The Diaper Rash from Hell

My heart is breaking right now as I sit & listen to my sweet little boy screaming at the top of his lungs "Owwwww!" while his Daddy is changing another horrendous diaper. As I mentioned in my previous post, Nicholas has had diarrhea for about a week now. We have no idea what is causing it. Could be a virus, he could be cutting his 2-year molars... it's anybody's guess. But, it is terrible & is doing terrible things to his sensitive little skin! Last night, I picked up some Boudreaux's Butt Paste at the store. (We usually use Dr. Smith's diaper ointment, which is wonderful & works great, but they didn't have any at the Albertson's near us.) So, I've used Boudreaux's once before & have heard from others that it's great. His rash seems to have gotten slightly better, but not near as healed as I would have liked to see. So, in the meantime, with every dirty diaper, we either stick him in a warm bathtub or listen to him yelling at us that his "tee-tee hurts" while we gently try to wipe it clean. It's an awful feeling, knowing that you are hurting your child. I'd rather leave that to the doctors and nurses and other trained professionals. I want to be the one that gets to hold him & tell him that everything is okay & Mommy is here & that I love him. Instead, I have to use all my strength to hold down his legs & pin down his arms while reassuring him that we will be as quick as possible. I tell him over & over how sorry I am that he is hurting. And, I have to turn away when my eyes start filling with tears, because I feel the need to be strong for his sake.

And then I think... all of this over a simple, non life threatening diaper rash. Parents go through this on a daily basis with their children. They administer all sorts of procedures in order to keep their children healthy & strong. Procedures much worse than having to clean & doctor a raw bottom. My heart goes out to these parents. I would do absolutely anything for the sake of my children, but I am so thankful that my toughest battle right now is a severe diaper rash. I know I will win that battle & it will be over soon!