M is for Meconium

M is for Meconium

Your baby’s first bowel movement is called meconium.  Meconium is nearly black and extremely sticky, it also typically doesn’t smell.  This first poop usually passes in the first 24 hours of life.  This first stool is comprised of lanugo, amniotic fluid, shed skin cells, and anything else floating in the uterus with the baby.  To help with diaper clean up consider rubbing a small layer of Vaseline on your baby’s bottom before putting on the diaper.  For the first few days of life your baby will have meconium before it starts to transition to breastfed or formula fed poop, to learn more about these stools and other baby diaper expectations, read my blog on D is for Diapers.  If your baby hasn’t passed meconium in the first 2 days of life they may not eat well, may begin vomiting, and could end up having a bloated belly.  If any of this occurs, your doctors will begin checking for what conditions may be causing this complication.  To figure out if there is a problem your baby may need and X-ray or other tests.  This is not a very common occurrence; the most common complication with meconium is if your baby swallows it…

Read More

D is for Diapers

D is for Diapers

By diapers I don’t mean what kind of diaper you should buy or how to put one on your baby, I mean what your baby is making for you inside those diapers!  Whether you cloth diaper, or use Pampers or Huggies or some other type of diaper, isn’t of concern – although you may want to wait a few days to use cloth diapers.  What you see in your baby’s diapers will change during the first week of life…

Read More