Thank you, Thank you!

To all of you that gave me blowout cleanup & sleeping advice. Honestly, I think sometimes I'm doing great, and then my little girls' umbilical cord stump starts bleeding and I start freaking out. I pulled off her outfit yesterday and on the inside was some bloody spots. Let the freaking out commence.

I've heard that I can use some rubbing alcohol with a Q-tip to clean her, but I'm afraid it will hurt her. As of right now, the dry stump top has fallen off, but underneath is a yellow mucus looking goo. And I might be just over-reacting about this, but I think it smells funny. Anyway, I have a band-aid on it to keep the top of the diaper and her clothes from irritating it and to keep blood spots from transferring to her clothes. But I'm just really nervous about it.

As for the sleep advice, really, thank you all so much. Last night was her "worst" night. And by worst night, I mean that it took her a few hours to go to sleep. (Once she finally did, she slept for long blocks of time, but it took her a while to get there.) Again, I can't complain, because she DOES sleep for long blocks of time. But we tried to get her to go to bed at 11:30 pm, and she didn't go until 3:30 am. Marcelo came in from the other room and was like "What is going on?!?! What is the matter with her?" And I was like "I don't know, let me ask her . . . oh wait, I don't speak baby!!!"

He was really great and stayed up with me and took turns bouncing her and walking with her so I could rest. We think it was a combo of her umbilical cord bothering her and gas/burping issues. But eventually she calmed down and ate a bunch, and then fell asleep on my chest. And then she slept until 7:30 am. When she ate some more, and fell back asleep until 11:30 am. I really have nothing to complain about.

Anyway, I just appreciate Marcelo so much. He's totally and completely unfamiliar with all of this, but he's so great about trying new things. He'll dance around with her and sing to her so that she'll calm down. And yesterday he changed his first diaper. (Don't come down on him for the diaper thing!! The poor guy needed my help every step of the way! He almost put it on backwards and inside out!) Anyway, I really appreciate his willingness to try new things.

Finally, I am in SO MUCH BREAST PAIN!! Not the nipples. The nipples are great. I could set fire to my nipples and I wouldn't be distracted from the general PAIN in my engorged boobs. And my milk has the smell and consistency of melted vanilla ice cream. Fatty & sticky all at the same time. What does it taste like? I don't know, and I think you are disgusting and crass for even asking. But it's definitely sticky. Sticky all over, and it curdles/turns sour within minutes of being outside my body.

So what does that mean for me? Well, it mostly means that all my shirts have stiff circles of dried milk on them, and I constantly smell like sour milk. All my bras smell like sour milk, and night time is the WORST time. I'm half asleep, and I'll wake up in a milk puddle of my own doing. My poor sheets: They'll be threadbare from all the washings in just a few months.

Anyway, This blog is about how much I appreciate all the comments and support from you people who read my mindless ramblings. I know that I can turn to you for advice and I'll get fast and effective suggestions. So, what are your thoughts on this umbilical cord situation?

P.S. I also appreciate that my readers are honest and when they took the poll they voted that my child was scary looking at first. I KNOW THIS!! I'M NOT BLIND!! Thank you again for your honesty. I know I can always turn to you for the truth.