Worry Not, 4 normal things about babies

Inspired by some recent momversations (yep, just made that one up)... here are four peculiar things about babies that I wish someone had told me that I didn't need to be concerned about.

1. The dry flakey skin.  Regardless of what lotions and oils I used, PJ had some serious dry skin when she was a newborn, and then again at about three or four weeks old. Something about the transition from the womb to the outside world and the phases and layers of the skin. Regardless, it's normal. And it goes away.

2. The eye goop.  While not all babies get it, PJ has it pretty bad. It's the same stuff that adults would call having 'sleep' in their eye, but green and way more, uh, persistent. Our pediatrician said if it hasn't phased itself out by the time she's one, then we might look into it further, but until then it's nothing to worry about. Just keep at it with warm, wet (clean) wash cloths and good ol' fashioned breastmilk to the eye.

3. The weird-looking, shape-changing, almost-translucent sometimes-purple belly button.  This one probably weirded us out the most. It looked like it must be a hernia the way it would bulge out whenever she cried or grunted. But... totally normal. And now, she is over three months old and her belly button is starting to look more like you would expect it to.

4. The long periods of time between poops.  Ahem... I mean bowel movements. Once PJ reached about two months, she started having BM's less frequently.  Just this week she set a personal record of 13 days without pooping.  For exclusively breast-fed (EBF) babies this is very common.  I have several mommy friends whose babies have gone twenty-something days between poops. Talk about saving on diapers. Apparently, EBF babies don't get constipated, it's impossible; they just don't have much waste.

"Who are you calling peculiar?"

At the end of the day, if there's something that I'm just not sure about, I never hesitate to call our pediatrician. I figure, he has heard it all before and he coaches new parents all the time. But it's nice to know when other people notice the same curious things about their little munchkins. If nothing else, gives us things to chuckle about later. Maybe this made you chuckle or maybe it will save you a phone call to your pediatrician some day!!