Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Why are new parents obsessed with poop?

I'll tell you why. Because at the hospital, they make you record every diaper change you have, including details about the TYPE of poo involved, whether it was wet and how wet it was (I should've expected this since nurses seem to have an unhealthy interest in my excrement when I was in for surgery previously.). Now, there's a good reason for this. They want to see how long it take the meconium to pass, make sure the little guy isn't getting dehydrated, and to make sure that all systems are go, as it were. After 3 days of being asked every 2 hours about your child's diapers as well as being asked to keep a LOG of the events, it's no small wonder that new parents come home with poop on the brain. John actually set up a form so we could continue to track diaper changes and feedings for the first couple of weeks to make sure everything was still going well. While this might sound odd and a bit OCD, I have to say, it's a great idea. When you're new at this, sleep deprivation really makes you forget things like, oh, when's the last time you fed/changed the baby and should you be checking on that again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Keeping a log of diaper changes are a great idea. Another is feedings....what time, how much was consumed,etc. You're absolutely right about tending to be forgetful due to lack of sleep. Great post!!