It's time to celebrate! The stump came off this morning!
For a while there I was beginning to think that I would have the only 16 year old that still had his umbilical stump. When we were instructed as to how to care & clean it at the hospital, we were told to use rubbing alcohol at every diaper change. Lift it up, move it around & try to clean underneath. There was to be no real bathing, only sponge baths until it came off.

So I followed the instructions diligently & waited patiently to give him a real bath. We expect to see it come off in 7 to 10 days. Time goes by & all of the other babies that are born shortly after Logan are ALL loosing their stumps. Logan will be six weeks old this week. I start to wonder if something is going on. It looks fine. It's not infected & it doesn't smell funny either. Hmmm. Time for some internet searching.

Well, after some research, I find out that many people have been instructed to do just the opposite of what we were doing. Some Doctors have said to only clean it 3 times a day, max. Some others have said not to even use rubbing alcohol because it may actually preserve the stump (well, I guess that one make sense in our case). Bill talked to the NICU nurse from our hospital during her work out. She thought it was strange that it was still there too. She told us to go ahead & give Logan a real bath & that should help.

So in the last few days I only cleaned the stump 2 or 3 times a day. Then yesterday Logan had his first real bath. He loved it. He usually doesn't smile during the sponge bath. He just has this really serious look on his face. He's quiet, looks cold, but just looks at me. During the real bath he was all smiles. Big ones too. I think it felt a little strange to him because he made a huge mess. There was water all over the bathroom countertops & floor from him flailing his arms & kicking his legs. He's a water baby just like his mom. I can't wait to go swimming with him this summer. It's going to be a blast!

We wake up this morning & I take him upstairs in his room to get changed. I unbutton the onesie & notice some gunk by the snaps. I look down & see his belly button. The stump is gone & it looks like he may have an outie. Finally. I was starting to wonder if I should call the Doctor. Now we don't have to worry about Logan getting teased in the locker room at school because he still has his umbilical stump.