That little voice...

Please, please, please listen to that little voice in your head.

For example, just know I got home from lunch with my husband and the three boys. It was right around nap time so Taylor (the 2 year old) was falling asleep in the car. I was able to manage to keep him awake until a minute or two before we got home. (If he sleeps much longer than that in the car, he will wake up when I try to move him into his bed.) So, I was going to take Taylor straight up to his bed. Turn on a movie for Isaac (4 years old), feed Parker (6 months) and then put him to bed, and I could take a nap. (Parker hasn't been sleeping well at night, so I'm exhausted.)

As I was getting out of the car, the little voice said, hang up your keys. I decided to put the keys on the shoe-shelf next to the door. Again, hang up your keys. But I go to get Taylor out and the car alarm starts going off. Isaac had pushed the panic button on my keys, and since he was standing right next to the front of the car, where the horn is the loudest, he starts sobbing! The car alarm and Isaac's crying wakes up Taylor, who now doesn't want to go back to sleep. I try to put him into bed, and then try to feed Parker. Every time Taylor gets out of bed and I have to go back upstairs to put him back in bed, Parker starts screaming.

Luckily it was only about 10 minutes, but an awful 10 minutes, that could have been avoided if I had just listened to that little voice in my head.

Most of the time I don't think I would notice the consequences of listening to the voice. If I had listened to the voice to hang up my keys, how would I have known that there would be screaming in the house for the next 10 minutes? But when I don't listen to the voice I definitely see the consequences!

There have been lots of times where the voice says; move that cup, or pick up that toy off the ground, etc. I don't listen and there is milk all over the floor or my husband (or one of the kids or me) steps on the toy I should have moved 3 minutes ago.

To us, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that little voice is called the Holy Ghost. I really believe that the Holy Ghost is giving me a lot of opportunities to listen to him, when the consequences aren't so bad; crying for 10 minutes, spilled milk or a stubbed toe. But I really need to start listening better and following the promptings so that when my kids get older and I hear the voice, don't let your kids go out to the game tonight, or don't let him go with that new friend, or whatever, that I do listen and follow the counsel of the voice, when the consequences could be a whole lot worse.

Courageous Parenting

Larrry R. Lawrence - Of the Seventy

of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

in October General Conference said

Years ago our 17-year-old son wanted to go on a weekend trip with his friends, who were all good boys. He asked for permission to go. I wanted to say yes, but for some reason I felt uncomfortable about the trip. I shared my feelings with my wife, who was very supportive. “We need to listen to that warning voice,” she said.

Of course, our son was disappointed and asked why we didn’t want him to go. I answered honestly that I didn’t know why. “I just don’t feel good about it,” I explained, “and I love you too much to ignore these feelings inside.” I was quite surprised when he said, “That’s OK, Dad. I understand.”

Young people understand more than we realize because they too have the gift of the Holy Ghost. They are trying to recognize the Spirit when He speaks, and they are watching our example. From us they learn to pay attention to their promptings—that if they “don’t feel good about something,” it’s best not to pursue it.

He never said anything bad happened to those kids, he never said they got into trouble, but we really don't know what could have happened if he hadn't listened to that little voice, and decided to let his son go.

I am speaking to myself mostly, but please learn to listen to that little voice. It will definitely bring you closer to the Holy Ghost and make your days a little easier. It may never be as dramatic as saving your child's life... but it could.

Larry R. Lawrence

Baby Blues

Baby Blues was the most unexpected part of the baby coming. I had only heard really a few things about it and then the topic quickly moved to Postpartum Depression, which is an extreme case of Baby Blues.

At the end of pregnancy women have very high levels of hormones in their body and after the baby comes women then have very low levels of hormones. Their reaction to the change in levels is what is called Baby Blues.

I really feel that if this would have been explained a little better, I would have been able to cope better. For the first few weeks I cried every day, and most of the time I had no idea why I was crying. My husband did worry about me for a while, because he didn't really know how to handle it. I didn't know how to handle it. I didn't even realize I had it until after my hormones had settled.

I have one younger sister who is only 2 years younger than me, so I was never really around babies. I read several books but I really didn't know what I was doing. Nothing can really prepare you for the sleepless nights, the total responsibility of a new life, etc. Being overwhelmed with all those new adjustments is hard and exhausting. So, please, please, please SLEEP when your baby is sleeping. Especially with your first baby.

