The Howlands: Little Mr. Stinky Gets A Bath

Over the past couple of days we have noticed a little odor while holding Mr. Kaden. Usually there is a stench to the probe that is wrapped around their feet to monitor their oxygen level but once you cover it back up you can’t smell it. Bryan and I started to notice that even after Kaden’s probe was covered and we were holding him we would get a whiff of stinky feet still. I told Bryan, “I think he is starting to smell like a stinky foot” and Bryan responded, “Yeah, I noticed that too.”
Yesterday while holding Kaden skin-to-skin I discovered that the smell was coming from behind his ears. I told the nurse about it and she said, “Yeah, with little guys like this, they work so hard breathing we don’t want them to waste their energy fussing over a bath so we just usually give them a spit bath.” So I tried to clean behind his ears some which helped a little.
I mentioned to the boys nurse today that Kaden was beginning to smell a little sour and she said that I could give him a bath, we would just have to be quicker than we would be with Braylon. I felt bad for the little guy and thought about how uncomfortable it might be for him to have not had a real bath; I could only think of how itchy it would feel.
He did really well with his bath and didn’t fuss nearly as much as his brother did. It did wear him out for most of the day but he was so calm after we were finished and he look so much more comfortable and looked like he was sleeping better. I love his little chicky fuzz hair after I dried him off and it was so nice to snuggle and kiss on him and not be reminded of the high school gym, although it didn’t ever stop me.
Both boys have continued to gain weight. Braylon weighed 5lbs 9oz and Kaden weighed 4lbs 7oz. Braylon is still a big eater and doing very well with feedings. He still has lots of apnea spells which is the only thing keeping him in the NICU but at least he is with his brother. We are not anxious to separate them now that they are co-bedding.
Mom is exhausted and running on fumes. So please forgive me for not being real good about keeping up on the blog. I think the hectic schedule with two babies in the NICU for over a month is finally starting to catch up to me.

Kaden buns