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not sure how to give a newborn a bath? thank goodness for YouTube.

I think for many expecting couples there’s a lot of preparation involved for bringing home their newborn.  Whether it’s classes offered through their OB/GYN or training offered at the hospital, expecting parents have the chance to learn some basic caring skills that many adoptive parents miss out on. Our “nesting” months are spent preparing for homestudy interviews and trans-racial seminars. We’re running around town gathering financial documents and getting fingerprinted. Who has time to learn how to swaddle a baby? Or how to sleep train a newborn? Or how to give an infant a bath? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Thank goodness for my sister (a baby-swaddling ninja 🙅🏻‍♀️) who taught me how to swaddle Jack when he came home from the hospital. After about 20 times I got the hang of it.   But when the experience and advice of friends fell short we did what any other cusp-millennial couple would do, we turned to YouTube.

Jack couldn’t have been more than a few days old and we thought, “hey, this kid needs a bath!” (how often should you bathe a newborn? We had no idea 🙄).   We were in the nursery with the iPad propped up on the changing area, sweet baby Jack on the changing pad in just a diaper. We had our arsenal of supplies as directed by the video:

✔️Clean Cotton
✔️Clean Wash Cloths
✔️Q-tips (for the umbilical area)
✔️Baby Lotion

After watching this video about 10 times, I was feeling determined that we knew what we were doing. All we needed was water. Chris stayed with Jack while I went to the kitchen. Get water. How hard could this be? In my state of determination I started to feel frazzled and in a bit of a tizzy, what do I put the water in? I could hear Chris and baby Jack upstairs, and so in my haste I grab literally the first two containers I could find for the water: an oversized coffee mug and a small paper cup.  Don’t ask what  possessed me to grab these, I just did.   I headed back upstairs with the cup and mug in hand ready to bathe my new baby. The look of utter confusion on my husband’s face was truly a missed Kodak moment. Luckily for me he just chalked it up to new mom “baby brain”  and went back to the kitchen to find something more appropriate for the occasion.  He came back upstairs, warm water in hand. We hit play on the iPad and followed along with the nice lady in the video, hitting pause between steps, and gave Jack his first bath that night.

So I guess the takeaway of the story is, if you have the resources and ability to take a newborn class and learn some basic things before you get the call, DO IT!  And while you’re at it pick up an infant bathtub 😉

Comments

  1. mjMarch 28, 2018 at 9:10 PM

    ���� I can picture this. (I hope it was my Minnie mug) But look at you now ❤️

    ReplyDelete
  2. KiraApril 13, 2018 at 10:58 AM

    Love this story! As a waiting to be matched mom, this stuff gives me so much anxiety. Thanks for the humor and the tips. :)
    I too started a blog in March! Follow me if you'd like at www.theadoptionjournal.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It Was Jack All AlongApril 13, 2018 at 11:33 AM

      Kira thanks so much for reading and following along! I completely understand what you’re feeling, and I promise you’ll totally figure it out and do a great job I’m sure ☺️ I follow you on Insta, I’ll definitely check out your blog too!!! Blessings, Kristen

      Delete

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