Charlotte and I had a doozy of a morning yesterday that really deserves to be documented for posterity…and as a warning to others that if you have a baby, never leave the house without a fully stocked diaper bag.
First of all, Jose had to go in to work early, so I was on my own to get both girls up and out the door. This is always a challenge in and of itself, but was going to be a bit more of a logistical puzzle yesterday since Charlotte was scheduled for her 6-month checkup at 9:00. Still, I could drop Emma off at daycare and then take Charlotte to the doctor, and I knew this would all be manageable enough as long as I kept everyone moving. I skipped showering since I’d taken one after my run on Sunday. Emma came into our room (as usual) and after some snuggles, we got up and got dressed.
We then went to get Charlotte. She was sound asleep, but woke up smiley when she saw Emma and me peering over the crib rail at her. When I picked her up, I realized she had pooped at some point and it had leaked out the side of her diaper a bit. I got her out of her pajamas but there was no time for an actual bath, so I wiped her down really well with baby wipes and got her dressed.
The rest of the morning proceeded pretty normally, and soon enough it was time to go. I already had my work bag, Charlotte’s bottles, and my purse so in a moment of complete overconfidence, I decided to just grab Charlotte’s changing pad. It’s one of those fold-up pads that has a couple pockets attached to one end to hold diapers and wipes. Everything I need, right?
We all pile in the car and head to daycare, where we drop off Emma and stop by Charlotte’s room just to let them know we’ll be back shortly. Charlotte and I head off to her doctor’s appointment. I even have extra time to stop at Starbucks! Life is good.
We arrive at the pediatrician’s office 15 minutes early and sit down in the waiting room. Charlotte has been in her carseat for a while so when she starts to fuss, I figure she just wants to get out and I oblige. I smell the poop almost as soon as I lift her from the carseat — but not before I rest her briefly on my leg.
Sigh.
Remember how I said I brought just her changing pad? No extra clothes?
I carry her by her armpits down the hall to the bathroom, where I strip off her (poopy) pants and shimmy her (poopy) onesie down over her butt. I get Charlotte cleaned up — her second bath-by-baby-wipe of the day, mind you — and back in a fresh diaper. I rinse out her clothes in the sink and wipe down the stain on the carseat, but as for her attire…well, there’s nothing else to do except carry her around like a naked hobo baby for the next hour until we finish at the doctor and get to daycare, where she has extra clothes in her cubby.
(She had a bib, so I guess that was better than nothing??)
To top off the morning, she spent the whole drive from the doctor’s office to daycare crying pitifully because 1) she just got a bunch of shots, 2) she had missed her morning nap and was tired, 3) her pacifiers are all at home or at daycare and 4) she’s still mostly naked and the carseat straps are probably not very comfortable when you’re not wearing clothes.
And I went to work snotty (because she has a cold), sweaty (because it was hot in the exam room), and quite possibly with poop somewhere on my pants. Honestly, I was THIS close to just driving us both straight home and just chalking up our day as a total loss.
At least my pants were black?
Misti says
Oh man! Mega empathy!!
Poop explosions are no fun. Even now the toddler will skip a poop on one day and I know sometime the next day it’ll be explosive. Sure enough, Sunday I had to do the old onesie down the shoulders bit. The car seat explosions are not fun.
Hope the rest of the week goes better!
Sarah says
I didn’t learn about taking a onesie off down (instead of over the head) until this time with #2! Total game changer for poop explosions!!
Jennfier says
Wow, that sounds rough.
My day yesterday wasn’t as bad as that, but it wasn’t a blast easier. B is sick so I was up half the night with her and tired and grumpy. After nap, she had a nasty poopy diaper which i changed. I started downstairs to take it out, leaving her on my bed, and she threw up all over herself and the bed, requiring changing her, the sheets, and the mattress pad, which may or may not be dry by now. Meanwhile, both kids are screaming their heads off and Jonathan is on a telecon nextdoor. Fun times.
Kathleen Basi says
You’ll forgive me for chuckling, won’t you? I have a fabulous story bout the exploding diaper on the overcrowded trolley in Chicago, and how it was so bad it went THROUGH the car seat and ran down my leg. Does that make you feel any better?
Sarah says
Oh, YIKES. That sounds horrible.
(Also, I love how basically every mom has at least one — and sometimes multiple — poop stories.)
Kathleen Basi says
Yeah…we weren’t prepared either.
Jennifer says
I hate when it gets on the carseat! Washing mine is a bear too! Try putting a ziplock for each kid in your car, light jacket, change of clothes and diapers, wipes paper towels and plastic bags. For my four this requires a small tupperware. That way you can go with the minimum, but be prepared for disaster.
Sarah says
The ziplock thing is an AWESOME idea! I am doing that immediately.