My daughter wasted no time in exposing me to meconium, which is the tar-like black poop that newborns bless their parents with. In fact, she pooped all over our doctor right at birth. It made for a funny story for my doctor, who was actually presiding over her first labor as an official MD. My daughter’s sticky black poop was my doctor’s baptism into being a practicing doctor.

For me, my daughter’s icky poop was a bit of a baptism for me too. When I saw the black, sticky stuff that I never in a million years wouldn’t have guessed was poop if I hadn’t seen its origins I then realized that being a mom was going to be a messy – and at times disgusting – occupation. If you’re pregnant and haven’t yet dealt with meconium then let me be the one to tell you: It’s pretty gross. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t sticky, but sometimes her poop was so sticky that it took several wipes to clean it all up. The same thing happened with my son’s newborn poops.

Meconium is short-lasting and soon becomes a distant memory. Pretty soon you’ll be overwhelmed with the other many forms of poop your baby will surprise you with. The best advice I can give you is to not be shocked by the first poops your baby produces. Remember this:

• It’s gross.
• It’s normal.
• It doesn’t last long.

Just be glad it’s going into a diaper and is easily dealt with for the most part.