Her First Antibiotic

I am writing this in pink because it matches Lily's medicine. She has had a rash on her arms since about the beginning of the month. At first I thought it was dry skin, so I was just putting lotion on it. It looked a lot like the "rash" she had on her face around mother's day. The one where when I took her to the doctor, he told me it was just dry, sensitive skin. The one that, sure enough, cleared up in less than a day with just normal lotion (not baby lotion, her skin is too sensitive for fragrance.) So I have been lotioning her up to no avail. We thought that maybe it was related some how to her car seat, which has a vinyl-ish cover that doesn't breath. Since it is hella-hot and humid, she gets really sweaty whenever she is in it. We didn't know if the car seat was causing it or just exacerbating it, but definitely she had the rash on points where her skin was in contact with the seat (a little on her leg too). If she wasn't in the car seat for a few days, it would seem to get better. But after going to the pool and using a little bit of sunscreen (approved by the pediatrician) and then the chlorine, it looked horrible on Thursday night. I took her into the doctor on Friday and sure enough, this wasn't just dry, sensitive skin. She has eczema (poor baby has skin like her daddy!). Since she had been scratching at it by rubbing her arms on the changing table, which has a terry cloth cover, and sometimes on blankets when she was lying on her back on one, she ended up with a secondary infection, impetigo. The doctor prescribed her an oral antibiotic to be taken twice daily and a topical ointment to be applied thrice daily. It is already looking a thousand times better. It is hardly noticeable, and she doesn't seem to be rubbing her arms quite as much. I feel like a bad mommy for not taking her in sooner, but I truly thought that it was the dry skin. And other than the rubbing, the little trooper never seemed bothered by it. I guess it is better to take her to the doctor when it is really nothing (like dry skin...hello, lotion!) then wait too long when it is actually something. This is another live and learn moment. I have a feeling there will be a lot of those in the years to come. Hopefully she won't hold my parenting mishaps against me when she is older...
And as for the car seat, I have started putting a receiving blanket under the straps and then putting her in it so none of her skin is in contact with the vinyl. She still gets really warm, but I think no contact with the vinyl helps.