Prunes and Hot Butter Pants

If there's one thing people say when we talk about Samson's blog, it's, "Tell us more about his poop!" Well, here's the latest.

Samson has, for the past month or two, become a baby who only poops once per week. This is OKAY, really! Our doctor says, and the current medical literature backs this up, a breastfed baby is fine having a stool even as infrequently as 10 days. It just means that his digestive system is processing the perfect food (mama's milk) very effectively and there just isn't much waste leftover to eliminate.

Mama and Daddy love this new schedule for the most part. We almost never have any poopy diapers to change, and the occurrence of blowout diapers has come to a standstill. Our consumption of baby wipes has gone down by about 70%, and we only use 5-7 diapers per day (rather than the 8-12 we used during the first couple of months at home).

When he does finally poop, there's not much more volume than before, and the texture is pretty much the same. But, the odor... well, it's not fecal (breastmilk poops truly don't stink), but it's weird. It smells, no kidding, like hot butter. Mama will never enjoy movie popcorn again after this - heh.

The trouble in paradise comes up when Samson goes longer than 7 days and starts to show signs that he is uncomfortable. There are a few things we're authorized to do to encourage, um, movement, and none are pleasant for baby or parent: rectal thermometer or Fleet suppositories.

During the week Daddy was in China, Samson passed the 10 day mark and was getting antsy. Mama tried the thermometer with no success. Next came the Fleet, and if you've ever tried to give a cranky infant a suppository and keep it in for 15 minutes, you'll understand why this was a disaster. By the 12th day, Mama decided it was time for professional help.

Dr. C said that she'd had great success with diluted prune juice and Samson was old enough to give it a try. She said that we shouldn't have to worry about an allergic reaction (a concern because babies with cow milk sensitivity are more likely to have other food allergies), but she coached Mama on all of the signs just to be safe.

So, Samson had his first solid food, a 1:1 mixture of water and prune juice with pulp, on March 16th at 5 1/2 months chronological age. After no change, we repeated the dose on the next day (also the day Daddy came home), and eureka! The long awaited dirty diaper finally appeared, Samson's "welcome home" gift to Daddy.

There are pictures, of course, but we'll spare you dear readers the evidence this time.