time we got back to the room and slept for a couple hours.

Some of the clowns here at the hospital stopped by again and blew bubbles for J. We heard from J's nurse today that there is a small chance that J could be release late tomorrow night or early Monday. So we are 'kind of' excited here.

Today he wore: Happy Heinys and FuzziBunz Perfect Size.

What came in helpful for us:

Deo-discs (which we put in the wet bags to keep down the odors)

Wet bags (I don't know what we'd do without a wet bag and one with a handle to hang on the door handle.)

I do have a question for the moms who use a wet bag: Do you have problems with the handle webbing pulling out of the seam?

The drs are planning to cap J's epidural tomorrow morning and we'll see if we can keep his pain under control with oral meds. Then we should be able to get rid of his catheter (which J dislikes).

Please pray that everything will go smoothly with the epidural capping and that we'll be able to take the catheter out. Thank you for all the prayers for J. We really appreciate them!

The Diaper Diaries: Day Four

J has done very well today. He hasn't need extra pain meds at all today and went for a couple rides in the wheelchair! His big thing today has been 'Home'... We would pick him up and he would sign 'Home'. "Sorry baby, we can't go home yet... you need to do this, this and that." and J would sweetly say "oh!"

We changed J from a hospital gown to his favorite shirt. He was so excited to see the ducky on it! The Child Life Specialist here stopped by this morning and said she was going to bring by a surprise later. She came back a little later with a super soft green blanket that J has apparently decided to take with him everywhere!
We also hung up J's Safari animals from Fandangling on the bed and IV pole. J loves having them near and twirling them around by the ribbon!

Diapers:

He used Happy Heinys, Thirsties Fab Fitted and AppleCheeks today.

I was kind of wishing that the Happy Heinys had leg gussets. Especially since now things are moving through, his stool is pretty liquid-y. However, with the aplix tabs the Happy Heinys are excellent to use over his incisions.

We washed diapers last night and I was really disappointed to see that the Thirsties Fab Fitted aplix tabs stuck to the AppleCheeks diapers and we got a bunch of fuzzies when we pulled the aplix tabs off the AppleCheeks. I haven't had a single problem with the Happy Heinys laundry tabs and that makes me wish that the laundry tabs for the Thirsties Fab Fitted were bigger.

He's in a AppleCheeks diaper for tonight. I particularly love the AppleCheeks since I know that if he has liquid-y stool it won't go out the sides of the diaper and make a mess. His nurse tonight loved the Bummas and the Happy Heinys print diaper (Silly Monkeys). She was impressed that we were using cloth diapers and wipes for J.

What's come in helpful for us today:

The Aplix tabs of the Happy Heinys (allowing us to keep it loose for J)

Bummas (cleaning around the foley catheter gently)

AppleCheeks (keeping the mess in the diaper and still allowing us to keep it loose enough for J)

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! Thank you for all the prayers and please keep them coming!

The Diaper Diaries: Day Three

This is J just after surgery last night.

We only used Thirsties Fab Fitted today. Actually we only changed his diaper once today since he does have a catheter. He's been sleeping most of today, but did enjoy a visit from friends who drove up to see him.

For those who are wondering, J will be in the hospital till this Tuesday at least. There are several things the doctors want to see happen first before he will be released. He's has been picking up some interest in various things... primarily Superman and Zorro. He did ask for ice cream earlier!

Thank you for all the prayers!

The Diaper Diaries: Day Two

Today, J had his surgery to get rid of his ileostomy. He went into surgery late, but he was back in the room as of 8:50pm. He wasn't in any pain, but he was feeling okay enough to ask for something to eat! He's currently settled watching Superman and snuggling his momma!

J wore Fuzzibunz and Thirsties Fab Fitted today. We put him in a Fab Fitted for going to surgery and made sure to let the nurses there know not to throw the diaper away. The group of nurses taking J back were fine with the cloth diaper. But I did notice that the nurse who brought him back wasn't quite sure about cloth diapers and labeled them as 'undergarments'.

