First massage!

Today I tried out infant massage for the first time with Isaac. It was a beautiful bonding experience, and I hope it made him feel good physically, too.

I assembled all my stuff, oil, towels, sheet, extra diaper, cloth diaper, and turned on the space heater in the bedroom. Then I brought him in and sat down on the bed, legs out in front of me, knees bent, soles of feet touching (as if I was going to stretch my hip flexors), and put him in between my legs. His head was padded and raised a bit on my feet, facing me. I completely undressed him from the waist down, and went through a ritual swishing the oil in my hands, placing my warm hands on him, asking permission to massage him. He was loving the eye contact and the direct speaking to him. We started with the legs, gently but firming massaging them. The legs went well, but he got really squirmish and fussy about his feet. In the book, it says that preemies are often sensitive about their feet, owing to the numerous heel sticks, IVs, and the constant presence of the pulse oxygen monitor on their feet. I think that is the case here. I still took the time to work his little feet and toes though, as he would tolerate. I sang to him, and he seemed to love the experience of it. His eyes really light up when I sing to him.

Next we did the tummy. You start out just putting your hands on his belly and trying to relax yourself and therefore relax him. He got a bit kicky and fussy when I did this, but I continued. We did some of the techniques and he started crying and really fussing, which is whats supposed to happen as painful trapped gas is being released. I didn't hear any baby farts, but he did relax because he peed on me! But that's what the cloth diaper was for. I stopped and tried to calm him down by touching him, but it didn't work. So we stopped after about 7 or 8 minutes total, which is good for a first massage.

Apparently the tummy massage worked, because after I went back to bed, Steve said that Isaac had a huge poo. But then so did Gabers, and I didn't massage him. So who knows. On another note, it seems that the boys have started pooping in unison lately. An interesting twin development.

I will massage Gabe tomorrow, and try again with Isaac. Even if they get fussy, it is very peaceful just sitting/laying together and 'talking', and gazing into each other's eyes. Hopefully massage will help us make up for some of the bonding time that was lost due to their early entrance into the world.