With every baby we have, I learn about a new medical condition I didn't know existed. Abigail contributed to my education this month when her umbilical cord stump didn't fall off in the first few weeks like I was expecting. When she was four weeks old and it was still firmly holding on, I called her pediatrician to ask if this was normal. We weren't too concerned, since it didn't look infected, but when another week passed with no change, I took her to the doctor so she could look at it.
Over the next week and a half, we visited the doctor 3 times while she treated it with silver nitrate. It finally began to separate, but on the third treatment, Abby acted as if it was really hurting after the doctor treated it. Concerned that there could be a problem causing it to not come off, her doctor consulted a pediatric surgeon, who recommended blood work and an ultrasound to rule out several possible problems. When we went to the ultrasound appointment, we discovered that that was not the right test to do, so Abby got to avoid that one after all.
In the midst of all this, the cord finally came off one night, so we're happy to report that Abby has a pretty little belly button and can now enjoy baths in her baby tub! Crisis averted!!
