The Poop Chronicles

If you follow my twitter/facebook status updates, you'll have noticed a few about Adventures in Babyshitting. This is one of those things new parents can't avoid or procrastinate on. When it comes out, it has to be dealt with. Especially if it's exploding out of their nappy and fast soaking through onto your white pants.
Everyone Poops...I think Jessicsa Simpson made that book famous back in her Newlyweds days. So everyone knows that everyone else is doing it, but I'm not sure if they are aware of the variety of poop out there. You just have to read The Story of the Little mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business to see the variety of animal poops but which book will tell you about the variety of baby poops? I've not found a fun pictoral version.
So, here's the story on what comes out of a baby for the first few months...
Meconium - baby's first bowel movements. A thick, sticky, tarlike dark bowel movement. Totally normal and totally gross looking. If you want a picture, go to the Wikipedia page on Meconium.
Breastmilk poop - watery, yellow, sometimes has a seedy appearance. After the meconium passes, breastfed babies will often poop after each feed. It's not very pleasant to deal with poop 10 times a day, but it's better than when they start saving up their poops for a day or two and then exploding through the nappies. This has been my recent experience with our 3 week old who has had to be bathed or showered and have her clothes soaked in stain treatment overnight after each bowel movement.
Formula poop - strained peas...that's what I hear. A bit thicker than breastmilk poop, and may have a more green or brownish tint. Usually formula fed babies poop a bit less often than breastfed babies because the formula takes longer to be digested. Formula poop is usually smellier than breastmilk poop too.
Solid-food poop - well, around 4-6 months when the baby starts on solids nappy changes get even grosser. Sugars in the fruits and vegetables change the flora and fauna of the digestive tract and the poop coming out tends to be browner, firmer, and way stinkier - everyone in a 5 mile radius will know a poop has taken place. Sometimes the poop is the color of the carrots baby ate or there are bits of undigested food in it; don't worry, that's totally normal.
So, there you have it. Simple, no frills, no illustration explanation of baby poop.

Oh, and I think I know why yellow is the preferred unisex colour now...why oh why do we have so much white in baby Wren's wardrobe?

Coping Mechanisms

Only 5 days left until my due date. It's one of those assignments you can't ask for an extension on, either...and if you're told to hand it in early, you'd better be ready.
How am I dealing with this? In the usual way I handle stress and fear, with detachment and apathy. Things will be fine in the end. I did a bit of preparation a while ago and am mostly well-informed about what will happen so why worry?
Why worry? Because this time it's not a grade, or a class that needs to be passed, it's a human life that I will have to foster and protect. Knowing this doesn't seem to make much of a difference, however.
The babies things are not finished being set up in our room. I open my eyes each morning to an unorganized menagerie of furniture that seems like it can't fit in the space we have. I go shopping, hubs and Miss 3 in tow for storage solutions and can't manage to choose anything from the available options. We possibly need additional baby clothing but I've not the determination to go through everything we do have and check.
What I do have the passion for is sourcing cute nursing lingerie...hopefully the breastfeeding thing works out or else I'll be looking for ways to unload some high-end knickers and drop down bras...

Nipple Piercings and Breast Feeding

A good number of years ago, I got both nipples pierced on a bit of a whim. A friend of mine had one of hers done and was going back for the second and I went along as a support person. By the time we left the shop, we both had bilateral nipple piercings.
Another friend of mine, who has a single nipple pierced , asked me a little while ago what I was going to do about breastfeeding. I replied that as far as I know, my nipples work fine and I will go ahead and breastfeed normally if it all works out. She was surprised at this as the piercer who did her nipple had told her there was a high chance of breastfeeding problems related to scar tissue with pierced nipples.
Today I was reading this article about a woman who chose, for medical reasons, to formula feed her baby and the feelings of guilt she had associated with that decision...there are just so many people who will judge you based on your parenting decisions without knowing your whole story. That article got me back to thinking about my own options with breastfeeding.
I visited the La Leche League NZ website for more information. Through a bit of clicking, I came to an article entitled Nipple Piercing: Is It Compatible with Breastfeeding? According to this, there is no evidence that nipple piercing should compromise a woman's ability to breastfeed. There are many reasons not to get pierced anywhere while you are pregnant and the article does mention those quite a lot but I am not in that situation as my piercings are pre-existing. Of course, it also mentions that when you are breastfeeding, piercing jewelry should be removed due to the danger of infant choking and damage to the gums, tongue and soft palate of your baby. Mothers who do not remove jewelry while breastfeeding may experience poor latch, babies frequently coming on and off the breast, slurping, gagging and milk leaking from the baby's mouth but once the nipple jewelry is removed the problems stop.
So, this settles it for me. Onwards and upwards with my original plan to try breastfeeding normally and hope everything works out for the best. I will remove the jewelry while feeding, replacing it at intervals so the holes don't close over, and replace the rings for good once I'm finished with breastfeeding.