There are definitely things I thought I would have to do once I had a baby such as: Getting up in the middle of the night multiple times. Doing anything to make the baby happy - singing, bouncing, rocking...Those were the many things I anticipated. I didn't, however, anticipate having to help my baby poop nor did I ever guess that it would become a habit for him. Now, my son is a pooping machine, however that wasn’t the case when he was a baby. The things we do for a kids, right?
Two years ago, my boy went five days (count 'em...FIVE DAYS) without pooping. Now this wouldn’t be of any concern if he hadn’t started solids and was still exclusively breastfed. He wasn't in pain and his stomach wasn't hard. I called my friend, who is a pediatric nurse practioner, for advice on what to do. I tried a myriad of the tricks - juice, movement, massaging his stomach. I was willing to try anything but what would really end up working - The thermometer or worse (da da DA!!!) my finger.
Finally it got down to the wire and I got desperate. So I put on a pair of gloves, Vaselined my pinky up and in it went. Like a little gopher finally escaping its underground home, out it came. I held Buggie's legs up to his chest so he would have a better pushing advantage. Out it all came, gobs and gobs of it. Yuck.
They say that mother's don't mind the smell of their own child's poo. I would have to agree with that. I didn't even notice the smell. I did notice how disgusting the whole event was. When my hubby and I decided we'd get pregnant in2008, I didn't think helping my child go #2 would be one of my caretaking activities.
After that first time, it seemed that Buggie only pooed when I was changing him or taking his temp. He'd be sitting in his Baby Einstein's jumper, grabbing onto the bars, face red and grunting. I would look at him and chuckle thinking, "Finally he's going to do it", only to find that nope, that wasn't the case. This happen many times and then I had an epiphany.
He was lazy. Now don't get me wrong, Buggie was not a lazy baby in other areas of his life. He's always on the go, very social and seemed to press ahead in his development. Except that is when it comes to pushing out his bowels. Yeah, it was not pretty and you bet I'm going to tell him about this later on his life. Perhaps there's a part of him that enjoyed the time spent on his changing table with me. It's a very comfy changing pad, he had a brightly painted fish mobile hanging above him and I'm there talking to him holding his legs up. Who wouldn't want a little help with that?
We talked to Buggie's pediatrician about it at his six month appointment. He agreed with our assessment. Buggie was a lazy pooper. So we were instructed to just let him be. Five days with no pooping? No worries. I mean let's be honest here; I can't go to pre-school or kindergarten holding his legs up in the air so he can relieve himself.
Ah, the joys of parenting.
Elizabeth (aka Bert) Anderson married her college sweetheart in 2005, and started her journey into motherhood in 2008 with the birth of her son. She started blogging in 2009 as a way to keep track of her thoughts on being a first time mom, especially her struggle with postpartum depression, and as a way of reaching out to other moms who are struggling with the same things. This July, Bert had another first in her motherhood travels - a little girl! Even though she's newly a mother of two, Bert maintains that no matter how many children you have you will always be a "first time mom" because there's a first time for everything! Visit her blog, at FTM. Bert is a contributor for She Thinks Media.
