As a new mom, I obsessed over the contents of my new baby’s diapers. I know it may sound strange, but it really became a high topic of interest! Was it a “healthy poo” or was it too watery? Why was it green -- is that normal? And believe it or not, I wasn’t alone; the color and consistency of infant bowel movements can be rather shocking for any new mom, but I learned that most of the strange colors and consistencies are completely normal.

My new baby’s first poop, called meconium, arrived just after birth. The tar-like, greenish-black substance is perfectly normal— it’s the last bit of food babies take in while in utero—and will last for two to three days.

A breastfed baby will produce lovely shades of yellow, including mustard, greenish-yellow, and brownish-yellow. This stool may appear to have seeds in it, is usually on the runny side, and doesn’t have much of an odor. Prepare yourself for a poop after nearly every feeding!

A formula-fed new baby will fill her diaper with a darker yellow to green-hued poo. This stool won’t be as frequent, arriving about three to four times a day, though it does tend to be more solid and have a stronger smell than a breastfed baby’s poop. Bowel movements for both formula and breastfed babies will decrease in frequency around 4 months to just a couple of times a day.

When my new baby started solids, I found every shade in her diaper. Her bowel movements took on the color of what she recently consumed (sweet potatoes at dinner made for an orange diaper, while peas turned it green, for example). Eating real food also transformed her stool to the browner, firm, stinky kind.

As my baby moved from purees to solid fare, her stool changed as well. I saw actual pieces of undigested food in the poo, like bits of pasta, carrots, and even whole peas!

My new baby’s dirty diapers were not the most appealing sight, but giving them a quick peek before I threw them out helped me know whether her bowel movements were healthy and regular. 

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When my husband and I began trying for a second child, I wondered how it would be to have two girls, or a girl and a boy. For both of my pregnancies, we had chosen not to find out the gender ahead of time, which meant I could play out all kinds of scenarios in my head!

As it turned out, we had our Nina first, and then Eli, our son, came along second. Our daughter was, and is, a bright and beautiful girl with a wonderful outlook on life and the world around her. She has such a big presence, though, that we wondered if our second child would feel overshadowed.

For us, having a child of the opposite gender ensured that, in at least one sense, our second baby would stand out. Our son has ended up being just as amazing as our daughter, in ways that are both similar and different, but you never know how things will end up until that second child actually arrives.

While I always knew that having two kids of the same gender didn’t guarantee a close relationship, I did worry that our daughter and son might not be as close as they may have been if they were both boys or both girls. Today our kids couldn’t be closer, and I think that has to do with how we raised them. We did a lot of things with our daughter that some might consider stereotypically “male” in character, like washing the car and working on home projects. Now we all participate in these activities, as one big family.

In our house, we try to stay as gender neutral as possible -- I always say that anyone can do anything. My son puts on dance shows for us, and my daughter plays superheroes. It’s really interesting to see them both take part in each other’s interests.

Any worries that I might have had when our second child turned out to be a different gender from our first were quickly washed away. Our kids get to learn so much about the opposite gender from each other, and that's wonderful. My hope is that this insight will translate into great relationships with other kids, and then eventually with other adults of the opposite gender, as they grow up.

Photo by Garrett Jackson on Unsplash

My daughter, Morgan, had mastered the baby development step of cruising for months before taking her first unassisted steps. I worried a bit, since I couldn’t even find shoes to fit her too-small feet.

When she was about three weeks shy of her first birthday, we were doing her usual holding of my finger while walking around our home (another baby milestone I had come to love). I knew she was ready to walk but was timid and afraid to let go. At that moment, I decided to gently slip my finger from her grip, and as I did, she took three steps and ended up on her bottom.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, but as I tried to get her to conquer this baby milestone and to walk again, she kept falling on her bottom and crying out of frustration. I was certain it was confidence that she lacked, and I was set on helping her build it up. Once she would take off, she would never stop -- a prediction I was 100 percent correct about.

The day when my husband came home from work, we decided to help Morgan try to achieve this baby milestone again, with us supporting her as a team. We started her by me, and after helping her up, my husband held out his arms for her to fall into. I’m confident that seeing someone she trusted in front was the confidence booster she needed, and she walked right into his arms.