A quick note on Postpartum Depression: This is serious feelings of depression, not ever feeling happy, disassociation with the new baby, serious disinterest in things that used to make you happy, and can even be thoughts of hurting yourself or the baby. THIS IS SERIOUS, and can be helped! Pay attention to yourself, pay attention to your thoughts. It might be a little embarrassing to say that you don't have that connection with your baby, but a little embarrassment is far better than hurting yourself or the baby. The connection will come! I know it will! If you need it get help. I think it would be helpful to talk to your spouse before the baby comes to think of ways your spouse can help, maybe a trigger word that can be said to let you know, in a loving way, that you are being a little sensitive and this can hopefully help you realize that you need to talk about how you are feeling or even get away for a few minutes. Go for a drive, go shopping whatever! I know it helps!

I still got Baby Blues with my second baby. I think I didn't really know how to handle a new baby while trying to handle a 2 year old. But I feel like with my third I finally have the hang of it, and Baby Blues didn't effect me quite so much.

I feel like I'm enjoying my third baby a little more, which is kind of sad because I wasn't really prepared for the new situations of the first 2 babies. I feel like I didn't enjoy them quite as much as I could have. So, I say relax and enjoy it! Everything will fall into place!

Nursing or Breast Feeding Part I

I feel and research has shown that breast feeding babies is the most healthy way to feed babies. (An aside: There are some moms that choose not to breast feed or some who are not able to, for work or insufficient milk supply, and that is just fine. Please don't let anyone make you feel bad for your choice. I feel most parents are doing the best they can and making decisions they feel are best for their children. Don't fall into the judgment trap. I love this quote from Mother Teresa, "If you judge people, you don't have time to love them.")Okay, for first time moms preparing to breast feed is difficult to understand, because you don't know what it feels like, what it should feel like, what it shouldn't feel like, if your baby is getting enough, and so on. I am going to do my best to explain what it has been like for me. Your experience may be totally different but at least you may get an idea.

I have heard many people say that it is important to nurse baby right away in order to get that "connection." I do think this is important but my second baby was taken away quickly for testing and I wasn't able nurse for the first time until 3 hours later. (I was a little upset about that but at least they made sure he was okay.) And you know what it was okay and we were still able to get that connection.

For your first baby, a nurse should help your baby latch on the first time. It will probably be awkward. For me I had one arm trying to hold the baby in the "right" but unfamiliar position, one hand trying to hold my breast up to his mouth and then the nurse's two hands trying to get a very small mouth around a small nipple. There was a point were it felt like he was latched on okay but the nurse said that wasn't right, and then she said the baby was latched on right but it didn't feel comfortable.

This is what worked for me... The only position I like and use is the cross-cradle hold.

The baby sort of lies on my forearm and my hand is behind his head and neck.

I really like this hold because I feel like I can move the head where I feel most comfortable. In the cradle hold I feel like the babies head moves around too much and I can't control it. But you really just have to find what works for you. So there are 4 main ways to hold the baby,

the Cross-Cradle hold,

Cradle Hold,

Football Hold,

and Side-lying Hold.

The Cross-Cradle hold has worked for me and that is what I use. Find what works for you.

When the baby latches on, his lips should look like fish lips or like he was saying "Ooo." The lips should but rolled out around the areola (or the dark circle part of the breast.) The baby should not latch on only to the nipple and the more area of the areola the baby latches on to the less it will hurt. In my case, my babies latch on and when the nurse is looking, it seems like the baby is only latched on to the nipple, but part of my areola is in his mouth. To the nurse it didn't look right but it felt fine. But do be careful because sometimes it feels okay but later you realize the baby wasn't latched on all the way because it is really tender or you may even get a blister. Please do whatever you can to not get a blister, because sometimes you have to nurse through the pain because your breast being so full is even more painful.

Since it is the first time nursing, the nipples will be tender. For me it was at least 2 weeks. I know that sounds a long time but it gets less and less tender. The lubricating nursing ointments are awesome, use them!!!

Even later in nursing some moms said that it hurt every time they latched on. For my first baby it was usually at the end of a feeding when I felt like he was sucking harder to get more out. But with my send and third babies I had little or no pain at all. I know the first isn't always easy but it will get better.

