The Princess & the Pea

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween!

Finally, a real bath.

Well it happened... After a middle of the night feeding, I was about to place a very sleepy Alyssa back into her bassinet, when in the dim light I spied something really nasty looking there. I almost screamed because I thought it was a big ugly bug that I'd come painfully close to laying my precious newborn on. But I turned the light on to discover it was actually the remains of Alyssa's belly button.

Still pretty gross if you ask me.

Funny thing about motherhood... suddenly most things that were once absolutely disgusting to me, poop, pee, spit-up, boogers, etc. no longer bother me much when they're coming from one of my own kids. But for some reason, the brown dried up stumpy belly button thing... BLECH!

NO, in case you're wondering, I will not be saving that for the scrapbook. I was thrilled to hear the nurse say they'd changed their thinking on newborn belly-button care. Three years ago when Amanda was brand new, we were supposed to carefully clean her belly button a few times a day with alcohol swabs - a job I detested like no other. It was a powerful bargaining chip for Scott since I was willing to do just about anything else as long as he would handle belly-button duty. This time around they said we didn't have to do anything at all. Yup, apparently it would dry up and fall off without any assistance. And it did!

So in the wee morning hours, Alyssa and I celebrated her little belly-button milestone by performing a special ritual... I got a big wad of toilet paper, yanked the nasty little stump out of the bassinet and flushed it ceremoniously with the same amount of respect I would have given a big hairy spider. Good riddance!

And then today, it was time to give Alyssa her first real bath. I love this "first", probably because I love the "freshly-bathed baby" part so much. I wasn't freaked out about the first bath like I was with Amanda because this time around I was much more confident in my ability to do it without her slipping from my grasp. I was far more concerned about timing the bath properly so that Scott would be willing to take time out from watching football to take a few pictures.

Alyssa seemed to thoroughly enjoy bathtime. I'm pretty sure she was loving that warm water. And I'm loving that I get to cuddle with her and inhale her fresh, clean, Johnson's no-tears shampoo baby smell. Ahhhhhhhh...

Day 6

Had a home visit from the nurse today and Alyssa has surpassed her birthweight in under a week. She's 8 lbs. 7 oz. now. The nurse seemed to be impressed by this. I was just happy to hear that I don't have to wake Alyssa up to feed her at night. Not that I actually have been since we left the hospital, except for the night of the jaundice scare. But now I won't feel even slightly guilty about it.

Have to mention that the nurse said my stomach is SMALL! Could have hugged her, cuz I swear I look about 5 months pregnant, but hey... she sees a lot of women who've just had babies. Who am I to question her expertise? Perhaps it's because my boobs are at least three times their normal size... that'll make anybody's belly less noticeable.

So today is day 6, that means I survived day 5. Day 5 is the day my sister Deni (mother of four) says the new mommy hormones always kicked in for her...and look out! That's actually when it happened for me last time too (with Amanda), but this time I survived day 5 without incident. Since Alyssa was born, I have burst into tears only once. That was on our first morning home from the hospital (day 3, I guess) when Scott expressed complete horror over the fact that I'd gotten blood on the sheets (GASP!). Seriously it was like I'd committed some fatal error. And he couldn't stop talking about it, not only to me but to his mother too. And when he questioned the fact that I was sitting in his chair and certainly was about to destroy it, I retreated to my bloody sheets and burst into tears. Guess I let him have it pretty good after that cuz he's been REALLY NICE to me ever since then. I mean I just shot HIS 8 lb. 6 oz. baby out of my private parts and I'm entitled to bleed a little. He should be kissing my feet instead of giving me grief about it, right?

But before I came to my senses all I could think was geez, if he's freaked out about a little blood what's gonna happen in a couple more days when the fun really starts? Like today for instance when in the space of ONE HOUR Amanda (not quite potty-trained, apparently) peed all over our new comforter. I had laid down on the guest bed to feed Alyssa and we both conked out. I woke up to find the freshly changed sheets completely drenched with breastmilk, then Alyssa spit up all over me. Scott picked her up to change her and she shot poop all over him and the changing table. (He swears she shot 12 inches and wants to enter her into some kind of contest) I was trying to think if we had all the orifices covered... What other bodily function could this family lose control of? when I wandered out into the living room just in time to witness the cat puking on the carpet. No, I am NOT kidding. Not that I blame the cat, she's probably just disgusted at the mess her housemates have turned into. And to think Scott was whining about a little blood.

Alyssa's first check-up

Alyssa had her first check-up with Dr. Quan yesterday. She's dropped two ounces since birth, which is normal and nothing to worry about. She also got her first shot and didn't seem to enjoy it at all! The bad news is that she has jaundice.

Yes, I know jaundice is really common, easy to treat and all that... definitely not the end of the world. But the doctor mentioned that if her bilirubin level didn't improve, Alyssa could end up in the hospital for a few days in one of those flourescent light incubator thingies. I'm sure that's the worst case scenario, but it was enough to scare me. Just the thought of her ending up back in the hospital freaked me out!

We had to go directly from the doctor's office to the hospital yesterday to get Alyssa a blood test and then we had to take her back for another blood test this morning. The hope was that her bilirubin level would drop or at least not jump up too much between tests.

We need to expose her to sunlight and feed her as often as possible because the more she eats, the more she poops and pooping is a very good thing when it comes to jaundice! We need to clear the toxins out of her system. It's actually a bit hard to get her to eat because she sleeps so much! I thought I was just really lucky that she's already sleeping 5 or 6 hours at a time but it might just be a symptom of the jaundice. My mother-in-law and I practically had to torture the poor little thing just to keep her awake to eat yesterday. The nurse suggested stripping her clothes off, tickling her feet and using a cool wet washcloth on her face if necessary. We did all of that and it was still hard to keep her awake for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

It was a long night! (Notice the picture of Scott, who conked out on the exam table at the doctor's office this morning while we waited for the doctor.) Luckily by this morning, Alyssa's bilirubin level was down a bit (it dropped from 13.8 to 13) and her weight had maintained so the doctor thinks she'll be just fine. We just need to check her weight again on Monday. As long as she maintains or gains we can probably relax. The jaundice will go away as long as she's getting enough milk to keep her pooping!

A few pictures from today

She's finally here!

Alyssa Grace arrived at 9:04am on October 18. She's beautiful, of course, weighing in at 8 pounds 6 ounces and measuring 20 inches long.

I'll fill you in on all the details later, but for now just know that she is healthy and perfect in every way.