Camille's high-tech baby spa

The system Aunt Allison ordered for Camille was a bit more portable, but it was the same  idea and by the same manufacturer (Thalasso, I think); Water is preheated; no water goes directly from the home's tap onto the baby, as such can be dangerous. Water that makes contact with the baby has been pre-heated and measured both by instrument and by touch.  I have mixed feelings. I got by just fine without it, but it surely seemed to shut Camille up.

One of my Godchildren's aunts is a director of nursing at a hospital in Utah. This particular aunt has been claiming that Camille is cold even though she's swaddled practically like a mummy except for when she's on the jaundice bed, which she still need to do for about two hours a day. (That's down from about six hours, so the parents are finding two hours of steady screaming until the poor tortured baby cries herself to sleep manageable as opposed to six hours. Anyway,  when the grandmother who is a nurse practitioner  was checking the baby's vitaals this afternon, the baby's temp was just a little low. The consensus was that the baby needed to be wrapped in warm blankets aand held close to mom. if mom were a bit warmer, more skin-to-skin contact might be better, but mom isn't warmer.

The aunt who is a director of nursing in Utah talked to the chief of the NICU at her hospital about a bathing system that simulates the baby's experience in the womb, which they use particularly  on preemies who don't yet seem comfortable in their own skin. The aunt ordered one and had it sent here.  She told the baby's mom that she would stop at any point if the mom was uncomfortable with it. The nanny was familiar with the technicques and had used it with preemie twins simultaneously with positive results. 

They warmed the water to the proper temperature (I think it was 98.8, but I'm not certain) and  had the other hold Baby Camilles in the tub of water while the aunt direced the swirling water around the baby. Sounds simulating what the baby hears in utero were played  as the water was channeled over and around the baby's body. The aunt told the mom to talk softly to the baby. Baby Camille sceramed for about fifteen seconds, then gradually settled into it.. She'd already been fed and had already pooped, so she was just waiting to go back to sleep. after about fifteen inutes, the aunt had the mother dry her in soft towels, then diaper the baby and wrap her gently but not quite swaddled in soft warmed baby towels covered by a warm blanket. The mom rocked her for a few minutes before putting hr in her cradle.  They let the baby sleep a bit longer than she's usually allowed to sleep between feeding. When she woke up ninety minutes later, she nursed hungrily for almost twice as long as she typically does, then went right back to sleep after pooping.

The pediatrician is here checking Camille out now. She's two ounces up from yesterday, at 4 lbs., 10 ounces. Tthe pediatrician said the system should only beused once a day because too many baths of any kind will dry out the baby's skin, but to use the system daily  if it works.  And he agrees with the aunt that Camille was probably cold.

Baby Andrew saw all the attention the new baby was getting with the bath. Afterward, he kept saying, 'Adu, Adu' presumably meaning he wanted a turn next. The aunt didn't want to contaminate the system with another baby's germs, plus he's a little big for it, so she just found a larger plastic tub, filled it with warm water, and had the father hold him in it while she poured water on him and swirled it around. She played the womb sounds CD even though it probably had little effect on him after 8 1/2 months out of the womb.  It seemed to leave his nose less out of joint than if he'd been told no because he was too big. I'm glad everyone is being sensitive to Andrew's needs, as it can't be easy to have another kid show up to be the new  baby in your house when you're not even nine months old. Scott says it's better this way. He won't even know what hit him as long as he gets as much attention as he needs.

We'll probably have an easier day with Camilled today than we did yesterday.