Phoebe-
You have gotten lots of great links to information on here, but I thought you might not mind the ramblings of a BTDT mama.
When I was pregnant with my son, I started to think about circ. I was never one to just go along with things arbitrarily. I knew dh wanted him circ.ed, but I felt I should research, so I read some about it, I decided I didn't like the idea, but after talking to a pediatrician who said that "once you know someone who had to have it done as an adult, there will be no question in your mind", my mom (who is a nurse) and had horror stories about older male patients, and my OB who said that EMLA cream was good enough and that the shots (sorry don't remember the correct name) were too risky (she said they could result in needing to amputate
). I ended up going along with everyone, although it never felt right.
I knew what morning they were going to do it (while I was still in the hospital too), and I told dh to get there bright and early, cause I wasn't going to be waiting alone, well, the Dr. came early, so I was alone.
I was recovering from a c-section- so I was stuck in bed, the room they were doing it in was across the hall. I could hear him screaming (but my OB had said that the babies really only scream from being held down
: so I clung to that). When they brought my son back to me, he was just not the same, and I am not being dramatic. He was awake, but wouldn't nurse, he had previously stared at my face, and now he was looking blankly at the ceiling, I know, I know, he was a newborn, but it just wasn't the way he had been. It was quite some time before he nursed again- many waking hours. His little penis was so raw, but, we took care of it, and it healed just fine thank you, so maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
Fast forward to when he was 14 months, he woke up one morning, I went to change his diaper and his penis was all red and looked bloody, etc. I called the pediatrician right away, I couldn''t think what could be wrong with it.
I took him in and got the "diagnosis"-* foreskin adhesion*- to which I said, "what- he's circ.ed!" and the Dr. said, "Actually this is really common in chubby circ.ed babies, their penis kind of is stuck inside the fat, and it gets adhered to the foreskin that is left- if he were not circ.ed this wouldn't happen as the foreskin would not be retracted, yada yada yada."
So, maybe it's not the most dramatic of stories about circ. out there, but it was enough for me, this time (pregnant with a boy again) I did all the research, including watching a circ. I cried and told dh that I just couldn't let it happen again, and I gave him the research, he agreed, thank G-d!
I have so much regret now that I am fully informed, not only for what I put my first-born son through, but for what I have taken from him in adulthood -some of his sexual pleasure
- and his future partner's too
I hope that my experience (although I wish I did not have this story to tell) will stop someone else from making a choice to do things the way I did, regret is a terrible thing to live with
Thanks for taking your time!
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