Uh-oh, contagion!

Yeah, Zadie has been a little cranky lately, especially about diaper changes. She's been yelling "No wipe me with a rag! Be gentle! Be nice to me! It hurts my feelings!" She did have what looked like a minor case of diaper rash, so we had been putting a barrier cream on, but I didn't think it was a big deal.

In a related note, last week I wore some makeup (foundation) after not wearing any in a long, long time. The next day, my jawline was a little broken out, so I put on MORE make-up to cover that. By that evening, I had a full-fledged itchy rash. Today, almost a week later, the itchy rash has spread all the way up to my temples on both sides of my face. I tried cortizone, allergy medicine, and calendula gel, and nothing had any effect.

Last night, Zadie woke up after being asleep briefly and started yelling "I hurt! I hurt!" I gave her some Tylenol and some food (she hadn't eaten her dinner), and then I put her back in bed. Suspecting an ear infection, I called the advice nurse at Kaiser for an appointment, which we got for this morning. She woke up again quickly. She was super fussy, begging to nurse, and seemed to be in a lot of pain. Although she slept from 11:15 to about 4, that was about it. The rest of the night she needed to be held. She never could exactly tell me what hurt, but when I asked if it was her vagina and patted her over the diaper, she howled in pain. I then figured the diaper rash must have been very painful, too.

Cut to this morning -- Mom takes Zadie to the doctor, who determines that she has TWO infections, the ear infection I suspected and a staph infection in her diaper area. My mom, who is faster on the uptake than I am (thank goodness), said "My daughter has had a rash on her face for a week that she thought was an allergy..." The doctor said "She needs to see her doctor."

So, I probably have a staph infection on my face, and Zadie has one on her butt. What a pair, huh? There's a lot of hand-washing and antibacterial gel and antibiotic ointments and liquids going on around here, and probably more once my doctor checks her email.

By the way, being tired from a night of holding a sick baby is NOTHING compared to actually hearing your baby scream "I hurt! I hurt!" and not being able to alleviate it.

Of course, given my friend's recent loss, just having my sweet baby feels like the world's biggest blessing, cranky, screaming, sleepless, and perfect.