When they sent us home from the hospital, one of the things I was dreading was cleaning the pins! Was it going to hurt him? Would I do a good job? Let's just say that I was having a lot of anxiety about the whole ordeal (along with giving Ian a "bath" - so I might as well cover that too). The first night home, I didn't have the courage to bathe him and clean the pins. I had decided he'd had enough trauma and I didn't feel that I needed to add to it. But, when the second night came around, I knew there was no avoiding the bath and pin cleaning. The kitchen sink seemed like the best place for the bath - we have a big island with a sink that has a pull down spout.
Here he is in his superhalo cape eating a cookie and ready for a bath...
One of the things the doctor had told me was that his hair could be washed by laying him over the sink, so I laid him down on the counter and ever so carefully washed his hair - well, I washed the top of his hair. I still haven't figured out how to wash the bottom section of his hair in the sink, so I wash the bottom section with a rinseless shampoo. I then had him sit on the counter with his feet in the sink while I scrubbed him down with a washcloth. It's always important to clean the pins thoroughly, but it's especially important after you wash the hair.
Crying was the response I was expecting, but honestly, it wasn't bad. Ian didn't cry at all. He actually seemed to enjoy the cleaning - I think they were itchy and the cleaning helped releive some of the scratchiness. I wiped around each pin with a clean Qtip.
At this point, the sites were still very new and I didn't notice any bubbling at all. As time has progressed, the sites have become much less clean. Starting at about week 7, I noticed some crusties (for lack of a better word) around some of the pins, and now, at week 10, all of the pins in the front need to be cleaned twice daily to keep the crusties at bay. There has also been a small amount of bleeding at two of the sites, so yesterday, I started using an antibiotic ointment (Polysporin instead of Neosporin because Neosporin has been known to irritate skin over time) at the pin sites. I am going to use the ointment for a week or so and then see how they react. My stepmom is a nurse, and she suggested not using the ointment intermintently, because it can create bacteria that is resistant to the antibiotic, but instead to use it consistently over a period of time and then stop.
To be honest, the biggest issues we have are with the pins. I'll address some of the other issues we've had, in another post, but these darn pins are what Ian complains about the most. He's had pain, itching, and swelling from the pins and we have yet to find a way to remedy all of the issues we've had with them. Hopefully, as time progresses, we'll figure things out more and I'll be able to share that with you too!
Here he is all clean and ready for bed (and I couldn't resist the last picture of him asleep in his bed with all his friends)!
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