Something that I never really thought much about before was poop. Especially another person's poop. It's a private thing and with the exception of one time in high school when there was a big one in a toilet that wouldn't flush down (all the guys had to run in and see it) it's been something that doesn't really come up much in conversation. There was an article in Fit Pregnancy that Shelby picked up about a year and a half back that talked about the phenomena of discussing your baby's poop and I wondered if I'd ever end up like that. Well, like so many other things in my life since Riley appeared on the scene, this too has changed.
I realized this two weeks back after Riley suddenly woke up at 3:50 am screaming bloody murder. Shelby and I were both in his room trying (unsuccessfully) to comfort him as he wailed on. This was an extremely unusual thing (Riley rarely even cries, let alone wails--especially not in the middle of the night) and we were at a loss. I finally figured that I'd change his diaper and found that he was constipated. Poor little guy. I helped him with his problem and he calmed down after a couple of minutes and in a short time was back to sleep. It was after this that I realized how often Shelby and I (and even Diane, our daycare provider) talk about his poop.
Amount, consistency, color (or color combination) and frequency are all subjects for discussion. And after our 3:50 am wake up call, we really discuss frequency. We discuss it and plan on how to keep the frequency high (prune juice seems to work).
So like so many other things (i.e. getting spit up on, drooled on, woken in the middle of the night, etc.) the uncomfortable becomes the norm with baby. It's amazing the changes that have been wrought in Shelby and I by this little guy's mere presence in our lives.
We love it, and we love our boy!
Jonathan
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
poop (this entry is dedicated to Justin...)
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3 comments:
Putting aside all the smirking that happens when we say "poop", learning to scrutinize your kids', um, "emissions" is an important parenting skill. Defecation, in particular, tells you a lot about the kid's diet and overall health. Once with Lucy we got off the bandwagon of making her eat vegetables at each meal -- she's a horribly picky eater already -- and were rewarded with a case of constipation so bad that we had to take her to the emergency room.
When their poop suddenly changes in some key characteristic, that's a red flag for us to start asking questions -- do they need more/less of something in their diet? Are they coming down with something? It's just a special case of how parents have to become amateur doctors.
These days, both of our girls have a full complement of molars, so every morning for breakfast they get to eat a Fiber 1 chewy granola bar. It tastes good, helps their teeth to develop, and has loads of fiber. They're partial to the peanut butter flavor.
poop and baby. Don't they rhyme? Believe me. When Zacchaeus was pooping once a week, that was all we talk about. We even took picture, maybe video too, of the poop.
Oil
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