When the Wee One Wees

I read an article some time ago, before I gave birth, where it said that parents can expect to spend up to £1,000 (roughly $1,800 or Php 100,000) on nappies for one baby alone. At that time I scoffed at that, especially as nappies nowadays come to around £0.13 to £0.19 each, and it seemed impossible that a kid could use more than 5,000 nappies before he/she is toilet trained. It just didn't seem possible to me then. I remember thinking, babies' stomachs are quite small and their bladders and intestines as well - they can't possibly "go" that much, surely?

Fast forward to six weeks after little (?) Sophie's birth and now I believe the article's estimate was a pocket friendly one, and a little on the cheap side. Some days I don't think I've done other things aside from nappy changing. It's the first thing we do when she wakes up, what we do before meals, during commercial breaks, before and after Christian comes back from the park, and definitely one of the last things we do at night, apart from praying that she sleeps a little bit longer this time.

To further this point: Christian and I have set up three "changing" stations in the house in order to anticipate her nappy changing time table. One in the bedroom, so she doesn't have to go far when she wakes up to feed, pee or poo. One in the bathroom, so she doesn't have to go far after her bath or daily wash-up. One in the living room above her movable cot (thanks Kada!) so WE don't have to go far when we are watching our favourite shows (for those of you who are curious, it's CSI), Play Station games (currently the Assassin's Creed) and the daily paper/mag (FT for Christian, Now, Heat, OK, Grazia, Ideal Home, and Marie Claire for me).

Sometimes we go through two nappies each change, because just as we are about to close the deal on the new nappy, the wee one does another wee or poo. Most of the time it is comical, the other times it is more of a "grin and bear it" situation - some baby clothes are hard to pull on and off after all. Sometimes, when we hear her do a poo (from an attention seeking BRAAAAAAAAAA-TAT-TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT to the ooopsie pooot-tooot), Christian and I wait for a few seconds as we know a second one is coming to combat the first. If it doesn't come after some moments, we debate on whether or not to change her nappy or wait some more and let her stew in her sh*t. Needless to say, the first option is what we always do, and inevitably, she poos or wees again. If we're lucky, into the old nappy or into the new one. If we're unlucky - well - anywhere but.

Times like these, I have to keep my sense of humour and understanding - she is not trying to be mean (even at 3am in the morning) when she goes through nappy after nappy. After all, it can't be comfortable having your done your business and feel it close to your privates after the fact. So, whenever she has to go, she goes, and I am just lucky to be there to catch it, clean it, and bin it for my baby. Besides, when I am old, gray and incontinent... BWA-HA-HA, karma will be a b*tch :)