They did put J in a sposie down in the OR, that looked remarkably like a chux pad cut in the shape of a diaper! He's back in a Thirsties Fab Fitted for tonight and his nurse (same from last night) remarked that the Fitted looked very comfortable and that it would be easy to keep it loose so it wouldn't press on the incisions.

J was NPO (nothing by mouth) from 10 pm last night and started to beg for apple juice as the day wore on. Thankfully, some of the clowns were making their rounds on the floor and kept J amused for 45+ minutes. We got a couple pictures of J dancing and a video... He's dancing with Momma in the picture above.

Just for clarification, I'm J's sister and I usually come along when he goes to the hospital or clinic to handle most of his cares (diapers, ostomy bags, etc...). We're taking turns staying with J at the hospital and coming back to the Ronald McDonald House. Didn't want y'all to think that just one person was staying with J and running back and forth doing everything... Frankly, that would be exhausting with everything going on and we do try to have a family member with J all the time.

We're not washing diapers tonight, since he didn't go through many today. We will definitely be washing them tomorrow though.

What came in helpful today:

Thirsties Fab Fitted... primarily because it was soft and there were aplix tabs so that we could loosen it or tighten it, depending on what J needed at the time.

Thank you for all the prayers for J's surgery. We appreciate them so much!

The Diaper Diaries: Day One

It's the first Diaper Diaries post. J is currently sleeping in the hospital bed and Superman is playing on the TV (Superman is one of J's favorite heroes). Me? I am tired! It's been a long day here and tomorrow is set to be even longer!

Today, J wore AppleCheeks and FuzziBunz diapers. We've figured out a few simple measures for using cloth diapers and being able to weigh them for the nurses. Both of these diapers we've been able to adjust to allow for the GoLytely (what we're using to clean out his intestines) coming through and filling his ostomy bag. The FuzziBunz diaper did leak once when all the liquid from

the mucousfistulagram test came through his colon and I didn't change it in time. (don't ask me what that means... too tired to remember right now.)

We are making use of a dry-erase board to keep track of the dry diaper weight and then subtracting it from the wet diaper. Our nurse brought in a digital diaper scale that is very handy.

The wet bags and wet/dry bag are coming in handy for holding dirty diapers and stuffed diapers. Right now, the wet bag is holding the dirty diapers. We're planning on washing everyday, so the diapers don't get smelly. We do have a room at the local Ronald McDonald House and are going to be taking turns staying with J and going back to RMH to prepare food and wash diapers, clothes, etc.

There's a small closet in the room with enough room for diapers, inserts, bummas, etc...

So far the nurses have been fine with us using cloth diapers. J's tech tonight actually used a diaper service with her baby 16 years ago. They used prefolds and diaper pins. His nurses today thought his diapers was so cute and J loved showing them off!

What's come in handy for us so far:

a digital scale

large wet bags

erase board (and marker)

If you have any questions that I haven't addressed... just leave a comment and I'll try to catch it in tomorrow's post.

Introducing The Diaper Diaries and an update on J's surgery

As some of you know, J is scheduled to have surgery to get rid of his ileostomy (not a colostomy) tomorrow... providing of course that everything is good with his intestines. J has had a ileostomy since April 2007, just a couple months after being diagnosed with leukemia.

Today, J was admitted to the same hospital that he's been coming to for chemotherapy. We've unpacked all his stuff here and now, we're just waiting.

J is going to be wearing cloth diapers through the hospital stay. We brought our entire stash of 35 diapers with us. During his stay, we (or I) will be taking pictures and posting daily about using the cloth diapers in the hospital.

I will be adding a tab on the navigational bar that will link to all the Diaper Diary posts.

If you have any questions about using cloth diapers in the hospital, etc., just leave a comment on this post and I'll do my best to answer them.