Bath Time

As a baby Osian Llyr hated being bathed. Isabella Nicole splashed around so much we would be just as wet as her. Now Martha Grace hates being bathed.

I don't know if it's the water she hates or if she finds it uncomfortable to be held in that position; either way she screams.

To be honest it's not just limited to bath times. I think she has a genuine disliking for being held. It would make sense I guess.

As soon as she was born she was whisked off to NICU and kept in an incubator for 4 days with only

minimal physical contact. She's had 3 open heart surgeries, a pacemaker implantation and a cardiac catch procedure, she's been on a ventilator for weeks on end - she isn't used to being held. That makes me feel so sad for her.

She will settle in mine or my Mam's arms, we were there when more and more of the tubes and wires we're removed and we didn't need a nurse to help us lift her out of her cot. She's used to the way we hold her (tilted slightly towards our bodies) and will fall asleep in our arms if she's tired enough. But no one else holds her this way; that's not their fault - their holding her in a way that's natural to them to hold a baby. Sometimes I have to sit on my hands and bite my tounge when Martha is crying with someone else, I don't want to make them feel bad, like they're doing something wrong. Because they're not - Martha Grace is just fussy. I'm also super paranoid about the position of her pacemaker.

Once she was dried and dressed after her bath she was back to full smiles again. She just prefers not to be handled too much. I think this will probably continue and will develop in to a character trait as she gets older, she'll be very independent and will prefer to do things for herself rather than have anyone help her.

I still think of her as a 3 month old when in fact she's 5 months old now. She knows what she wants.