Shameful!
I have a confession to make: my child is three weeks old and has not had a bath before today.
I know, it's shameful. I have wiped him down with a baby washcloth, and I've used baby wipes on him in a pinch, but the mini whore baths couldn't last forever. His hair was starting to smell like actual dirty hair, which is kinda gross considering he's just a baby. It's just that when I was getting ready to be discharged from the hospital and the nurse was going over how to "properly" bathe the baby, it totally freaked me out.
First of all, she devoted a grand minute and a half to the instructions, which included putting a towel in the dryer beforehand to keep the baby warm. Then there was something about them being very slippery, do it in the sink, hold them like a football in your armpit, keep the parts you're not washing covered in a warm towel, which should be different from the warm towel you plan to dry the child with... yeah. Way to confuse and intimidate a first time mom who is already freaked out by the whole baby thing.
Luckily, thank God, Susan offered to come over and show me how to give him a bath. I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent and able bodied, but I was scared to drop him or give him pneumonia or something like that. Also, that whole bathing in the kitchen sink business? It sounds great in theory, but what if he decided to POO??? In the KITCHEN SINK??? There isn't enough bleach in the world, my friends.
So, she recommended a tub, which I promptly ran out and bought. We set it on the kitchen counter and she gave that angry little man his very first bath. There was no dryer involved, no football hold, no parts being kept covered while not actively being washed... just a baby getting a bath, a lot of crying (shocker, I know) and maybe a little fountain of pee for fun.
You know what else was missing? MY CAMERA!!! That's right, I totally forgot to take pictures of Sawyer's first bath! And I call myself a scrapbooker. I'm a little bit bummed about that, but what can I do now? It's over and done with.
Of course, after Susan got him dried, diapered, and dressed in clean jammies, he promptly fell asleep in her lap. Way to make your mama look like a liar, little man! He's been sleeping for almost two hours now. He smells so sweet and nice. I can tell you that if he sleeps like this after every bath, we'll be bathing more often, and closer to bedtime too.
My breast is a LOT less sore today. In fact, it's pretty much only mildly sore on the bottom again. My temperature did get up to 101.5 last night, but this morning it was gone. I checked it a little while ago and it was up to 99.5 again, but that's not bad. My milk production is up too. All weekend I was at 6 or 7 oz a session, and just now I did nine, which is good. The only complaint I have, besides the usual "I'm so flipping TIRED" one, is that I'm on day three of this crappy headache. That may be due to the "I'm so flipping TIRED" thing though. Anyway, I'm going to keep up with the frequent pumping and ibuprofen, and I hopefully this will clear up just fine.
I know, it's shameful. I have wiped him down with a baby washcloth, and I've used baby wipes on him in a pinch, but the mini whore baths couldn't last forever. His hair was starting to smell like actual dirty hair, which is kinda gross considering he's just a baby. It's just that when I was getting ready to be discharged from the hospital and the nurse was going over how to "properly" bathe the baby, it totally freaked me out.
First of all, she devoted a grand minute and a half to the instructions, which included putting a towel in the dryer beforehand to keep the baby warm. Then there was something about them being very slippery, do it in the sink, hold them like a football in your armpit, keep the parts you're not washing covered in a warm towel, which should be different from the warm towel you plan to dry the child with... yeah. Way to confuse and intimidate a first time mom who is already freaked out by the whole baby thing.
Luckily, thank God, Susan offered to come over and show me how to give him a bath. I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent and able bodied, but I was scared to drop him or give him pneumonia or something like that. Also, that whole bathing in the kitchen sink business? It sounds great in theory, but what if he decided to POO??? In the KITCHEN SINK??? There isn't enough bleach in the world, my friends.
So, she recommended a tub, which I promptly ran out and bought. We set it on the kitchen counter and she gave that angry little man his very first bath. There was no dryer involved, no football hold, no parts being kept covered while not actively being washed... just a baby getting a bath, a lot of crying (shocker, I know) and maybe a little fountain of pee for fun.
You know what else was missing? MY CAMERA!!! That's right, I totally forgot to take pictures of Sawyer's first bath! And I call myself a scrapbooker. I'm a little bit bummed about that, but what can I do now? It's over and done with.
Of course, after Susan got him dried, diapered, and dressed in clean jammies, he promptly fell asleep in her lap. Way to make your mama look like a liar, little man! He's been sleeping for almost two hours now. He smells so sweet and nice. I can tell you that if he sleeps like this after every bath, we'll be bathing more often, and closer to bedtime too.
My breast is a LOT less sore today. In fact, it's pretty much only mildly sore on the bottom again. My temperature did get up to 101.5 last night, but this morning it was gone. I checked it a little while ago and it was up to 99.5 again, but that's not bad. My milk production is up too. All weekend I was at 6 or 7 oz a session, and just now I did nine, which is good. The only complaint I have, besides the usual "I'm so flipping TIRED" one, is that I'm on day three of this crappy headache. That may be due to the "I'm so flipping TIRED" thing though. Anyway, I'm going to keep up with the frequent pumping and ibuprofen, and I hopefully this will clear up just fine.
Labels: Bubba
Miss M told you so @ 2:34 PM
3 Comments:
I'm so glad you had a good experience with it today! It was so nice of Susan to come over and lend a hand. Sometimes you just need someone who knows the ropes. I have heard bath time leaves them calm and sleepy. Lavendar is supposed to be good for that, too. You can always have Brad take pictures of you guys the first time you bath Sawyer -- just call the page, your first bath with mommy. He'll never know the difference. :) Hang in there, sista! You're doing great.
Good idea up there!
Don't you love that "new baby" smell? I wish they could bottle it up and sell it.
My husband and I used to just love to smell our little one's head every time we held him. :)
I'm glad Sawyer enjoyed the fresh-clean feeling after his bath. I think most newborns hate the bath itself, but usually fall asleep after they're all warm and cozy again.
Also, I agree with staging another first bath photo shoot!
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