Kim,
That's a relief to hear! I was pondering that end of it too. Is it that the AF just makes us more sensitive to the initial passing?
That being said, I've discretely and hygienically checked my stools consistency (man, AFs will make you do anything to find out what's wrong!) on an almost frequent basis and the front end is always clay like and seems to be mashed portions pushed together to form a stool, then the rest is soft, fluffy and easy to pass. I thought about this and I'm guessing that if I didn't have an AF, I probably wouldn't even notice the beginning of the stool. What you're sharing makes me feel this might be true.
It is reassuring to hear that other's had this issue as well. Thanks!

Kim and SSH,
Something else just occurred to me. I know both Kim and I were both heavy caffeine drinkers. I know it's supposed to dehydrate, but I also know it definitely helps push things along too. While I can't be 100% certain, I'm thinking this all started when I began to seriously cut back on my caffeine intake.
I still think the AF amplifies the feeling but this theory may have a little merit. I also know that even at my heaviest periods of consumption of caffeine, as long as I didn't load up a few days in a row on very poor food choices, I never really had a problem with stool consistency. My father, who drinks 3 pots of coffee before 12pm (he'd drink about a gallon of water the rest of the day) never had any prolonged issues with constipation either.
SSH, did you have a moderate caffeine intake before the AF and your child?

chris and kim,
i totally experience this time from time....the exact description chris has provided with the clay consistency, etc. and yes, it is hard at the beginning but soft towards the end.
for me, this correlates well with high periods of stress and/or whenever i feel upset inside and can't let go of the anger.
i don't drink caffeine at all so for me, i have these exact issues without ever drinking coffee, caffeine products, etc.
it comes and goes.
all i know is that when i do modify my breakfast to start my day with miso soup or something hot such as mashed beans with polenta or steamed veggies, this tends to go away.

I can only say that while I was having my AF, I first cut back on the coffee but I never saw any real difference in how it affected my stools. So I generally drank two cups of coffee everyday, anyway. But no more cokes...who needs all that nutr-sweet, nayway?

HA,
That's a great point too. It's always hard to tie a certain occurrence to something else in your life because there seems to be a limitless array of things that could have caused it.
Given Kim's reply and your stress theory, I can totally see that as an impacting factor for me. Stress is a funny thing. I can have a ton of projects at work, and not really seem anymore stressed then I've been used too my entire life. But when the AF kicked in permanently, I worried constantly. And due to the things it started to impact, the stress just multiplied. My physical medicine doctor recently told me that stress is the single biggest underlying ailment when he treats his patients for other things. So much so, that he instantly told me about my work environment without ever actually being there because he treated so many of my coworkers recently. It amazed me. I've also been reading a number of articles on the internet that indicate stress has a tremendous impact on our bowels.
I don't want to hijack this tread but this leads me to the question: Do different things >>tend<< to work for different people when treating AF because it's the step in their mind that relates best to healing, thus reducing stress which then really kicks in the healing process? I've read on other boards A LOT of less than conservative cures (Tanactin, Pecans, Lip ointment, various homemade products...) and different people swear they work.
Anyway...SSH, do you think its stress??

all i know is that when i do modify my breakfast to start my day with miso soup or something hot such as mashed beans with polenta or steamed veggies, this tends to go away.
I think this is a key Gareth has hit on...if you have coffee with breakfast, you may not get the water to your stool during that time of the day, and that portion of your BM (the first part the next day) may be dry...