Who cleaned your first poop when you were born?
So...do ya know? Do ya? Who cleaned your first poop? I'm going to guess it was a nurse or nursing student (just like me!)! Just imagine...somewhere out there in the world, there are individuals who were there to care for your first 24-48 hours of life!
During my rotation so far I have been able to assist in a vaginal birth, do postpartum assessments on new mothers, newborn assessments on their babies, and watched a circumcision. It has been an amazing experience so far! I am learning so much and observing so much from the incredible nurses at my clinical site. This has been such a different experience compared to the basic med-surg floor I was on during the summer. The labor and delivery nurses are so welcoming -- teaching, explaining, and helping students be exposed to as much as we can possibly see in one shift.
Recently, I was placed in the nursery. I kid you not, my heart felt so warm and fuzzy the entire time. There's something so beautiful about newborns. Just imagine.. for the past 10 months, these tiny little humans were in the womb, a safe haven, and all of a sudden, they get expelled into this world of ours! They come out with all these instant reflexes, and know already to turn their heads to a breast for feeding.
A newborn just a few hours old came into the nursery and was placed under the radiant warmer to get his temperature up. I decided to do my newborn assessment on him -- examining his head, feeling his fontanels, assessing facial features, checking for any abnormalities on his skin, examining tonality, and checking all the different reflexes (gripping, sucking, Babinski, plantar, etc.). We were taught in class that a newborn's first bowel movement should occur within the first 24 hours of life, and low and behold... I come back from my lunch break and there he is.. pooping away! The meconium (newborn's first feces) was as expected -- dark, sticky, tarry. I wet some wipes with warm water and proceed to clean my first poop. Just as I thought it was pretty much cleaned up, I hear a low sounding "bloop," and out came more meconium. My other peers were there with me and we all had a chuckle. We were NOT expecting that. But this happy baby ended up getting cleaned up and put into his first diaper. Welcome to the world, B.B.!
Have a great weekend, y'all!
Sincerely,
Meagan