With each successful step, we moved farther and farther away from each other, and watched in awe as she took more and more steps. Two of my favorite parts of this baby milestone experience:

1.    She gave us a hug each time she made it across the room.

2.    The way she held her arms above her head and looked like the cute baby version of Frankenstein. We then deemed her, Morganstein.

From there, our baby’s development was happening all over the place. She learned to let go of the furniture she was holding onto, again building confidence. She soon learned to put her arms down while walking, and to stand up on her own without holding onto a table or sofa.

Watching my daughter grow her independence was both a proud and somewhat sad moment. I know this independence will only increase with time as she continues to conquer all of these baby milestones. But the best part about her ability to walk on her own now is, when I come home, I see her face light up as she runs to give me that same hug she gave while taking her first steps.

Photo by julio andres rosario ortiz on Unsplash

I will never, ever forget the first time I changed my daughter Eleni’s diaper.

It stands out so vividly in my mind. Eleni was my first child, and suddenly, all at once, it was she and I in the room. In that moment, it occurred to me: I was solely responsible for the care and well-being of this newborn.

This was a baby milestone moment for me, whereby I was getting acquainted with my new baby, and she with me, and I must figure out what I needed to do for her -- for the rest of her life.

I had a C-section delivery, so as I was busy having these epiphanies, I was also dealing with my own pain and discomfort. Needless to say, as a new mom, I found myself feeling somewhat vulnerable in that moment.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The nurse came into my room and said, “Mrs. Truitt, your baby is here.” They rolled her in, and I struggled to sit up and hold her. She was bright eyed and working me over. We sat there for over 40 minutes, while I breastfed her and spoke to her. There were a lot of kisses, too.

After a while, I thought to myself, ‘she hasn’t cried once.’ I didn’t smell any signs of her having soiled her diaper, and I thought all of this was very strange for a newborn. So I got up and shuffled to the changing table to check.

When I opened her diaper, it was full of that dark, gooey meconium. I remember saying to her, “You dirty girl! You never even screeched to let me know there was anything there!” I didn’t even know all of the ins and outs of how to change a diaper yet, but I gave it my best first try!

At that moment, I realized that she wasn’t going to help her amateur new mom out with cues -- I was going to have to check her diaper to see what treasures she released on a schedule.

I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. Now, five years later, Eleni is still somewhat reserved, and just like that first diaper change, I am kept on my feet, always learning from her, and about her, all the time.

Photo by Ádám Szabó on Unsplash

My daughter, Morgan, was 8 months old when she started saying her first word: ‘dada.’ My husband may have “won,” but seeing how happy it made him and knowing how proud we were eased the pain of losing. After all, ‘dada’ is much easier to pronounce than ‘mama.’

As much as my husband loved hearing his child say ‘dada,’ he knew she called everything ‘dada.’ It was all she could say, which made it a bit less meaningful. Even still, he didn’t waste a second bragging about our baby’s first word.

I was feeling a bit down, but hopeful, when a mere week later, she looked up at me during a diaper change and said ‘mama.’ The excitement of hearing those two syllables took over my body, and tears began to flow while my smile continued to widen.

I could tell it was more difficult for her to say, but she continued with her new word. It took curling both lips over her toothless gums to pronounce it correctly. She would drag out the second ‘ma’ to pronounce as “mamaaa-aaa,” in almost a whining/singing tone. But it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard.

After that day, it took weeks to hear ‘mama’ again, while ‘dada’ was bountiful. Yet in the rare occurrences that ‘mama’ was spoken, it was only while I was around and was directed at me. On the other hand, ‘dada’ referred to books, food, bath time: just name it.

At 13 months, Morgan’s personal dictionary has been filled with a few more first words, including hi, yes, yuck, and up. And with each new word, I always feel a sense of pride in knowing her language is developing, and she’s reaching this important baby milestone. However, I will always remember her identifying me as that ‘mama’ she’s been hearing about, and saying my name in the most loving way possible.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash