Why did the pediatrician say this?

[NightOwl]

We're expecting our first and interviewing pediatricians. We interviewed the first yesterday. We told her that we were not planning to circ and she said something I thought was a little strange. She said, "That's fine, it's your decision. But just so you know, you only have 3 weeks to decide. You can't come and say you want to circ when he's like 6 months old." DH said, "well, we're sure we don't want to." And she said, "well, I'm just warning you. I've seen the flip side and you can't change your mind."

Other things she said made it seem like she isn't that mainstream and she was recommended to us through our birth center. So, I just found what she said about circ a little strange. It wasn't like she was trying to discourage us, just saying that you can't circ a boy older than 3 weeks old. Weird or not?

[massaginmommy]

They do say that. They tell people that all the time. WHen I was overseas, Germany, the army hosp. said that. Mainly because Europeans don't routinely circumsize and a lot of the wives were Nationals. BUT if you truly needed to have your child circ'd later in life ( I know this rarely happens) they will do it. You just see a differrent doc. Usually a urologist. I would wonder what else she will warn you on. Is she non-vax friendly natural alternatives to antibiotics etc...? You mihgt want to ask those questions on the things that are important to you now, before your baby gets here.

[boingo82]

Totally weird. What the heck was she talking about?!?

It drives me freaking crazy in this country, that EVERY OTHER MEDICAL PROCEDURE is postponed as late as possible due to the sensitivity of neonates, except circ.

[aira]

Sounds super weird to me. Even if she wasn't outwardly encouraging you to circ, she sure has a strange way of keeping the topic going in your interview...

All the ones I interviewed (even the freaks) said something along the lines of: That's fine. There really is no medical reason. We know that now. (One of them threw in a bogus stat that "only" 70+% boys are currently being circed, and it's on it's way down but we updated his numbers for him.)

End of circ discussion... and on to the vax debate...

I'd personally forget about this doc, unless she really is the best you have in your area. In that case, *never be out of range of physically moving her away from your DS's penis*. Or anyone, if she's the best there is to offer. She seems to have a strange fixation, and that is not a good indication of her knowledge healthy intact care.

[Kleine Hexe]

Oh the things I've heard from Drs. :

Also a friend of mine had her son cird when he was two. I don't know why she even did it but she did. She told me she did not want it done when he was a baby because she couldn't find a Dr that would use pain killer. So she waited until he was two when it was treated like a major surgery. Her son was put under. Again, why do it when you've seen that a little boy can survive just fine with a foreskin. Something about like father like son.

[feebeeglee]

I think that means

"If you wait he will be too big to be tied down and cut up while he is awake and aware and we will have to treat it (and bill it) like the real, actual surgical procedure it is instead of kidding ourselves that since he is too small and weak to fight us it doesn't matter that what we are doing is exquisite torture."

[susienjay]

This sounds like the first pediatrician we took our son to. My son went in a lot when we first brought him home and she asked every single time if we had changed our mind because we were running out of time to have it done without general anesthesia. Every time I would say that no we had decided not to circ and she would say she just wanted to make sure because it would be a lot harder to get it done later. I had used this ped for my girls for a couple years and had always liked her. She never batted an eye about extended nursing and was great about everything else. I switched to a different doc in the same practice and she was awesome about the no circ. She even told ds he had a great looking penis.

[Frankly Speaking]

What she is doing is using some reverse psychology and trying to insert fear into your subconscious. What she is subtly saying is:

"This is going to be a decision you will regret. You should do it now before you think about it too much and become used to your son's foreskin."

What she is saying to herself is:

"I want these idiots to circumcise their son so I'm going to subtly scare the daylights out of them and make them think that either decision is permanent. They are probably already worrying about infections and such and with a little subtle push, they'll go over the edge."

Don't fall for her mind games. Research and come to your own *educated* conclusions and make your decisions from an educated viewpoint.




Frank

[paquerette]

Oh please! It's easy as pie at any age, all you have to do is take your kid to virtually any doctor and say "yanno, his penis is a little red at the tip" or "he's kinda oozing some white stuff..." and they'll circ him before you can blink.

Okay, I'm exaggerating. But not much.

[NightOwl]

yeah...I do feel wary about this pediatrician. She did say she's against using antibiotics unless absolutly needed. She actually went on and on about how bad it is to use antibiotics too much. And that I thought was good...it was the only thing I liked about her. She did say she is all for vaxing. Which...as bad as this sounds...I'm still not sure about vaxing. I haven't done enough research yet to make a fully informed descision. : I was hoping to find a pediatrician who would at least allow delayed vaxing so that I would have more time to figure it all out. (This pregnancy has flown by!)

Ugh...picking a pediatrician is stressing me out. There is a serious lack of good docs in my area (Tampa.) I found out about one who sounded great...all about holistic pediatrics. But he doesn't take any insurance! And the initial visit would be $225! Ugh! I'm feeling very discouraged. It's not easy having these kinds of philosophies about health and all sometimes. You know?

[paquerette]

Originally Posted by NightOwl

Which...as bad as this sounds...I'm still not sure about vaxing. I haven't done enough research yet to make a fully informed descision. : I was hoping to find a pediatrician who would at least allow delayed vaxing so that I would have more time to figure it all out. (This pregnancy has flown by!)

I understand how that goes! My advice would be to err on the side of doing nothing until you decide; you can't unvax but you can always vax later. And remember, peds don't allow or disallow anything, YOU do!

Someone on the vax board has a list of nonvax friendly providers that she'll pm to people for their area. Do you hang around over there.

I now return you to your regular anti-circ discussion.

[paquerette]

Originally Posted by NightOwl

"I've seen the flip side and you can't change your mind."

Okay, this just hit me as really f'ed up. It's a CIRC you can't undo, not not circing! Sheesh. :

[A&A]

three weeks: the age at which newborn boys are considered human beings by doctors.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by paquerette

I understand how that goes! My advice would be to err on the side of doing nothing until you decide; you can't unvax but you can always vax later. And remember, peds don't allow or disallow anything, YOU do!

Someone on the vax board has a list of nonvax friendly providers that she'll pm to people for their area. Do you hang around over there.

I now return you to your regular anti-circ discussion.

Also, as far as vaxing goes, the liver doesn't produce bile until six months, and the body needs bile to deal with the toxins in vaxes. So, if I were you, I'd wait until at least six months to get vaxes.

[stacey0402]

Originally Posted by feebeeglee

I think that means

"If you wait he will be too big to be tied down and cut up while he is awake and aware and we will have to treat it (and bill it) like the real, actual surgical procedure it is instead of kidding ourselves that since he is too small and weak to fight us it doesn't matter that what we are doing is exquisite torture."

I couldn't agree more Phoebe. Did I ever tell you when I worked on the Postpartum unit I had to help the dr's perform circs? It was horrible. My helping was to basically try to calm the baby as much as possible. I'll spare you details, it was horrible. No son of mine will ever be circ'd What you said is just *so* true!

[NightOwl]

Originally Posted by paquerette

Okay, this just hit me as really f'ed up. It's a CIRC you can't undo, not not circing! Sheesh. :

Geez...I wish I had thought of that to say back to her!!!

[RosieTook]

"If you wait he will be too big to be tied down and cut up while he is awake and aware and we will have to treat it (and bill it) like the real, actual surgical procedure it is instead of kidding ourselves that since he is too small and weak to fight us it doesn't matter that what we are doing is exquisite torture."

:

[hummingbear]

Originally Posted by feebeeglee

"If you wait he will be too big to be tied down and cut up while he is awake and aware and we will have to treat it (and bill it) like the real, actual surgical procedure it is instead of kidding ourselves that since he is too small and weak to fight us it doesn't matter that what we are doing is exquisite torture."

:

[Clarity]

Sadly, I wonder if she was also thinking of the money issue. "If you wait and change your mind later, insurance won't pay for it ."

[lynsage]

i wonder if "the flip side" for her is that she has screwed up and retracted uncirced kids and had them get infections or other complications from it. doctors are famous for advising whatever is most convenient for themselves.