Babe in the Sun

I am always amazed by my little boy, but I am most amazed at how the human body knows exactly what to do. What a miracle and blessing it really is. I find myself being a cheerleader for all of baby boy's bodily functions. "Oh, yay! You pooped! Good boy!" Or, "Burps! I love burps buddy!" And even, "Spit ups all over your Momma! Nice shot little man!" I can't imagine I will maintain this perspective forever, but for now I am completely content smelling like pee, poop, spit up. Even on those special occasions when I smell like all three I still don't mind as long as I know my little boy is working and working right. 

One reason I am so optimistic is because of those dang pamphlets handed out by the hospital. They have all these these things to look out for and instances when you should call the doctor. Well, turns out we are overly watchful and worrisome parents, big surprise. Little Man came home from the hospital and it had been almost forty eight hours since we saw anything productive in his diaper. The handy dandy pamphlet said on day four we should have seen at least four messy diapers and four wet ones. Well, guess what, we called the doctor and spoke to a nurse. Turns out this is completely normal for breastfed babies and the nurse recommended we wait through the weekend and if there was still nothing we might want to consider bringing him in. With relief I hung up. Friday night comes along and I turn to the net. There are tons of suggestions about how to get your newborn to poop. So, selecting the least invasive method, we did bicycles with the baby's legs for about ten minutes. We sang and laughed and baby was awake and cool with it. Then, not a half hour later, we had a messy diaper. I cheered! 

Today we had a similar situation, though not quite so drastic. The umbilical cord stump has lately been getting tugged and pulled and stretched in all directions by this active little guy. It started to bleed a little around the edges and I panicked. I knew for sure that it wasn't supposed to come off too soon or infection could ensue. So I found some reliable instructions in those hospital pamphlets and whipped out the rubbing alcohol. The stump dried up in a couple of hours and fell out all on its own, with just a few baby wiggles and kicks while he was sitting on my stomach. No blood, no gore, and no infection. We now have the start of a very cute belly button in the making. Again, I cheered!

I can't believe K.B. had his umbilical cord stump already fell off today. It's all good. Baby is soaking up the rays while I remain calm. Thank goodness for those small miracles that just happen all on their own.

I seriously cannot believe how quickly things are going by. I am feeling great. Baby is gaining weight. And now the black belly button is already gone!