ER's bleeding belly

ER's umbilical cord fell off on his 6th day of life and I had been conscientiously cleaning the belly button gently after bath each day with the alcohol wipe for the week after.

And then I assumed after a week, the area where the umbilical cord fell off should have dried up, so I started applying 'ru yi' oil on him after that week. This is the only remedy passed down from the 'ancestors' that I use on my kids because I have used the oil on myself as an adult (since AN was born..if it didn't work for me, it's probably not as effective as the parents claim it is) and found it give temporary relief when I feel bloated, or when I'm having tummyache.

Nothing else happened after that, so again, I thought everything was fine.

Till one day, when Mr Liow helped to change ER's into fresh diapers and I helped throw the soiled one, I noticed black specks of something in the soiled diapers. Nothing in the diapers should appear as black specks!

Then we noticed ER's belly button had black specks too and upon taking a closer look, we realised it was BLEEDING!!

Had to call the emergency hotline of Kinderclinic immediately (they rest on Sundays so we will not get them at the clinic) and was told Dr Tan will call back which he did minutes later (we can't say enough of how responsible, responsive, assuring, knowledgeable, kind, friendly, cheerful, nice and all good things about him!!).

He told Mr Liow over the phone that a little bleeding after a week is fine, as long as it's not dripping blood. The site will still be a little raw after the cord falls off (oops...'ru yi' oil..!!). He did say that if we were worried, we could bring ER down the next day for him to have a look but maintained that if it's just a little blood, it's ok.

We were very much more assured after hearing from him, and the bleeding at his belly button was just a little.

Mr Liow then confessed he saw 'dirt' on ER's belly and wiped it away. hehe. I think that was blood clot, not dirt, and it started bleeding after that because the clot was removed.

I've since then, resumed umbilical cord/ belly button site maintenance by dabbing the area clean a few times each day and making sure it's dry. Alcohol wipes everyday after drying him from his morning baths to prevent infection. Things are looking good. It stopped bleeding after we spoke to Dr Tan but I'm not taking chances. No ru yi oil till at least 2 weeks from now (mum says I can apply oil on the side of his belly so I probably will, when necessary).