Scrub-a-dub-dub - Luka is in the tub (again)

If the title of this post sounds familiar - it is.  Though, how could you not title it this...here is Luka, slightly more than a year after his very first bath in the NICU, enjoying bubbles (again courtesy of auntie Becca) - thanks to my procurement princess, Luka has two of the most enormous bottles of Johnson's baby bubble bath you can possible imagine - and was making 100% sure he enjoyed it to the fullest!

I simply could not resist these...and yes, he is a total poser!

We're going to have our hands full with this one....

Christmas Day in Sri Lanka

After camp Changi was dismantled, we boarded an overbooked flight full of returning Sri Lankans to Colombo.  Despite our best efforts to sleep Luka as much as possible, the combination of the sneezing woman behind us, and all the fascinated Sri Lankans at this smiley baby who were constantly engaging with him, making sleep the last thing on his mind.  Traveling with Luka has now become somewhat like traveling with a small tornado.  As when he was little, he remains an excellent flyer (no screaming, no ear aches), it's just that...well, there is no sitting either.  So we play defense by passing him back and forth as he lunges himself at the back of the seat, all the while smiling at everyone and everything he can lay his eyes on.

Scrub-a-dub-dub - Luka's in the ... sink. 

We survived the flight and arrived red-eyed at Colombo International Airport somewhere in the vicinity of 0400.  We were met by a lovely driver who transported us the roughly one hour to a friend's house in a lovely part of Colombo.  We tried to thwart Luka by giving him his second 'bad tyd' of the evening by showering and bottling him at 0500 hoping for at least a few hours sleep.  True to form though he was up at 0630 and ready to go.  We spent the day in a bit of a sleep deprived daze, but relaxed by our friend's pool, took a stroll to the supermarket, and then had a lovely Christmas dinner with an American-Ghanean couple living here in Sri Lanka.   But not before we gave Luka his Christmas bath.  Not wanting to get into the shower right before dinner ourselves, we opted for the second best thing.

God bless good friends who welcomed us into their home for Christmas, and god bless Luka and his sense of humor. 

The Tummy Tub

The beauty of the tummy tub apparently lies in the womb-like
posture the baby adapts while in it.

While out to dinner at friends' last night, Luka promptly announced that it was tub-time at 1830.  Fortunately we were at the home of fellow-new parents with all the necessary gear for rinsing a little one after a long hot Timor day.  And so we were introduced to the phenomena of the Tummy Tub!  Not quite convinced of the safety of this odd shaped device, Chris hesitantly lowered Luka into the clear plastic bucket in the shower.  Once we were instructed on the appropriate water level, we were amazed at how much he loved it!  Apparently this is the go-to-tub in Europe.  We couldn't quite figure out how to actually wash him, but hey - he seemed to have a ball and how filthy does a non-walker really get at this point?

Oh! Toes!!

Another day, another new experience!

'Scrub-a-dub-dub, Luka's in the tub!'

Well, we had a fun day today - and in Luka's frame of reference, as much excitement as he can expect for a while - his first bath!  As part of the continued mentoring and safety concerns in the nursery, we had a 'demo' bath today - though I got to do the actual bath with a nurse watching instead of the nurse actually doing the bath (I think we are viewed as part of the furniture around here by now...and are generally involved in everything to do with Luka).  

Step 1: Conveniently convert sleeping equipment into bathing
equipment.

Step 2: Find baby, commence nakedness

Step 3: Add one naked baby to appropriate amount of water
(amount will vary depending on size of naked baby) 

Step 4: While ensuring head remains out of water at all times
proceed to gently wash said naked baby

In true Serjak fashion, we appear to have a 'water baby' on our hands as Luka seemed to love the warm water.  We have to be sure, as mentioned before, that we keep him contained, safe and not allow his arms to flail out, as this really distresses him.  We will try these baths daily for a while until we are really comfortable holding him, and then do them every other day.  What a great way to spend time together, and finally to be rid of the sensor wires (and feeding tube since it was being changed today). 

Step 5: Gently towel dry naked baby
and take cute photos 

A tiny Top 'n Tail

Cleaning a baby is no easy feat under any circumstances.  Cleaning one that weighs less than a bag of flour, while contained in a box too low for your height, with nothing but two small hand holes to operate through, is not for the faint hearted.  To date, Luka has not yet received a real big-boy bath.  Instead, we (or the nurse at night) clean him every six hours using the following procedure:

Supplies drawer

1. Prep all cleaning supplies from his dedicated drawer - this includes: fill small bowl with warm water, pour a hand-full of cotton balls in. Place at foot of isolette (the dirty end).  Place sterile pad gently on top of isolette (these boxes are extremely loud when things are placed on top, so one has to be very careful).  Take a packet of sterile cotton balls (in a sealed plastic packet) remove 3.  Add 2 sealed cotton swabs, a tube of saline water, and a tube of sterile water. Place a few more sterile towels at the 'dirty end', and one (or two) under the little guy's backside.  Place a brown paper bag for 'trash' at the foot of his bed, and make sure you have a fresh diaper handy.

Saline and Purified water tubes

Sterile cotton balls

2.  Wash your hands
3.  Sterilize your hands using the bottle of sterilizer attached to each bed
4.  Warm up your hands by rubbing them together
5.  Open the isolette doors

Calming and ask permission

6.  Place your hand(s) gently over the baby's body without startling him.  Make sure he is calm and not stressed.  Ask permission to change him, then continue to tell him what you are doing throughout the process.
7.  Start from the top to the tail.  First of all, the eyes:  Open the saline solution, pour generously over two sterile cotton balls.  Holding his head  gently with one hand, wipe one cotton ball once only over one eye from the inside out, repeat on the other eye with the second cotton ball.

Cleaning inside the mouth

8.  Open the sterile water - pour generously over the third cotton ball.  Still cradling his head, gently, but firmly, wipe the cotton ball over his mouth.  Pour some of the water on the cotton swabs and wipe the inside of his lips and gums.

Cleaning the bottom

9.  Making sure he is still calm, move down to the diaper.  Gently undo the diaper tabs.  Folding the diaper in half underneath him (to catch unexpected surprises), take two cotton balls from the bowl of warm water, squeeze excess water out, gently wipe down the affected area. Repeat until clean, without lifting his legs too high in the air to avoid a spike in blood pressure.
10.  Remove the diaper from underneath him, discard all used items into the brown paper trash bag at the foot of his bed.

Dry thoroughly

11. Dry bottom thoroughly using sterile towels, apply bum cream
12. Attach new diaper.
13. Undo and remove sensor from one foot, move and reattach to the other foot to avoid burns from the light on the sensor.
14. Hold baby once more, thank him for being so good and cooperative.

Almost done!

15. Wash hands, bowl and restock drawer.