New dads are great....

Last night was a fairly strange shift for me. I was on committee for most of it, to finish up some computer-based training. Then I hung out in the nursery to help out a little, because we had 4 babies under bili lights and one on the blanket. It's too much for one nurse to handle, especially when they're screaming at the same time.

Around 0530, I finally took an admission, and then another around 0630.

The latter one was a c/section, first baby. Mom, understandably, not moving around a whole lot. I got them settled, and told them to call me if they needed any help. At 0700, when I'm giving shift report, I go into the room with the oncoming nurse.

I see a light on in the bathroom, hear water running, and don't see the baby's crib anywhere. I poke my head in the bathroom, and dad is trying to change the diaper.

He has obviously never changed a diaper before. He's wearing gloves (cute! lol), wiping haphazardly. He's trying to dodge the baby's kicking feet, which have poop on them. There is poop everywhere.

I try to suppress a grin as I ask him if this is his first-ever diaper change, and if he needs some help.

I clean the baby's feet, and show him how to do the one-handed grip to keep them from spreading the mess. He didn't set up any wipes ahead of time, so pretty much I started from scratch trying to explain the process.

He told me he didn't want to call for help because he knew he'd have to be able to do it when he got home. I told him that we are there to teach, and that our job is to make sure they can take care of the baby:
"You can do it by trial and error if you want, but it's generally easier to just learn from someone who's already made the errors...."