Daddy’s First Diaper Change

Happy first Friday of July! At Rockabye Baby, each first Friday of the month we are spotlighting your little ones' firsts...and this month, parents' firsts, too! Today's first deals with the P word, poop, and how new father (and archaeologist), Charles, tackled his daughter's with his first diaper change. Poop can tell you a lot about a person. Honest. As an archaeologist I can tell you we love to find ancient poop. It is packed with valuable information that can be used to reconstruct prehistoric diets. It can even tell you if the poop belonged to a male or female. In the field, I have collected samples of poop, what is known in archaeology lingo as coprolites. As you read this you are losing your appetite and/or beginning to believe that I am a poop specialist. Either way, you cannot stop reading this, can you? And you might even assume that because of my scientific experiences that I'd have no fear of my daughter's diaper. But I did. See, prehistoric poop is hard and dry and odorless. The poop of my daughter, Little D , when she was first born, was a thick, sticky tar-like substance called meconium. Not even my time spent collecting prehistoric fossils and artifacts near Los Angeles's La Brea Tar Pits was enough to prepare me for my first diaper change. I remember the day like it was yesterday, when we were at the hospital and she was barely 3 days old. I was holding my little girl when I felt something on my hand. I looked down and noticed the meconium covering my hand as if it had a mind of its own. I passed Little D off to my wife and walked to the front desk and looked at the nurse. She asked, "Is everything all right?" I showed her my hand with tar and all. She began to laugh. We both started laughing. It was funny, and what else could you do? The nurse walked back with me to my wife and daughter's room, and, upon entering, took Little D from my wife and showed me how easy it was to change a diaper and remove the meconium. Well, it was easy for her, but it took me a few tries to become a pro. You should see me now. In fact, I love changing my daughter's diapers (though the meconium has been replaced by a more saucy style of poop), and I think Little D is pretty impressed, too. She rewards me with a smile and giggle after almost every diaper change. I'll happily dispose of her coprolites any day...