Slowly, veerrry slowly, we’re starting to get in a routine around here. Up at 5ish, feed the Rose & back to sleep for a few hours. Then the rest of the day is divided into 2 to 2.5-hr increments. Takes about 30 mins to change diaper, heat bottle & feed her, then I try to keep her awake for at least 20-30 mins before she dozes back off… so yeah, there’s maybe an hour between each feeding to load/unload the dishwasher, cook/eat, laundry, cleaning, pumping, & blogging. Blogging is getting the raw end of this deal. That’s probably obvious by now.

And sometimes? Instead of putting her in the swing & doing all those productive things listed above, I say screw the laundry & dirty dishes & just hold her while she sleeps. I watch the expressions flit across her face & I trace her hairline, & I rub her soft, little, getting-chubbier-by-the-day baby cheek. I’m amazed by her.

Yeah. Not really getting a whole heckuva lot done these days.

So before this whole birthing a baby thing, I had no real knowledge of newborn umbilical cord stumps. I had heard that you just clean them & leave them alone & they fall off & there’s a little belly button underneath. Rose’s stump, however, has completely misbehaved. Last Tuesday, when she was exactly 2 wks old, she was flailing about & having a little baby fit. When I undressed her, I realized that she had knocked her stump off & it was bleeding & nasty & NOT healed. The next day, we went in for our weight check & I asked the ped to check it. He confirmed that it had come off prematurely & he cauterized it with silver nitrate. Cauterized it, people. He said it didn’t hurt, but I’m pretty sure that’s one of those lies they tell people to make them feel better. Bobby & I held Rose’s arms & almost passed out. Also said that he thought a “granuloma” was forming & that he would check it again at her next appt. So in the week since, it’s scabbed over, & then the scab fell off, & now it’s just icky-looking.

Our next dr appt is Wed morning. Here’s hoping for a regain of birth weight (plus some) & belly button resolution without further use of silver nitrate & any other things that allegedly don’t hurt.