Baby's First Outing

Tuesday marked TJ's first check-in with the doctor and a visit with a lactation consultant. Rich and I had also thought that since we were going to go all the way into Ithaca for this appointment, we could also stop off at Best Buy and Target to get a few "wouldn't it be nice" items.

It was a big day for us all. For the doctor's visit, I had a list of questions I had been keeping in an ever adorable journal that I have decided to keep for notes such as these. I had packed my new diaper bag with all of the things I thought I could ever need to go to the doctor. I had filled out all of the "new patient" forms ahead of time so we would not waste precious time doing that once at the doctors.

That morning, I was determined to do things "right". Rich and I tagged teamed with the showers and I was excited to put on clothes that made me feel "normal" again. I even put on a bit of make up and mascara. I got TJ dressed in his "first outing outfit"-- ok there was never a special outfit designated for this day, but I did take the extra effort to get him into a cute onesie with matching booties and a little cap. And yes, the blanket we used coordinated too.

Needless to say, I felt pretty prepared for this big day. And to top it all off, we left the house on time and got to the doctor's office with time to spare. I was impressing myself with all of this motherhood stuff. I can do this with style, I thought.

Now mind you, I think that my control freak side has manifested in this way because I have experienced a bit of helplessness with TJ. The day before was a very long day in which TJ had some major gas issues and was rather cranky. I was not so confident with how I was breast feeding, if my milk had come in, and if I was doing things right. I was nervous that TJ was not getting enough to eat. He had not not pooped in a day and from what I could tell he did not urinate either. This concerned me greatly and I had no idea what to do about it. All I knew to do was get everything else ready for baby's first outing.

Upon arrival at the doctor's office Rich and I went to check in. Rich was holding the car seat with TJ inside snug as a bug and looking so cute. As he was swinging our child back and forth, TJ let out a large-- well, how does one describe it? Let's just say it was a loud "ppfthhhhhhhhhh" that clearly indicated he finally made his poop we had all been looking for. Rich and I looked at each other and giggled. I remarked, "guess we do not need to ask that question of the doctor today."

We checked in without a fuss and we were waiting for our appointment. We decided it would be best for me to quickly take TJ into the bathroom to do a diaper change and get him ready to meet the doctor. Upon getting him out of the car seat, I quickly learned that the deafening sound we heard moments before was in direct proportion to the quantity of thick substance that was oozing out of his diaper and making a puddle on his lap. Talk about the irony of my next statement, "oh crap!"

I whisked TJ to the bathroom with Rich quickly behind me. It was EVERYWHERE! His cute blue booties, his puppy blanket, his onesie, his car seat, and all over him. Imagine the chaos: parents frantically trying to clean up the mess, baby wailing at the top of his lungs, poop now all over the changing table. Yet through it all Rich and I were laughing up a storm. How could we not? This was downright comical.

We quickly exhausted the handful of wipes I packed in the bag. Rich went out to get more from the nurses. Upon return to the bathroom he asked where the change of clothes was. "Change of what?" I remarked. Was I supposed to bring a change of clothes too? Oops! Lost mom style points on that one. Poor kid had nothing to wear and no extra blanket. Ahhh, experiential learning at its finest. THIS is why you always bring an extra change of clothes. I get it now!

Thankfully, I remembered that I had a pack of onesies out in the car that I was planning on returning. I had thought prior to this day that we just had too many for his first three months of life. Why would we need more? Ha! I laugh at my naivety now. How wrong I was. So Rich ran out to the car, got the new onesies. TJ Brown was not going to be a naked baby after all.

So the moral of this story for me is threefold 1) Things will happen in their own due time and when they do, expect the unexpected. 2) It is so important to find the humor in every parenting situation-- having a good partner makes it so much easier to laugh things off and 3) Shit happens. . . pack a onesie!