Umbilical Cord

It’s amazing to think about how the umbilical cord works. That it is the connection that I had with Ansley. It was her lifeline, where she got all of her nutrition and oxygen. A miracle really. Josh didn’t get to cut the cord with Caleb so it was definitely a special thing for him to be able to do that this time.

Here is what Ansley’s umbilical cord looked like at 1 minute old.

Here is what Ansley’s umbilical cord looked like at 1 day old.

Here is what Ansley’s umbilical cord looked like at 1 week old. They tell you to clean it with alcohol several times a day(after they put a medicine on it called triple dye) to help dry it out so that it will fall off.

Here is what Ansley’s umbilical cord looked like at 1 month old after the doctor cut off the rest of the stump that was hanging by a string. The yellowish part is where it was attached at.  It is not infected but is where/how her body was “healing” so that it could fall off. Usually by the time that it falls off, this part is dried up also. Hers had a little more to do, so the Doctor told us to put salt on it for a couple of days.

Sounds weird and feels weird to put salt in her belly button but if you think about it, it makes sense. If you have a wound and go in salt water it helps it heal faster, this is basically the same thing. It turns the yellow part into a scab as it is healing. It has no nerve endings so none of this process hurts her.

And her is what her BELLY looks like now.