First off I've been so blessed by your kind words, prayers, offers to watch my kids--thank you all SO MUCH! Kaitlyn's responding to the antibiotics (though of course not thrilled to be woken up around midnight to take them--this every-eight-hours business is brutal!), and the best part is that FINALLY, after MONTHS of battling an insanely itchy, red, awful diaper rash, it is responding to the steroid cream the doctor prescribed! It still itches her, however, but it looks better than it's looked in several months. I can't believe it, like I can actually see SKIN there now and not just red.
I've been doing a TON of research online the last couple of days, looking at immune disorders, obscure syndromes, etc. and thinking about Kaitlyn's symptoms in hopes of compiling some questions for when we see the specialists next week. Every syndrome I've found just doesn't seem to fit Kaitlyn very well. Recurring staph infections are a common symptom for a lot of them, but they all pretty much include lots of symptoms that quite frankly she DOESN'T have...strange facial features, repeat pneumonia, lung problems, heart problems, low T-cell count. In fact, for pretty much all of them, the most common indicators are things she DOESN'T have.
What I DID find, however, was something called atopic dermatitis (most common type of eczema)...for which she literally has EVERY symptom. Including recurring bacterial infections that are happening right where the aggravated, itchy skin is. Our pediatrician told us that her diaper rash that she's had for months is not itself bacterial, that a bacterial infection will hurt but not itch. He also said that he believes the bacteria is reinfecting that area because it's always so raw and ripped up. He tried treating it with anti-fungal creams a few times, but it didn't respond to them AT ALL, so now he's prescribed a steroid cream and it's totally responding. (Turns out atopic dermatitis is often treated with steroids.) Kaitlyn also has scaly, rough patches on her arms and legs, and currently her cheeks, and she's had cradle cap for months also. Guess what, those are all symptoms of atopic dermatitis. I have a history of allergies (pollen, pet dander, eczema), and we have some allergies/asthma in our families--and guess what, those are all indicators of atopic dermatitis. My pediatrician also is thinking about a possible zinc deficiency--which, indeed, can bring on dermatitis. Kaitlyn has EXTREMELY sensitive skin, always has, very susceptible to breaking out in a rash from detergent, heat, certain fabrics...also an indicator.
SO, I am about 99.99% convinced that even if there is some random immune problem going on, she has nasty eczema. I'm not sure why she's lost weight, although zinc deficiency can cause this (you can have a deficiency in spite of a proper diet--it can happen during periods of rapid growth, therefore it can happen to infants because they grow so quickly.) It can also cause your immune system to be suppressed. The weight loss does coincide with when she started crawling/eating solids and I wonder if maybe I wasn't feeding her enough solids or something weird like that? Although she's fallen off her growth curve, she is currently right about where Anna was on the growth curve. At any rate the weight loss makes me feel very concerned (the pediatrician too.) Though goodness knows that she eats/nurses a lot and has energy to spare!
Anyway those are my findings. I kind of feel like a dork doing all this "investigating", but I'm thoroughly convinced that YOU are your child's best advocate and just because you didn't go to medical school doesn't mean you can't be informed and play a large role in your child's healthcare.
Oh, and I'm so grateful that Al Gore came up with the internet! What would we do without this amazing contribution of his??? (Hee, hee.....)
In spite of Anna's being sick, we've had fun this weekend. Saturday morning I took Yosef, Biniam and Kaitlyn to a friend's birthday party in SLO. It was so fun! Anna was really disappointed that she missed it, but she had lots of fun at home with Daddy. (Anna tells me that they played a chicken video game and "Don't Spill the Beans.")
Later that evening I decided to involve the kids in a cookie-making project. We all made my friend 
I love simple family days where I'm reminded that this is what life's about. Way too often I find myself wishing that this or that were different, but ultimately, it doesn't get better than this. It really, really doesn't.
Not ten minutes after our growth group Biblestudy left on Wednesday night, we heard panicked screaming and crying coming from Anna's room. We ran (yes, ran!) in there to find that she'd just thrown up! She had a fever, threw up again a couple hours later, and had a couple more times where she thought she was going to but didn't. Needless to say, Mommy is pretty sleepy! Ever since then she's had a fever and been vomiting on and off using the nifty basin thing we gave her. She keeps a cup of water in her room too and manages her illness quite well, if I do say so myself! (She's three going on about twenty three I think.)
When I was growing up, whenever I was sick, my parents always pampered me and made me feel so cozy and nurtured. This is something I really want to do with our kids, too. So Thursday I made Anna a special "bed" on the couch, where she got to eat her breakfast. I made jello, she watched Cinderella, talked on the phone to Grandma Perruzzi, and got lots of rest. She's always been a great patient--no whining, in good spirits. Kaitlyn gave her lots of smiles that day, and Wednesday night after Anna threw up, Biniam woke up and wanted to pray for her. So sweet!
At any rate, we're making the most of it and enjoying the extra cuddling, vegging out, and watching way too much Seinfeld! 
After our appointment with him we headed to our pediatrician "Joe's" office where he took a culture (hooray)--we'll hear back in a few days. He recommended a special soap to put in her bathtub and we talked about antibiotics, etc. The danger with these skin infections is ultimately if it gets inside her body--into her GI tract, etc. (people have recently been in the news for dying from a MRSA infection.) He seemed to know a lot about antibiotics and said that methicillin-resistant staph often basically have to be blasted with combinations of antibiotics to get rid of it. He put Kaitlyn on some strong stuff and for a longer duration, so we'll see. Meanwhile she's happy as a clam and seemingly unphased by the whole thing (until you go to change her diaper or give her a bath, then she cries and wants to itch, poor thing.) I hate that she has to be on antibiotics in the first place, but MRSA is a huge deal and it's not something to mess around with.
Lately I've found myself completely exhausted, emotionally drained, and weary of this whole thing. I sometimes find that I'm angry with myself for not being able to make it go away; it's like, I'm her mother and I'm supposed to protect her! But she is so happy and full of energy these days, and that makes me feel hopeful and encouraged. I was just telling Kevin today that she is so just "one of the kids" now, playing in the toy basket, cruising all over the house. It's hilarious! She can also pull herself up to standing, though remains unable to get into a sitting position--quite interesting. She's loving solid foods these days, but still loves to nurse too, so I'm not too sad.
I'll be sure to post an update when the results come back. Thanks to all who've been praying for my sweet baby girl--this has been (and continues to be) a long road, and I know God will use it for good in the end. I confess that entrusting my children to Him is really difficult for me, but He is faithful and loves my kids more than I can imagine.
Then we returned home, candy in hand, to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." A good time was had by all! 
I really wanted sweet Kaitlyn to have something "pirate-ish" to wear but couldn't find anything, so I bought these great iron-on transfers at Michaels and ironed a big skull/crossbones onto a long-sleeved white onesie. Would have turned out perfect, except my iron has steam holes on it! I read all of the instructions (which were rather extensive) but it said nothing about that. (I'd never done transfers before, obviously.) SO FRUSTRATING, but hopefully she'll still look okay--I think I'm going to try to doctor it up a little. It's just on the black part. 