So, when your baby is first born and for the first 2-3 days your breasts make colostrum, a yellow, watery pre-milk—that your breasts make for the first few days after birth helps your newborn's digestive system grow and function. Then your milk will "come in." For each of my babies this was an uncomfortable and even painful adjustment period where my body was figuring out how much milk to produce for the baby. My breast get uncomfortably big and are painful to the touch. I instinctively want to "express" or pump my milk to relieve the pressure, but the relief is only temporary, until the breast find the balance. And if you pump too much it will only take longer to find the balance. When your baby has a growth spurt, gets sick, starts teething or sleeps through the night, the balance of your milk will change and it can get uncomfortable again. I have heard that chilled iceberg lettuce placed directly on the skin can help, but I haven't tried that.

My cousin said that her baby was more fussy and seemed more hungry that normal and a friend told her that the baby was probably going through a growth spurt and probably did need to be fed more. My cousin said that it was just helpful to know that the baby just needed a little more food. In general babies growth spurts happen in the first 7-10 days, 3-6 weeks, and then around 3, 6 and 9 months. If you have an idea when to look for these things it is really helpful.

Teething can also disrupt, well everything, but it definitely can change eating. And even if you don't feel teeth doesn't mean he's not teething. Teeth move up and back in and up and back in. So painful for the baby. I have said I think it's good that the babies don't remember the first year or so because of all the growing pains, learning to breath, eat, crawl, walk etc. etc!

Ok, now this is a little more difficult to explain. It's called the "let down." It's when your hormones trigger your milk ducts to release the milk. I have had it feel lots of different ways, most common for me is a kind tingle or "movement" sort of in the middle of the breast. Other times it has felt like pins and needles (almost or a little bit painful but only for a second), a sort of "pulling" feeling coming from the side of the breast sort of under the arm. Those are the best descriptions I can come up with, but listen and pay attention to your body.

I used to use breast pads all the time until a friend told me that when she felt her "let down" she would just fold her arms across her chest and put pressure on the nipples and it would stop the leaking. But be careful because if you just put pressure on the breasts, it will leak even faster. I told a sister-in-law to use breast pads for at least the first month but I am changing my mind. When at home, try to learn what your "let down" feels like and learn how to stop the leaking. (Breast pads can be expensive.) If you go out and you feel you might leak by all means where breast pads, but the quicker you learn the less pads you have to buy.

My mom told me that when my milk "lets down" it can squirt out. I didn't really believe her. But when I was in the shower and the warm water was on me, my milk "let down" and there really was a couple streams of milk coming out! And if you ever pump you will see that milk comes out in 2-7 different streams during each suction. It's crazy but definitely helpful for infants who are still learning how to suck and swallow. I really think the woman body is amazing!

Now this next part is a little strange. It is something that caught me off guard and felt weird. With my first baby sometimes when I would nurse I felt weird, almost as if I was getting "turned on" while I was nursing. It really weirded me out, so I went to the internet and found that other moms had felt the same thing. Nursing releases hormones that helps the uterus the contract and go back down to normal size, but those are also the same hormones that are felt during intimacy. It was so weird for me that I wouldn't allow any touching of my breasts while I was being intimate with my husband (sorry if this is too much information for those who know me, but I want to be open and honest.) It was weird to feel that during intimacy and then "turn it off" while I was nursing. But with my second and third babies I was able to distinguish the feelings better and it wasn't so weird.

I have a few more things to talk about but that will be in Nursing or Breast Feeding Part II

Take with a grain of salt...

Feeding your baby can be intimidating but hopefully it will be exciting and intimate. There are probably hundreds of theories and methods on feeding babies.

The first and most important thing I want to say is that if a theory says that if you don't follow their method your baby will turn out to be something less than desirable, it is a load of crap! Now I don't usually like to say negative things but I have a few issues with this theory, On Becoming Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam. (I don't have specific examples because I ended up throwing the book away. I am just going off what I remember so it could be inaccurate in parts.)

As soon as I started reading this book I was very excited because it talked a lot about being Christian and the mother-baby relationship. But it went into telling mothers that "mother's intuition" is in essence illogical and unreliable. In part that ca

n be true but countless little lives have been saved by "illogical" mother's intuition, and I will take illogical and unreliable "mother's intuition" over a theory any day of the week.

