Day 7: Baths & Showers

 Someone suggested that I take a bath every night after Javi was born for the first few weeks and it was some of the very best advice I was given. Soaking in a hot bath for 15-20 minutes at night really sped up the healing process, gave my sore boobs a little pampering, and also gave me 20 minutes of sanity. Lover was a real champ here, as my bath often coincided with a monster screaming session from the little babe. But he knew how much they were helping me, so he encouraged me to take them. The heat from the water was great for all the various aches and pains too. I remember someone talking about that "colicky" time of night when a baby just seems to cry for no reason. I thought, hmm, my baby never did that. But, in retrospect, he totally did, but I didn't have to endure it thanks to an awesome husband who baby wrangled while I soaked my cares away. And almost drowned a few times from the sleepiness. :-) 

I was also absolutely militant about taking a shower every morning. I tried to always be showered by 10am, and didn’t let a day go by without that steamy awesomeness. There were times that I woke up fifteen minutes earlier so that I could shower before Lover left for work, and even though I was massively sleep deprived, it was worth it. A hot shower, a little eye makeup and some clean clothes made me feel like a human and like I had some modicum of control over my crazy newborn filled days. It was one of the few things that were worth missing any extra sleep I could get.

Once Javi wasn’t teeny tiny I would set him up in the bouncy seat right in the bathroom and take my shower, checking on him periodically to see what he was up to. Most of the time he was staring out the window, super calm, lulled into a bit of a stupor by the noise of the water and the bathroom fan. 

I'm sure you've heard the advice before; take care of yourself or you won't be able to take care of anyone else. It's true. Don't sacrifice basic personal hygiene or a smidge of pampering and everyone will be the better for it. 

Check out the rest of my series, 31 Days of New Baby Advice!