when you’re in the nicu for you spend a lot of time wondering when you’ll get the chance to do the simple things that other parents take for granted. for 30 days we’ve pondered, contemplated and bet when eric would be stable enough for a bath from mama.

and woohoooo! late in the night we were pleasantly surprised to find that we could give eric his first bath! i think both of us felt a mix of complete elation along with a good dose of pensiveness that he might stop breathing or his heart rate would dip.

he’s been getting “spit baths” all along, but surely none of them were as fun as the one he got from mama. most of the hands you see belong to kris, but every so often nurse sue lends a helping hand. i, of course, am darting in and out, trying to capture the entire thing.

micropreems don’t usually like baths very much; from their perspective it’s just something that makes them very cold and all the touching can lead to overstimulation tantrums. but i guess eric isn’t like most micropreems, since he was quite content through most of the process

first things first – you must start by wiping the crud from his eyes.

and a little more scrubbing. nurse sue is holding his head and kris provides the other two hands.

more scrubbing.

the ears must be cleaned.

scrubbing bubbles. kris applies soap to his very sensitive skin.

help!! eric is pleading for me to intervene.

kris is picking eric up in an attempt to get his head closer to the water.

kris is gently applying some water to eric IV’s head right before she adds some shampoo.

you can’t have a bath without being dried off.

i think that might be the beginnings of a smile.