The book pushes hard on following a 3 hour schedule of feeding; Feed, wake time, and then sleep time. I actually do like that sequence but I did some research on the book and found that Baby Wise has been linked to failure-to-thrive (failure-to-thrive is baby not getting enough to eat and not growing at a normal or consistent rate.) So it is important to pay attention to YOUR baby. They said that if you feed your baby "on demand" (meaning fe

eding your baby every time they cry) he or she would grow up to be a needy and spoiled brat! That is a bunch of crap! However I feel that if for their entire lives the parents give their child everything they want when they want it, there is a good chance that the child might be a spoiled brat. But that is just nonsense that if a baby is feed on demand for the first year of their life, that they will turn into a spoiled brat.

Also with this theory, I wanted to be a well informed and educated mother so I tried to follow their schedule closely. With my first baby I would feed him for at least half a hour and then I would keep him awake for at least an hour (he was a chunk)

and then put him to bed for an hour to an hour and a half. Now that sounds great but have you really tried to keep a 2 week old infant awake for an hour? It is nearly impossible! Well at least for all 3 of my boys. I would do anything and everything to keep my first baby awake. I was literally working, bouncing, singing, whatever for the entire hour every three hours, so that's about 5 times a day. IT WAS EXHAUSTING!!! And more importantly

it was no fun! I was wearing myself out and I was not enjoying my baby!

In retrospect I was obviously following the theory too closely but it was just not working for me, so as I said before I ended up throwing the book out.

One other thing of note was that in this theory, part of helping your baby to sleep was letting your baby cry. Now I do think at some point (by individual basis) if a baby isn't sleeping through the night he or she needs to be allowed get out of the habit of waking up at night, and in some cases that means letting the baby cry. But in the Baby Wise book, they reference a study on letting babies cry. Now this book is mainly geared towards babies 6 months and younger, but I read from a guy who found the study they reference in the book and the study done about letting kids cry that were 4 year olds! It was totally taken out of context and honestly makes me pretty upset!

Now there are some parts of Baby Wise that I like and still use, and I will sum up the whole book in the next few lines. Babies need to get a full feeding every time they eat to keep them on schedule. Schedules for babies (and mommies) are very helpful. The schedule sequence that worked for me was feed, wake time, sleep time. Lastly, babies don't cry only when they are hungry. So, if I don't think it's time for him to eat, I try other things first; sleep, change the diaper, holding, and then if none of those work then I know he IS hungry.

That's it!!! That's pretty much everything I have taken from the book.

Because I am a number person, I always tried to stay close to the 3 hour schedule, and luckily for me, that has worked so far with my babies. I am no expert on babies but I feel that keeping my babies awake after they eat allows their tummies to settle and digest. But some moms really like to nurse their babies to sleep, I would only suggest one thing... Make sure your baby gets a full feeding before they fall asleep. I love nursing but it is hard on my body, so if my baby wasn't getting enough to eat and in turn had to eat more often, I think it would be even more hard on my body.

I think that for the most part people who share theories about babies and children, have good intentions, but NOTHING is fail safe for every child. And if someone tries to tell you their theory is a fail safe... WALK AWAY!!! There have been parents raising babies for thousands of years and I'm pretty sure that most wouldn't fit into any one "theory." And there have been okay parents raising okay babies who turn into okay people for thousands of years. I hope no one in their right mind thinks their way is the only "right way." In the case of Baby Wise, I doubted myself and my mother's instincts, so that's why I walked away.

Take everything in stride, take everything with a grain of salt, and use what works for you and your baby.

Vulnerable

I feel out of my comfort zone and a bit vulnerable as I write this because it's real and it's me. Part of writing this blog is to share with other people (especially other moms) what it's really like learning how to be a mom.

I was already a little emotional today because my three boys and I have been visiting my parents/family for the 4th of July weekend, and I found out that we wouldn't be able to go back home tomorrow. My car has been having problems and will have to stay at least two extra days. I miss my husband, the boys miss their Dad and we all miss our home. "Wanna go home," Taylor says as he puts his head on my shoulder.

I was able to reflect on some more of myself tonight.
I went to Enrichment Night for Relief Society. (Relief Society is the name of the women's group at church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Enrichment Night is an evening where the ladies get together and do something fun/educational/uplifting together, like crafts, learning to fix a flat tire, service projects, and tonight was breakfast ideas with a message on self-improvement and self esteem.) We were able to taste some of the new breakfast recipes and now I have some new breakfast meals I'm looking forward to making.

