Monday 

Had a little bit of a scare today. There was blood around Michael’s navel. We took him to the hospital. Since he had been transferred so quickly after his birth, the plastic clamp was not removed. The night before Michael and I spent some time in kangaroo care in order to get him to the breast. I think the skin-on-skin contact may have pulled a bit on the navel. 

We got to the Women’s Center and I saw many of the nurses that took care of me while I was there. They recognized me and rushed to see Michael. Michael is a beautiful baby and ultimately drew a bit of a crowd. Perfect strangers walked up to us and commented on how cute he is and his gorgeous hair. I was beaming. 

A nurse took us to a private room and removed the clamp. She examined his navel and said everything was okay. We just need to cleanse it with soap and water for the next few days. It may take a little longer for it to fall off, but that’s okay. I’m just glad it’s nothing serious. 

We also stopped by the lactation consultant’s office while there. I told her about the challenges we were having. She asked what I’ve tried so far and said I’m doing everything correctly. She also gave me a few new things to try. She told me that it will be difficult to get him on the breast since we were separated so soon and because he got use to being somewhat lazy. She assured me it is possible. She also recommended I find a bottle with a flatter nipple.