18th December 2008

I Forgot What I Was Going to Write About

It’s 1:30 a.m. and I’ve been working on business stuff.  I’m about to have a 2:00 a.m. feeding, and it’s time to prepare for that.  I’ve tried going to bed before 2:00 a.m. and it makes the 2:00 a.m. feeding extraordinarily difficult.  Tonight, Melina did not go to bed until very late.  Having said that, I was going to write about something particular tonight, but I’ve forgotten what that was.  Pregnancy brain is bad but some say you deliver part of your brain when you deliver your child - and I’m beginning to wonder if that’s true.  It’s likely just sleep deprivation at its worst.

So - since I forgot what I was going to write about - I will tell you about something that only parents with little tiny ones can understand, or remember.  Diaper duty and all those funny sounds your little innocent one can make.

This evening some friends stopped by to help out - one with the dog and cats, another with groceries, and another with laundry and dinner.  I was resting on the couch with Melina after eating dinner, very peacefully.  I was talking with a friend of mine - and it was rather quiet time.  I looked down at my sweet, innocent, sleeping beauty - and then all of a sudden, she let the loudest sound rip from the lower anatomy and it scared the crap out of me!  I jumped completely out of my skin - which of course made us both laugh at how my little girl’s fart (or something else) had scared me so badly. 

I hear many who say they don’t do diaper changes, but as single mom - what the heck am I supposed to do?  There is no one to hand this off to - so diaper changes in the beginning with a 6 lb newborn baby are just plain outright scary.  You are completely afraid you are going to break the child.  I still am for that matter, but I’m getting better at them.  The funniest diaper change moment in the hospital - I’d heard about that green stuff (merconium) that comes out - I got my first really good laugh when that stuff started coming out.  It’s like a tube of green/black tar that won’t stop - and it just keeps coming and coming.  Of course, no one was around - and I was amazed at how fast my little girl was manufacturing this stuff.  ,

You soon realize how crucial it is to have diaper ready underneath the baby, BEFORE you begin to change her, the placement of every product known to man, the placement of the diaper pail (or Champ or Genie or whatever) - because you can not leave the baby in one of those changing stations, to throw something away, nor can you let go of her while you dig for Diaper #2 because something happened DURING the diaper change.  I never knew the value of diaper duty organization until that first multiple diaper change moment in the hospital. 

Then, the other day, she had her first diaper overflow - poor thing - sweet little girl - and all that stuff - whew!  I couldn’t help but laugh.  And of course, I’ve already written about her peeing on me - I’m now admittedly afraid to use baby wipes on her parts sometimes - each time I just want to avoid the tinkle tinkle moment. 

In the beginning, my dog had to tell me when Melina’s diaper needed changing.  She’d go stick her nose right up into the crib and point at the baby’s butt.  That’s how I knew there was an update.

The first time she tooted - her eyes opened wide and the look of shock on her face was priceless.  Who would imagine that my life would be filled with humor about these things?  This time last year, I was overwhelmed by penguin poo at the incredible destination of Antarctica - this year - it’s my little baby’s poo that excites me at times.  I think I need therapy - my life has more meaning with baby poo in it than any penguin poo to speak of.

One thing about breastfeeding you probably never wanted to know - you have more diaper changes typically with breastfeeding, and there are changes in the type of poo when you’re breastfeeding.  In fact, Playtex actually makes diaper wipes for babies that are breastfeeding, knowing there will be more diaper changes.  Who knew such things in life?  See what you get to learn when you have a baby?  And you thought I was an expert in search engine optimization and marketing on the Web? 

There are poo and pee logs you can buy - on Amazon.com.  Can you believe it?  In fact, one measure of your baby getting enough milk is the number of diapers, wet and otherwise, that you have each day?  You’re asked when you visit the pediatrician, and when you get the Department of Health nurse visit a week after you leave the hospital - if you’ve had at least six to seven wet diapers and a few poopy diapers each day?  So you begin to count diapers - and there are in fact log books for this purpose.  It’s probably for those who can’t remember what they were going to blog about - so in the event they want to blog about peeing and pooing, they could save this entry for the Log Book.  My baby girl will be mortified I’ve blogged about such things - she’ll need therapy too.  I do need to set up that savings account for her, don’t I?  ;-)

Okay, I’ll try to remember what it was I was going to blog about so I don’t write about poo-ing anymore.

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