First Outing... Oops!

It was a cold, snowy December day when we made our first venture out of the house with our new baby. The bag was packed, diapers, extra blankets, formula... check, check, check. Our big excursion to the ever-exciting Wal-Mart was underway!

I was so happy to be out of the house. I had decided early in my maternity leave that I just couldn't be a stay at home mom. I'm sure I'll feel differently at some point, but my baby was so easy. All he did all day was sit there and look at me... Anyway, we were out shopping during the busiest season of course. Wal-Mart is always a zoo at Christmas time. I don't know why we decided we had to go there, but it was a small enough trip for our first outing. My baby already looked like a 3 month old from birth, due to his macrosomia and freakishly-large-for-age appearance. I'd get "oh, how cute" and "how old" left and right. Then you have those people who think you should lock yourself in your house for nine months until your baby can fight off germs.

I think the opposite. We took our baby out when he was just under a month old. I think this is perfectly acceptable. Just bundled him up and off we went. Of course I didn't let him touch the public toilet seat or lick the floor of the fitting rooms, but yes, we went out in public. (gasp!)

During our little excursion the baby started getting a little fussy and I did't think much of it. Then came the tears... then the sob... My heart melted. He was hungry....

WHAT?! We didn't pack the formula?! I have clothes, extra blankets, diaper rash cream (you know, because he'll get a rash and need ointment in that whole hour we were out) and no formula?!

We immediately hauled-ass to Babies R Us (seeing as we just left Wal Mart). We didn't have any bottles either. How could I forget that? What do babies do- sleep, poop and EAT! So my husband hurridly ran into the store as I tried to comfort my startving little piggy. Not only did I feel like the worst mother in the world, but I was embarrassed. I was positive you could hear my baby's screams of starvation all the way to China. Five minutes goes by... Where's my husband? He knows the baby's hungry, why isn't he here yet? I start blaming him because I'm sick of blaming myself-- even though I'm the one who packed his bag... Ten minutes went by and still no food! I picked up the phone and tried to calmly ask what's taking so long. I figured the sounds of the baby's cries over the phone would be sufficient. Wouldn't you know he got stuck behind some lady arguing about the price of a toy... My baby's STARVING and you don't want to pay $6.99 for a darn toy!

Sooner or later my husband finally got through the line and out to the car. We broke open the little pre-bottled formula and slapped on a nipple. My kid already eats fast, but this bottle was gone in what felt like 30 seconds.

Needless to say that from all the crying, he really slept good that night!