Comfort Cloths

When downsizing the boys' baby stuff I am generally thrilled to toss things into the donation bag. But today in my cleanout I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. In the back of the drawer there they were hiding in a pile - the comfort cloths. I'm not entirely sure that's what they're actually called, but in our NICU they call them something along those lines. Parents of preemies will know what I'm talking about - the soft flannelette cloths that laid under or on top of our teeny tiny babies when they were in their isolettes.

Exhibit A: Nolan is so tiny his entire body fits on top of one.

Exhibit B: Asher has two under his head and one on top as a blanket.

These little cloths were their first pillows, blankets, and clothing when for the first 3 months of their lives they lived in nothing but a diaper in a plastic box (or cage as Rio called it). They were meant to provide the tiniest bit of comfort to these babies who were covered in so many wires and tubes and had very little human contact. Even later, when the boys were in a full sized crib, one of these cloths was always under their little heads. 

Exhibit C: Just before homecoming - those are the same size cloths under their heads that used to fit entirely under or over their tiny bodies 

Since coming home from the hospital they were repurposed as spit cloths (affectionately referred to as 'barfies' around here) and boy did those come in handy during the severe reflux days. But now they're not needed in any form and until faced with disposing of them, I didn't realize how attached I was. When I asked Jordan what we should do with them. his response of  "they'd make perfect cleaning rags" was apparently not the right answer. While by no means was he trying to be insensitive, I was reduced to tears nonetheless. Dusting with these precious cloths? Not a chance.

But what to do with them? Nothing practical for certain. I can't donate them back to the NICU because every family gets their own new ones, and I can't make something sentimental like a pillow, because I have enough baby blankets to do that with. So for now, they'll get shoved in the rubbermaid in the garage that stores all the boys' other sentimental but useless keepsakes. At least maybe one day they can use them as barfies for their own kids, and that's more than I can say for their souvenir CPAP hats or cardiac leads!

I didn't realize there were many things from the NICU that would actually bring me happy memories. Thank you little pieces of flannel for doing just that.