Then we had the self-improvement/self esteem message from Jason Carroll (whom I found out later teaches a Marriage Preparation class at Brigham Young University or BYU) He was an amazing speaker! He had us laughing and then the very next sentence was deep and thought provoking. He was quoting two of his favorite speakers, Bruce and Marie Hafen. They say that the Japanese have a concept of "Amea." They translate this principle to mean "a longing for belonging," and continue

"People simple desire to be connected with others, especially in close relationships. They are feeling the longing to belong... Both out theology and the feelings of our feats make us want to belong, now and eternally, to the Father or our Spirits, to his Son, and to those we love on earth." (From The Belonging Heart)

Jason Carroll went on to say that a lot of women (and I add more specifically stay-at-home-moms) tend to sugar coat everything and portray their lives as easy and blissfully happy, because maybe if others see struggles and well, what life and kids really throw at us, those people might not like us. But he says in most cases it is just the opposite, when people share REAL feelings and REAL experiences those people feel closer.

I totally have to agree. I feel very close to my friends in my neighborhood, because we feel comfortable sharing special moments with our kids and husbands, but we also feel comfortable crying with each other, working out struggles, advice for kids' behaviors etc. I am even getting emotional now thinking about it because these girls mean so much to me. I can't even begin to explain what a necessity for me to have friends that I can relate to, and I feel so lucky and blessed to have the friends I do. Earlier today (even before the Enrichment Night) I texted my group of friends, "Been in UT & my fam have been working days & now have to stay 2 extra days bc of my car. Realizing that my friends are my lifesavers. Thank u :)"

I can't remember the context this was in but Jason Carroll talked about how and when we self-reflect, even when we are happy, we feel a sense of homesickness. Unconsciously I was feeling that today, and he explains that we feel this homesickness because we are away from our Heavenly Home, away from our Heavenly Parents.

This is a little non-related but I was able to put some thoughts together tonight...
When I am out with the boys like at the pool, or park, etc. I give the boys more attention than when I am at home. I'm a little torn about my feelings then, I love the attention I'm giving them and I have fun with them but I feel bad that I'm not like that more at home. Then I realized that when I'm out of the house, I don't really have any other responsibility than my kids, but when I'm at home I tend to always find something that needs to be done. There will always be something else to do, but I need to make sure to give my kids more undivided attention and play time with mom. I've been struggling with finding a balance, I tend to be very one track minded. When I'm trying to keep the house clean, that's all I do. When I'm trying to get sewing things done, that's all I do. When I'm playing with the kids, nothing else gets done. I've been feeling bad for Isaac lately because when Taylor is napping (sometimes more than three hours!) Isaac gets so bored. I've been trying to do more with him and help him find things to do. But it's kind of stressful for me. I talked to a friend and she said that she has to have her personal alone time for her and the kids. She gets a break and the kids have to learn how to entertain themselves. I can definitely see the importance of those things. I would also like to add that many kids today are always entertained and don't really know how to relax, self-reflect, meditate, etc. and I think those things are important to continue growing as a person and it also gives children the opportunity to receive feelings from our Heavenly Father or Deity.

I know this post is kind of all over the place but when I'm reflecting and thinking about things, the thoughts seem to flow quickly and aren't always coherent. Which is another good reason for me to write and organize into words.

Parker: The Self Burper

At first I thought that Parker was just a really difficult burper after nursing! But he's actually very easy! I just hold him up like I would if I were trying to burp him but then do nothing, and as long as he is little bit awake he will almost always burp on his own.
If he is too asleep to burp I will just go put him down and if he really does need to burp or the bubble in his tummy hurts him, then he will usually wake up. He's just awake enough to burp and then go right back to sleep!
I remember doing this for Taylor too, but I worked better for him if when I held him up, I put his arms up over my shoulder like he was flying.
This is a lot less work for me... When Isaac was a baby it would usually take me a half an hour to burp him, and I would try EVERYTHING!!! I would hold him different ways while I pat his back, lie hiim on my lap and pat, roll him around, anything, because a bubble in his tummy usually really hurt him.
I've also found that, at least with my kids, there is a trick to burp them that usually always works.

Only 3 hours at the Pool!

It is quite the project to get out of the house! Today we went to a neighbor's house to go swimming! (We get together every week during the summer because they have such a fun pool!) We do a pot luck for lunch and it was my turn to bring the adults' lunch. Luckily I made the chicken salad sandwich part yesterday.

