Alan Update
We've pretty busy here babysitting. And we've had our fair share of issues with Alan. As noted in an earlier post, he's had some bouts with crying and we've not had an easy time figuring out the source. So we went back to the pediatrician Monday and had another checkup. We'd also been concerned that the reasons for his crying could be his eating habits. Is he getting enough? Is he gaining the weight he should be? So we went to the doctor not short on questions, and thankfully we're not the only parents who wonder if what they're doing is right for their child.
But as we were leaving for our appointment and getting him changed, we noticed that his umbilical cord was still not healing as well as it should and also needed attention. Needless to say, the pediatrician was not surprised to see us.
We learned a lot in that visit. Firstly, we were good to have come in. You can never be too careful with newborns. Second, his weight was perfectly on target. Angie is providing enough for him to eat and we could rule that out from the reasons he may be getting upset. So we're pretty much going to try to limit the number of dairy products in Angie's diet to see if Alan is having an adverse reaction. All good news so far.
His umbilical cord, however, is a different story. Silver Nitrate (AgNO2) is something we'll long remember. Silver Nitrate is a substance that coderizes, drys it and forces healing. (I'm no doctor, so forgive my explanation.) But Alan has had this done to him now 3 times, and it hurts. We had it done on Monday and it didn't take, so we went to a pediatric surgeon today to have it done again and it was awful to see him in such pain, he even made some tears.
So the long story slightly longer: Alan is crying a little less, sleeping a little more and is developing a fear of doctors.