Motherhood: Baby, bath and beyond

Small but important moments. Like the first bath. Ever. 

Bushy hair after her first bath.

First the belly button fell off, then came the first bath, then the whining and crying before going to sleep, then the baby acne and between all this, my mom’s cooking.

세번째 주는 생각보다 빨리 지나갔다. 굉장히 오래된 것 같은데 겨우 21일밖에 안지났다니. 일단 큰 변화가 있었다면 배꼽이 떨어졌고 첫 목욕을 했으며 잠투정을 조금씩 하기 시작했고 열꽃/태열이 나서 속상했다는 것 정도. 그 와중에 엄마는 화려한 요리 솜씨를 뽐내셨다.

The belly button falling off was a big deal, apparently, and we were all relieved that it fell off all clean and simple. This meant a very important step for both A and the new dad G: bath time. Having grown up near the sea, it was crucial for G that A would enjoy water, and later hopefully swim along with him back home in Italy. And so we took her first bath and it was official: she was indeed Daddy’s girl. She loves water. (I mention those little whiteheads that look like acne below… sigh)

바닷가에서 자란 G에게 하나의 소박한 꿈이 있다면 딸과 함께 자기가 어렸을적 아버지와 그렇게 드나들었던 해변에서 수영을 하는 것. 그래서 물을 좋아하는지 안 좋아하는지 짐작할 수 있는 첫 목욕이 굉장히 큰 행사. 일단 성공: A는 울지 않았고 신생아치고는 꽤나 물을 즐기는 듯한 모습을 보여 G는 안도감을, 나는 약간의 걱정을 느끼게 되었다. “언제부터 수영할 수 있지? 수영복 살까?” “아직 멀었거든……”

Baby acne is something common to newborns, mainly because of the hormones. Not the baby’s hormones, but mom’s hormones that are still circulating in the baby’s bloodstream. The hormones stimulate the baby’s oil glands, causing pimples. It starts at two to three weeks of age (A started to show these little red spots around her face and a bit on her neck, and they gradually turned into little “whiteheads,” exactly like normal acne, from week 2), and affects about 40 percent of all newborns. In other words, it’s very common so no need to freak out.

Everyone we asked, including the hebamme who was helping us out with the baby once a week, said it will fade, and after about a week, it finally has started to fade away. There are still some little red spots, but it’s clearing up. Thank god. (And of course, being a new mom and all, I had to overreact and try to search and buy every existing baby cream in the market. Luckily, her face started to clear up before I bought any.) Some tips we got from here and there were 1) don’t touch them, 2) cleanse or pat the area gently with a wet soft and clean cotton cloth, 3) use warm water when bathing, 4) don’t use soap or lotions (this was the tricky part because some friends told us that moisturizing was important and lotions were necessary. We didn’t use anything in the end and it was ok.)

태열/열꽃이 나기 시작해 우리 모두 패닉. 특히 나는 A의 얼굴을 볼때마다 속상. 영어/독일어로는 아기 여드름이라고 불리는데 엄마의 호르몬이 아기의 핏줄에 머물러 있어서 모공으로 나오면서 여드름 형태로 나타나는 것이라고. 모든 사람들이 시간이 지나면 없어진다고 해서 일단 병원에는 안갔는데 다행히 지금은 조금씩 나아지고 있는 상황. 사실 물어보는 사람마다 경험이 달라서인지 해결책도 달라서 약간 헷갈렸는데 일단 가장 일반적인 방법은 1) 건들지 말것, 2) 손수건이나 부드러운 타올을 따뜻한 물에 담가서 얼굴 부위를 깨끗하게 닦아주는데 비비지 말고 톡톡 두들겨줘야한다는 것, 3) 목욕할때는 미지근한 물로, 4) 비누나 로션은 쓰질 말것 (보습이 중요해서 수시로 로션이나 보습제를 발라줘야한다는 이야기도 있었으나 일단은 아무것도 발라주지 않았다. 그래서인지 아닌지는 몰라도 일단 지금은 가라앉은 상태).

처음으로 제대로 패닉하게 한 A양의 세번째 주.

And while we were all panicking over her skin, my mom did the best thing she could do. Cook for us. She’s been whipping up Korean food like a pro chef and last week, she made mandu, or Korean dumplings. You can buy the dumpling wrappers at Asian markets but she made them herself. And we all appreciated (and devoured) her effort.

만두를 빚아주신 엄마의 정성. 지금 우리의 냉동고는 엄마가 만들어주신 만두로 한 가득. 신난다.

All photos by rachelsanghee. Bits and pieces of my little one, every week, in 2016. 3/52 weeks.