Anyway, I got both boys lathered up with sunscreen and Isaac into his swimsuit. (I put Taylor's bottoms on at the pool because swim diapers only hold poop not pee, it just runs out of the diaper. So I didn't want him to accidentally pee on the way over to our friend's house.) I got all three boys in the car and got the food in and we were off. Luckily another neighbor got there at the same time and she helped me carry some of the swim stuff in. I got the boys' floaties on and got them in the pool. Isaac wears arm floaties and Taylor wears arm floaties plus a small vest. There were other moms in the pool so I ran back out to the car to grab the food. Then one of Taylor's floaties ripped, he was pretty upset about it. I tried just using the vest but it didn't keep him up all the way, I tried another bigger vest but he couldn't balance and just fell over onto his back. So I put the other vest back on and luckily Isaac's friend Rook is swimming really well on his own, so he shared his floaties with Taylor.

Also luckily Parker was being really good even though it had already been 4 hours since he ate last. So, I nursed Parker and jumped in the pool with the boys. Parker was so good the whole time!

Then it was time for lunch and Isaac and Taylor never want to get out, but finally I got them out and covered with towels and sat down at the kiddie table. The kids' meal was little finger corn dogs which my kids don't eat, and Isaac kept practically yelling, "I WANT REAL CHICKEN NUGGETS!" Embarrassing. But they ate fruit and some veggies. Maridyn had to correct Isaac because he coughed without covering his mouth, and couched right onto Alexa's food!

I finally got my food and was half-way through eating my sandwich when Isaac says he needs to go stinkies. We went into the bathroom but he only went pee. Then we went back out and Taylor is waiting at the back door saying, "Stinkies, Stinkies!" Maridyn brought a little kids' potty and I put Taylor on it. He was shivering so bad, and he's never gone poop in the potty, so I hurried over to get his towel to keep him warm. By the time I get back Taylor is off the potty with poop hanging off his bum, and a poop log on the ground! I sat him back down on the potty and ran inside to put the poop in the toilet and grab some wipes, but he had already gotten poop on the back of swim shirt. Finally I got Taylor cleaned up and I went in to get a bag for his swim shirt. Some of the other kids were getting back in the pool and I look over and Taylor is in the hot tub with his sandals on but no floaties! Luckily he stayed on the step. Then I got him out and both their floaties on, and back in the pool. By that time Rook needed to go potty but had to run upstairs because I hadn't been able to clean his potty yet. I finally got the potty cleaned and could sit down and finish my lunch and chat with some other moms.

After a little while it was time to go. (It was already 2 hours past Taylor's normal nap time.) I got the boys out and into their normal clothes so they weren't wet in the car. I had to take two trips to the car to get the food and swim stuff in and then the boys. Then we got home and as I'm trying to put Taylor down for his nap, Parker starts screaming because it is time for food. I get Taylor down quickly and feed Parker while Isaac watches a little TV. Now, after about an hour and a half of being home Isaac is asleep too! I can't believe it! They are all asleep! I guess after a crazy 3 hours at the pool I deserve a break! Phew!

Opening Day

After deciding to start a mother's blog, the next day (which was actually yesterday) we had a not-so-fun situation...

We (me and the 3 boys) had just gotten back from a week long trip to Utah, and we were vacuuming out the van. The boys were playing with water faucet on the side of the house and were all wet. Isaac was sitting on the front passenger seat and I started to ask him to move so he didn't get it all wet. Then I saw blood all over the place. I was trying to figure out where it was coming from... Isaac's right forefinger. I asked him what he cut it on and he pointed to a pocket knife on the seat.

I had kept a pocket knife in the bottom of the glove compartment. I thought for some weird reason I might need it some day.

Anyway, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell if it needed stitches and I couldn't get a hold of Robbie at school. And worse I couldn't get it to stop bleeding! It finally stopped bleeding after constant pressure for 30 minutes!

Robbie thought that he needed stitches so we went to the urgent care. The doctor ended up using skin glue. But she didn't wipe off the blood or clean it first, she just said that the skin glue had anti-bacterial in it. I still thought it was kind of weird.
Since then he has split it back open twice! :( We just used regular super glue to fix it again! Trying to keep a band-aid on him is quite a task.