I can't help on timelines or remedies but is that the vine with the purple little flowers that grow tiny grape-shaped fruits/berries about a 1/4" that start green and turn red? One long leaf and 2 smaller leaves at the base of it? I remember that behind my garage when I was a kid and see some now coming around the front of the garage... bumblebees are always visiting the flowers. It's literally a foot away from where I sit my chair to watch for SVB's in my pumpkin patch...

Mark

Thats the thing I did see any poison ivy. Although there is a vine all over the place in my town, I believe it is called choke weed or something. It is litterally ALL over the town.
of course im itchy now. Is it all in my mind?

I recommend getting some Tecnu brand skin cleanser. It will remove the poison ivy oil from your skin and prevent a rash. You have to act quickly, though. It says to use it within 2-8 hours of exposure.

Perhaps the "choke weed" in your area is pokeweed.

If you washed well enough within the first 15 mins or so of exposure you may have avoided it altogether. That said, the large majority of people find the rash within 12-24 hours. It can take as long as 48 hours for the rash to appear for others.

You were likely told to use lye soap because some modern soaps can actually spread around the oil that causes the rash rather than remove it from the skin. There are those who feel the best way is to wash with alcohol first to "strip off" the oil. Then wash with plain water. Then wash with soap and water. Personally, I've always used vinegar to strip off the oil and have yet to get a rash even though I find PI somewhere in my yard every year. knock wood.

Best of luck and enjoy holding that baby.

Keep in mind too that anything you touched with the ivy's oil on your hands can give you a rash for, well, years. So wipe everything you think you might have touched with rubbing alcohol.

Once I touched poison ivy with the inside of my forearm without noticing. I went to bed without washing it off and it got all over my stomach, my side, my chest, and my face, as well as a light rash all over (my doc said it was a systemic reaction.) It was funny because the pattern was quite clear - the shape of the rash on my arm was printed all over the rest of me. Ok, maybe not so funny :)

It takes a day or so to get the rash after exposure, but depending on the amount of oil and the type of skin, it can start reacting for 3-4 weeks after contact. It's best to get to the doctor for some prednisone the instant the rash starts looking bad.

By the way, once the oil is wiped off with rubbing alcohol and then washed, the rash IS NOT contagious. So whether you get it or not you can still hold your nephew...although his mama will be quaking if you're covered with weeping, itchy sores!

Is it true that your resistance to PI increases once you've had it a few times?
We mainly have poison oak here in CA. I got it real bad when I was 14. Since then, I've touched the plant a few times but never had a reaction. Whenever I've touched it I'm usually near a creek, so I just get creek water and mud and use those to scour my skin immediately.

you need to see poison ivy in its different forms. It usually has a characteristic shine to the leaf. but not always.

{{gwi:88016}}

this is one way it might look in certain circumstances.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures poison ivy in different forms

You can go to the doctor and get a steroid shot, I think that clears it up fast. Also, you can get Zanfel from any drugstore, I've never used it, but I've heard it clears it up super fast.

Also, poison ivy isn't contagious after the oil has set in your skin, its an old wives tale...although I'm sure your nephew's parents wouldn't want to chance it.

The only resistance I've ever heard of is genetic. Of course I've not heard every story in the world so I can't say for sure.

Lady, thanks for the reminder about cleaning anything that may have been contaminated with the PI oil.

For removal of PI I use the "bag and blouse" method. Wearing a heavy long sleeved shirt I grab a couple plastic grocery bags, layered one inside the other. Pulling the bags over my hand like a glove I grab the vine and pull. Then I slide the plastic bag off my arm over the vine, kind of like removing a rubber glove. Then dispose of the bag.

Please note! Tiny particles of the essential oil that causes the rash can be spread into the air by doing this so you may want to have a mask if you are particularly prone to PI reactions.

Mine don't look like that... must be a nightshade or something.

When I was a kid, the cat walked up my dad's back when he was asleep, apparently soon after visiting a poison ivy patch. My dad had little itchy cat prints all up his back.

The vine with the purple flowers and the red berries is probably nightshade, a member of the potato family. We were always told the berries were poisonous - not sure it is true, but eating them not recommended. That vine doesn't give you a rash.
I've never 'gotten' poison ivy but always avoid it and if in accidental contact (reached down and pulled out a weed the other day and then realized what it was) always wash immediately. Dishwasher detergent does a good job too.
I feed the birds and, as a return present, they plant poison ivy in my garden.