Whatever is Wrong with You

Turns out that Grace, like Olivia, had an umbilical granuloma. She had a little pink tag of skin, which F likened to a jelly tot, a remnant of umbilical tissue still attached to her belly button. Last week we went off to the doctor to get treatment. Long time readers of this blog may remember that Olivia had repeated Silver Nitrate treatments, one of which burnt healthy tissue, and so I was not looking forward to having this done again. As it happened Grace's granuloma was so big that the GP was able to use what I can only describe as sterile dental floss to tie it off and later that day it dropped off. Job done and no grim photos this time!

Move Silently on Their Easy Heels

Yesterday we went to baby massage as usual but instead of massage the final class in the course was a taster session for baby yoga. The class involved yoga poses and stretching exercises, some exercises for the baby and some for the mummies, including using the baby as a benchpress weight! I actually enjoyed this much more than baby massage and Olivia seemed much more engaged, although that may be because she is so much older than she was when we started the massage course and more alert and engaged generally. We are going to start a full mum and baby yoga class in two weeks after the Easter break.

On a different note Olivia's belly button looks pretty good now and is much flatter than it was before but still has a little bit of the umbilical tissue inside so I think it might need just one more treatment.

How Can It Hurt

We went to get Olivia's belly button done AGAIN today. Hopefully this will be the last treatment but we will have to see how it goes. The nurse was much better than the one we have seen before - she applied a ring (kind of like a corn plaster) to Olivia's tummy to make sure the Silver Nitrate only treated the affected part of her belly button and put a little round plaster on afterwards. I don't think it can hurt her as she never even cries when they treat it.

Hopefully once this finally clears up we can actually move to the Bambino Mio nappies. When we tried her on them last time F_ wasn't very happy as when they were wet they were wet all the way up to her belly button and as this is still weeping on her vests we didn't think it was good for it to get covered in wee all the time. In the meantime we have continued to use biodegradable disposables which is better than standard nappies but is still making a huge pile of landfill somewhere.

Doctor, Ain't There Nothin' I Can Take, I Said, Doctor, to Relieve This Bellyache

We went back to the nurse to have another treatment on Olivia's umbilical granuloma this afternoon. I pointed out the Silver Nitrate burn on her tummy and asked to have something put around her belly button to ensure only the umbilical tissue was treated. Nothing got spilled on her this time. Looks like it might need yet another treatment after this though as it is a fairly substantial bit of umbilical tissue remaining. Apparently about 1 in 500 babies get this condition. Anyway we have another appointment next week to have it looked at again...

I Need Medical Attention...

...Unfortunately our GP surgery doesn't agree. They phoned up to cancel Olivia's appointment as they are short staff. Don't it make you glad to pay your taxes??? So we are now going on Wednesday afternoon to get her belly button checked and further treatment done. At least it will give the original injury extra time to heal before they start poking it around again. I want her to have the treatment she need but I wish it didn't seem so invasive for the poor little sausage.

We did go to clinic as normal to get Olivia weighed. She is perfectly following her 50th centile line and now weighs 10lbs 8oz, having gained 5oz this week. At the moment I am still going weekly for the weigh ins but I guess at some point I will go to fortnightly.

Meanwhile, as Olivia is gaining steadily I have commenced operation 'lose the baby lard'. I gained just under 3 stone during pregnancy and while 1 stone of that vanished overnight (well, over 2 nights - it was a long labour!) the other 2 are set to stick around unless action is taken. So I am weaning myself off the very lovely Aero Bubbles and trying to cut out the rubbish and just eat healthily. As I am still breastfeeding it isn't going to be anything too extreme.

There's a Hot Hard Hurt Burning Under Her Skin

We are not at all happy about the way Olivia's tummy is at the moment. The Silver Nitrate was obviously dribbled down onto her tummy and perfectly good skin has been burned. I was assured the treatment would not hurt her as there are apparently no nerve ending on the umbilical tissue left behind but there are on normal skin!!! I am going to the surgery again tomorrow to have it checked and possibly treated again and I am going to have stern words with the nurse. Hopefully it will not scar ...

I hurt myself today

Further to my previous post about Olivia having her belly button done...with each subsequent nappy change yesterday her tummy looked yukkier and more sore. By the time F_ got home from work I was almost crying cause I was worried about her. Not sure who to contact at that time of day I ended up phoning one of our midwives, who had initially suggested that we got the cauterisation done, to ask her about it. I think the problem was that the nurse who did it had not told me whst to expect and because it looked so harmless at the time it hadn't occurred to me to ask what was likely to happen. The area around her naval had gone pink and puffy, while her belly button itself had gone grey and sticky and yukky looking.

In the interests of science and to help anyone who has this happen with their baby here it is...those of you of a delicate disposition look away now...












Overnight a lot of the grey stuff came off on her vest. Today it lookes pink and sore but like it is getting better. We have to go again on Monday and have another treatment.

Push the Button

Went with Olivia to get her belly button sorted out. It is a bit of a funny colour but she doesn't seem remotely bothered about the whole thing. We have to go back on Monday and have it done again though. As long as she doesn't end up with an outie :)