Today Belén is one week old. We celebrated with much of the usual routine. Since we are up a lot at night, we don’t usually start our day until later. Today it was quite a bit later and Andy and I got up at 11. Belén slept a little later. After that, it was eating, sleeping, pooping and a bit of alert time for her. For us, pretty much the same but we did a few chores and such.
When Andy was changing her this morning, he noticed a strange rash on the tips of her toes. We called the doctor and talked to a nurse who said this was not a standard thing and that we should come in. We had just been to the doctor yesterday for the one-week well baby check up, so the doctor was surprised to see us and hoped that she hadn’t missed something. We were pretty sure that the little toe rash just showed up this morning or sometime after our doctor’s appointment yesterday. We put socks on her at the end of the appointment and hadn’t changed them until this morning. Anyway, the doctor was stumped by the rash and she consulted with the Primary Health dermatologist. They concluded that it was some medical name I do not remember but the doctor had showed us in a book under the section “rare infant rashes”. She also consulted with a pediatrician who has been around longer and he said he had seen this on a few children in the past. It shows up on the hands and feet of infants and is probably from pressing up against the uterus and then as the skin dries out in the non-liquid world, it turns into this little rash. If it were on a larger child or adult who walks, it almost looks like road rash. Anyway, it is strange but assuming it stays how it is, there is nothing to be concerned about.
The thing that amazes me about both this rash and her little nasal issues (just boogers really) is that it causes us to worry so much. Again, another thing I was not prepared for. It kills me when I do not know what is wrong with her and if she will be okay. I hope that I will be more prepared to deal with this worry once the postpartum hormones wear off, but I imagine the worry will stay with me/us to quite an extent forever now that we are parents.
After the doctor’s appointment, we went for her first walk. I am still sore from the c-section, so it was only about 10 blocks of walking, but it was nice to get out. Andy took some pictures of some beautiful blooming spring trees and of us walking. We also gave our stroller a test drive and it worked quite well. I could feel my stitches after about five blocks, so it was a good reality check that I still need to be careful not to do too much.
Belén at one week of age, after a walk outside
As the picture above shows, Belén and Andy were both tuckered out after the walk and are on the couch taking a nap as I type this. Tonight, Anna and Derik are visiting and bringing dinner. We are looking forward to it.
What an amazing, incredible week it has been. Our lives are truly forever changed.
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