the last link

Gloria’s bellybutton made its appearance this evening. I think this is the earliest we’ve ever had that happen, and it’s also the first time I did nothing more than keep the umbilical cord clean and dry, no alcohol or any other substances applied.

I had read that you don’t need to use alcohol, that the use of alcohol was not evidence based, and in fact had been shown in a reputable 1998 study to cause the cord stump to stay on on average two days longer than if nothing was applied.

But it gets all gloopy. And, honestly, stinky. So I always caved in, before, and used alcohol.

But this time, I held firm, weathered the smelly day (it’s only bad for a day, really, and not that horrible) and lo and behold – a perfect little belly button has emerged after only five days.

First bath tomorrow. I love newborn baths.

7 thoughts on “the last link

  1. Lucky! HJ’s stayed on for 4 whole weeks—ewww!! I’d gladly take a day of stinky to achieve that! Enjoy the bath!

  2. How wonderful that you were able to figure out what is up with her BF issues. so many moms don’t know what to think, where to turn and therefore give up. I am so glad for Gloria has a mommy who knows so much! I’m sure this goes without saying.

    I too love newborn baths. so so sweet they way the smell this baby smell afterwards (and I don’t mean just that stinky perfumey stuff either!)

  3. I know I am coming a bit late, but you might see if you can find an older doctor. My brother had tongue tie and the regular dr. handled it. Mom warned me to have it checked on my kids because his was pretty severe. If you find an older doctor then you might have a better chance of somebody that has seen that.

    Another group to ask around at is speech therapist, especially ones that do feeding therapies. (and other ST and SN parents, because, as you know, the parents usually have a bigger list of drs and resources. lol)

  4. Just heard this morning from a Wesley nurse that they no longer recommend alcohol on the cord. They still triple dye it though, but no more icky alcohol.
    We use Golden Seal and Oregon Grape Root powder with homebirth babies and I haven’t seen a cord take more than 5 days. Some fall off after 2 or 3.

  5. Oh, the cord… Nico ripped his off practically immediately. It was upsetting, we had to take him in to have silver nitrate put on his bellybutton, because it was really unready.

    Please keep us updated on the tongue-tie situation. I second the idea of doing it yourself.

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