I Love Poop

A little introduction first…

I am a first-time mother lucky enough to be taking a full year of maternity leave.  I love my baby (who, from here on out, will be known as “Baby Girl”).  I also love my husband.  He is a great support and a loving daddy.  Baby Girl is ten months old.

I Love Poop!

I know from talking to parents and non-parents alike that poop can be very scary.  Poop is one of those natural things that seems to make everyone curl up their noses and turn away.  I will admit that I have been one of those that holds the baby at arms length in hopes that someone will “take care” of the poopy diaper.  Over the course of the last ten months, however, I have come to the understanding that I LOVE POOP!

Yes, poop makes a mess.  In fact, poop makes a very BIG mess in our household.  Luckily, that mess is usually limited to once a day and trapped by the crib.  Baby Girl is a very regular pooper.  I am greeted every morning by a sweet Baby Girl smile AND a large wafting of air saturated with poop-smelling particles.  My poop greeting usually involves getting Baby Girl from the crib straight to the change table.  During this transfer, I often check in the wall mirror to see how disastrous the leakage is (from another angle).  There is usually a need for some fancy maneuvering in order to get a receiving blanket underneath her to catch most of the overflowing poop.  I glance over my shoulder to check the damage done to the crib sheet (and if it needs to be changed).  At this point Baby Girl is crying (she doesn’t like getting her diaper changed) and trying to roll off the change table.  I get her flat and try to remove the diaper.  The diaper is opened and I try to trap most of the poop inside the diaper (you know that wiping/scooping trick parents use).  I quickly get a wipe and start cleaning because, at any moment, a pair of baby hands could be getting very dirty.  All of the large chunks must be removed as quickly as possible because Baby Girl WILL flip over.  After the mini-struggle and about 5 wipes, we have a clean bum.  Time for some tickling games and then a new diaper.  Phew.  Done.

I still love poop.  I very much enjoy being greeted by poop in the morning.  Being greeted by poop means that Baby Girl has had a bowel movement.  I don’t know about other babies, but when my girl misses her poop she lets everyone know about it.  No poop = cranky baby.  A cranky baby means a cranky mommy.  Poop = happy baby.  A happy baby means happy mommy!  

In the end, there are still moments when baby poop is still poop.  There is something weird about it being all squished up in a diaper like that.  No one actually likes the odour, strange colours, foreign objects, or leakage. Let’s face it, poop is icky!  It is most definitely inconvenient to have a poop-splosion, especially while travelling. Even though I enjoy the poop in the morning, you better believe that a late-afternoon poop is totally daddy’s duty.  After all, I wouldn’t want him to miss out on any experiences. ;P