Monday, May 12, 2008

Diaper rashes - the scary side of motherhood

The scariest thing I have experienced in the 13.5 months of motherhood is diaper rashes. We are in the throes of another one now. These horrible things come out in the bum area and they spread so darn quickly that before you know if you have a baby that resembles one of those monkeys with the red bottoms you see in the zoo. I have to tell you, of all the things about motherhood - this is the scariest.

Baby M seems to be inclined towards getting diaper rashes. She got her first one at a few weeks old, and since then we've been pretty good at observing and checking her out. As anyone with a "rashy" baby will tell you, Canesten and Zinc Oxide are always with us. This time, the rash was so bad, that our pediatrician started us on 1% Hydrocortizone. I found this particularly unnerving. I mean, here we are with a child whose skin and body is fragile and absorbent and now we have to put steroids on her to cure this redness!

I've done so much research about these rashes now, here's a run down on all our attempts.
Washing: We tried to wash her after every poo, and with Baby M holding the official title of "poo master", this means she gets washed about 7 times a day. I can't say this has helped with the rash, but it has given her a cold. I figured the reason it hasn't helped with the rash is because in our technologically advanced diapers, we really can't tell easily if she has pee-ed a bit, you can only tell if it's a full "pee diaper". So she just kind of sits in the pee and so one really knows.

Changing diapers regularly: This is the one mistake we made in India. She probably had a little pee diaper and since we couldn't tell, we let her stay in it for a hour or two much too long. Add the side effects of tropical summer heat and you've got a perfect recipe for a rash. As soon as we realized this, we have been changing her diapers regularly - at least 10 times a day, but it just doesn't seem to get any better. We've even figure out how to change them in her sleep so she doesn't wake up.

Soap: Of the one thing that has totally confused me about baby products, it is soap. Now, I live under the belief that if a product is used on 100 million babies, as in the case of Baby Johnson baby soap, then it's ok to use on my precious little angel. Well, it turns out that it's not quite so simple. My cousin suggested moving from Baby Johnson to Dove (not the infant soap, the regular one) because it's milder. I did that and for 1 day it seemed to be better, but now, it's the same as before. Today, my cleaning lady, who in my opinion should have her own Health Talk Show on TV instead of cleaning my apartment, because of the incredible knowledge she has (a talent totally wasted because of sad circumstances- but more of that on another blog), told me I should fore go soap all together and use only water. If I really want to use something, use cornstarch mixed with water. I have to admit, this also makes sense. But, am I just giving up one set of chemicals in soap to move to another set in cornstarch.

Au Naturel: We know that the best way to get rid of a rash is to leave her au-naturel. But Baby M loves water (she hasn't been introduced to juice yet) and so along with being a poo-master, she also is a pee-master. While we could leave her open for an hour or so, leaving her open the whole day is simply not a hygienic possibility. I really wonder how people who have small untrained puppies deal with their bowel movements since I've never really seen a puppy with a diaper. There are some valid points to learn from them.

Cloth diapers: Our last hope. Luckily, I no longer have to wash and clean and iron (Thank heavens for this!) - they have perfectly respectable diaper services that do this for you. However, it's no longer as simple as just getting a piece of cloth and tying two pins on it. You now have to get a diaper cover. The reason for dealing with cloth diapers is the breathability of cotton, however, with the covers made of plastic or nylon, it kind of limits the breathability of it all. To make it even more complicated, my pediatrician has recommended AGAINST cloth diapers.

Which leaves me to wonder - What in world am I supposed to do?

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Fish cooked in a delicate Vegetable Broth

Ingredients:
2 filets of fresh fish with skin
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 large clove garlic
1/2 inch piece of ginger
2 carrots finely chopped
2 leeks finely chopped
100g celery root finely chopped
4-5 stalks asparagus
bunch of fresh spinach

Method:
  1. Take 500ml of water in a pan. Add ginger and garlic. Bring to boil for 10 minutes on Medium High flame. Keep covered.
  2. Remove ginger and garlic. Add soy sauce. Add vegetables except asparagus and spinach. Cover and cook on Medium until the vegetables are cooked. Remove 1/2 of the vegetables from the pan.
  3. Add the spinach and asparagus. Add the fish skin side up. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
  4. Serve hot over steamed rice and make sure to pour the broth sauce on top as well.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Rappini with Sesame Seeds

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
1 large bunch Rappini
2 teaspoons light brown sesame seeds
1/2 lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt to taste.

Method:
  1. Cut the stalks off the greens and wash thoroughly.
  2. Heat the frying pan. All the olive oil to it. When oil is hot add the Rappini. Be careful as oil will splatter - it's best to use tongs to add the greens to the oil.
  3. Stir the greens. Cover and cook on Medium High for 4-5 minutes.
  4. Remove in a dish. Add salt, lemon juice and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
  5. Serve right away.