Soon Enough

I just gave Finn a bath.  (he is now sleeping soundly in his swing.)  He really likes the bath.  Getting "dressed" afterwards, not so much.  He enjoys lounging in the little blue tub, letting me squeeze the water out of the tiny soft washcloth onto his belly and legs, and he really likes getting his big round head scrubbed.  Finn takes his baths in our big bathroom, in our big tub.  The kids bath in the hall is too small and has too much other kid clutter for mommy, so our bath it is.  We have a LARGE jetted tub in our bathroom, that is up off the ground quite a bit, so I can't just lean over and wash him like I would with a regular tub.  So, the blue infant tub goes in the end by the spigot, then I have a little one step Rubbermaid step stool (that is older than dirt and has about 10 colors of paint on it) that I put in the other end for me to sit on so I can reach Finn.  (I learned this method from my husband.  It's how he used to bathe our dog, Einstein. *tear*)  It's really pretty comfy and gives me quite a nice vantage point for the bath.  I like it!  But, when the bath is over, neither one of us likes it.  It is a bit of a gymnastics feat to get OUT of this tub like this while holding a wet baby wrapped in a towel (MUCH easier this week without the oxygen support, but still a challenge).  And once I get out, I transfer him to the changing table, where I have the monitor belt, leads, wires and Velcro closure all set out and ready (pictured) - along with a clean diaper and change of clothes.  This is when the waterworks begin!  He hates getting dressed!  I remember when he was brand new at home he was so STIFF and I was worried about it and talked to our SoonerStart Child Development Specialist.  She said we would watch it and hopefully it would get better.  The stiffness has dissipated, but he still hates getting dressed.  First, I slather him up with smell good baby lotion - being careful to avoid all parts of the body that come in contact with the monitor belt and leads (ugh).  Then, I put the clean diaper on (sometimes I'm a little too slow on this step).  Then, I have to get the monitor parts together: attach the wires to the leads, put the belt under the baby, put the lead with the white wire under right arm, black under the left, pull the belt securely around baby's chest, affix the little band aid shaped Velcro tab.  All on a wriggling, crying baby.  THEN, clothes.  We've had a heat wave of sorts the last few days, so for now that's a short sleeved onesie and some socks.  MUCH better than earlier in the winter when I actually had to do layers and keep him warm!

Our bathtub set up. You can see my feet/ankles outside the top of the tub.

But, VERY SOON we will be done with the heart and apnea monitor.  It has not alarmed in weeks, unless one of us forgets to plug it in and the battery goes down, or we step on the blue cord and the leads come unplugged (the final step of the bath/get dressed precess when I bring him back to the living room is plugging the 2 lead wires into the blue patient cable that goes to the machine).  The home health company representative usually comes to Stillwater on Tuesdays.  We hope to be able to call this coming Monday and tell them to pick up all the oxygen tanks, the concentrator, AND the monitoring equipment.  It feels like we have been doing this forever, but soon enough, Finn will be FREE and off of all of his "leashes" that have been confining us for weeks.  It can't come soon enough for me.