I had used essential oils for 7 years before hearing about doTERRA. When I switched brands, I didn’t do it because I thought that I would be getting superior oils or because the prices were better. I thought I’d be getting a product comparable to what I was already buying in terms of both price and quality. I did it because I had the opportunity to help a friend by switching, so why not?

 

At that point, I liked to keep certain oils on hand because I thought they were somewhat helpful, but essential oils had never really impressed me. So, when my new doTERRA oils arrived on my doorstep, I wasn’t really all that excited about them. In fact, they just sat in a drawer for a few weeks. Of course, I was also really busy at that time. I ordered my oils in late August and gave birth to my third baby girl, Eliza, in the beginning of September.

 

There we are in the hospital on her birth day. As you can see, our girls are VERY excited to have a baby sister!

 

 

Eliza was beautiful and healthy. We took her home and loved and loved on her. I don’t think she could have possibly gotten any more attention than she did. She was just perfect.

 

When she was 2 weeks old, she developed this little rash around her eye.

 

 

Now, I’m not one to run off to the doctor at the drop of a hat. This rash definitely caught my attention, but I decided to wait and see what happened. That, and, my wonderful pediatrician was away on family vacation for the week. Sad, sad day. Very quickly, baby Eliza’s rash became this…

 

 

 

It’s so painful to look at! While I’m slow to panic, this sent us running out the door to our local Pediatric Urgent Care.

 

We arrived at Urgent Care where I paid my $75 copay and then tried to find a germ-free corner away from kids with sniffles, boogers, coughs, sneezes, and any other scary germs that I didn’t want my 2 week old to catch. While I waited for our appointment, I nursed, burped, and rocked my baby. I soothed her crying. I juggled her and all of our stuff very creatively so that I could use the restroom myself. It took forever for them to call us back! By the time the doctor was ready to see us, I was exhausted, but ready to find out the diagnosis and learn what we could do to help Eliza.

 

In a matter of seconds, the doctor said flippantly, “Oh, that’s just baby acne” as if it were no big deal and he sees this kind of thing all.the.time. I was a little shocked, but willing to accept the diagnosis.

 

“Ok…? What can we do for it?” I asked.

 

“Nothing.” he answered, again as if it were really no big deal. “It’ll just work its way out of her system and will probably be gone by the time she’s 6 months old.”

 

“Nothing…??? SIX MONTHS???”

 

He could tell I didn’t care much for his answer, so he poked his head out the door and called another doctor over. He told her “this mother would like a second opinion” and asked her to diagnose Eliza.

 

In much the same tone of voice, she said, “Oh, that’s just baby acne. No worries. It’ll probably be gone in about 5 months.”

 

“Well, is there something we can do for it?” I asked.

 

“Nope. Just leave it alone. Don’t put creams or lotions on it because that’ll only irritate it. There’s really nothing helpful you can do. Just wait.”

 

Great. So glad I spent $75 and several very uncomfortable hours in the waiting room to get that helpful advice. So, I went home to do some research myself. I’m sure doctors just love google. 😉

 

I searched and searched and tried a few things from our local health food store, but nothing helped. When I was at my wits end, I remembered the essential oils and thought they might be worth a try, but I had no idea what to use or how to safely use them on such a young infant. So, back to google… I searched and searched. I read several articles about how to safely use oils on infants, (basically, dilute heavily and only use some of the gentlest oils), but couldn’t find a solution telling me which oils to use. So, I prayed. And I prayed. And I prayed. “God, please tell me how I can help Eliza. You created her little body and know what it needs so that it can heal itself. Tell me what to do to help her.”

 

When Eliza was 1 month old, the girls and I went to visit my parents overnight. In the 2 weeks since the rash appeared, it had spread across her little face. I didn’t have the heart to take a picture, so I don’t have one to show you. On the drive to my parents’ house, I continued praying, all through Atlanta traffic, for a solution. By the time we arrived, I felt like God answered my prayer. I knew what to do. Now, this rarely ever happens to me. It is not a normal occurrence. I wish it were! I had this impression that I should use Lavender and Roman Chamomile on Eliza’s face and Lemon on her belly. Very specific. So, I took my sweet baby upstairs to my room and opened up my oils.

 

 

I put a layer of coconut oil on her face (just like applying lotion) and then I just touched the top of the bottle of Lavender. I did not use a full drop. I just touched the top of the bottle and then rubbed that amount over her entire face, on top of the layer of coconut oil. Then I did the same thing with the Roman Chamomile, applying it on top of the Lavender. She smelled divine. I love Lavender and Roman Chamomile combined. It’s such a beautiful smell! Then, I applied a layer of coconut oil to her sweet little baby belly and then touched the top of the bottle of Lemon essential oil and then rubbed that minuscule amount on her belly on top of the coconut oil. I used such tiny amounts of essential oil that it didn’t seem like it would be enough to accomplish anything. And, like I’ve already said, my results from using essential oils had never been impressive, so my expectations were pretty low. But, I had this complete peace that this was the answer to my prayers. So, I did it without question, without hesitation. In fact… I did it SIX times that day. Still, my expectations were very low. I thought that eventually it would help Eliza’s skin to heal. It had to help because it was my answer to prayer, but I didn’t expect it to make a difference for a few weeks … or months even.

 

The next morning, Eliza woke up to eat, and when I picked her up, I saw that her skin was beautiful, smooth, clear, perfect baby skin. The swelling, redness, bumps, and dry skin were all gone. I couldn’t believe it!

 

 

When I took her home that evening, my husband jokingly asked where our baby was. He was shocked at the overnight transformation!

 

Now, I don’t believe that essential oils (even if they’re pure, like doTERRA’s) will always work this quickly or miraculously. But, we both felt that this was very different from anything we’d ever experienced when using other brands of essential oils. So, for us, it became a fun experiment. “Wow. If they work that well, what else can we use them for?”

 

Over the next months, we tried them on everything we could think of. As soon as something went wrong, we would run to the essential oils. Not because we just knew they were going to work, but because we had seen what they could do and thought they were worth a try! We’ve used them on all kinds of different ailments now… and time after time we have been blown away with our results! But, those are all stories for another day…