Day 46: Bath Time

Allison and I had a very nice day with Vivienne. She lost her umbilical stump yesterday and can now be submerged in water so we got to give her a proper bath. I held her in place and lifted her while Allison washed. She didn't like it much at first, but once Allison started washing her hair she stopped crying and really seemed to enjoy herself.

This is Viv getting dried off. No tub pics as we wanted to get her in and out as quickly as possible to stave off a potential meltdown.

We thought the headband was adorable; Viv was a bit more skeptical.

They weaned her again today - from six hours to eight hours between morphine doses - and she was a little cranky but did really well during the day. She still has issues with reflux but the antacid that they put her on seems to be helping. Her main sources of discomfort now are the weaning and anything related to digesting food. We're learning different techniques for holding, patting and bouncing her to calm her down, depending on what it is that is making her upset.

In the early evening, just as we were about to leave, Viv had a massive meltdown. It was pretty clearly withdrawal-related so they gave her a small "rescue" dose of morphine that helped but didn't completely calm her. Allison handed her off to me while she pumped and Viv wailed for just about the entire half hour that I had custody. I fled to the back to wash the pump stuff and by the time I got back Viv had stopped crying thanks to Allison's efforts. She's got the magic touch. Mom spent the next hour holding, rocking, bouncing, and talking to her until it was clear that her fit had passed and we could leave her in peace.