Circumsicion

EMLA is standard of procedure when DW does them. Both our boys were more upset about the strapping down as well.

Sue,
Sorry to scare you. One of the downsides of "talking" in a forum and me only having a minute here or there to post.
It scared me too. But, it was an isolated incident on DH's rotation. It really stuck with me, though, because I was pregnant with my first at the time and we didn't know the sex of the baby. I was on the fence about circumcision and this about made me jump to the "no" side. Luckily, a few things happened to make me feel better. First, my ob/gyn brought it up with us (before we did) and said he would routinely does the procedure and that he only did it with the EMLA and 30 minutes for the cream to take effect. (For some reason, he put some emphasis on the 30 minutes but I can't remember why). That made me feel better. And DH said he would be there the whole time as well.
Fast forward a few years, and I attend the bris. The baby only cried for a few minutes (or less) when he was unwrapped from his blanket. Not a peep during the ceremony. One thing I think that helped was his grandfather holding him (rather than being strapped down). After seeing that, I knew that I could go through with it if we had a boy and even be there during the procedure. It really was not bad at all.
I'm sure you will find a solution that you can live with. And if you can't get what you want at the hospital, check with you pediatrician about doing it outside of the hospital a few days later. (Our pediatrician didn't have privileges at the hospital I delivered at so we would have had to come up with some alternate plan.)

Possibly for the 'too much information' category - EMLA can also be used to anesthetize certain areas before waxing...it helps a lot with the pain.

[Michele]

I am wrong....I just read a study that showed that neonates don't necessarily feel the pain (ie, we really can't evaluate it), but it causes them to reorganize their neurons which can make them more sensitive to pain later in life.

So, use an analgesic.

[DCJenn]

My husband's stance was always "not medically necessary". Neither is plucking my eyebrows and I could see how the numbing stuff might help there, too.

(and amen for the waxing thing. that little tip has been filed away in my brain!)

Jenn

My brother and SIL had Jack circumcised. Barb said it was payback for the C-section! (she was just kidding. Mostly)

[houseelf]

I was truly on the fence on this one...but DH told me that he has had to circumsize adult males a few times because of problems (this usually entails overnight surgery) and this tipped the scale for me. Although since that time, I've heard that some docs treat foreskin problems with steriod creams with great success. (You mean not every doctor takes the "if in doubt, cut it out" approach?)

I don't know what I would do if this baby was a boy....I guess that I'd probably do it again just because the other boys in the household are without. Although boys being boys, they still have questions about their peeps, like why is daddy's peep bigger than mine?

Kelly

Same here (when we didn't know the gender of the babies) -- a friend's BF had to be circumcised when he was in college. 8O Apparently, it was a very unpleasant experience. That sort put me on the circumcision side of the fence.

Although boys being boys, they still have questions about their peeps, like why is daddy's peep bigger than mine?

We don't get that question but instead hear -- what's that?

A friend of ours has a 5 yo daughter and they live next to a family of two girls and a SAHD. Her daughter frequently plays with the neighbor's girls and runs errands with them, etc. One day, the dad had them at Costco and HAD to go to the bathroom. He wasn't too excited about taking three preschool girls into the men's room but didn't want to leave them outside either. So, he took them in. My friend's very curious daughter looked at the SAHD and said, "My daddy's penis is bigger than yours." Hats off to him for having the, er, balls to relate the story back to our friends!

[SueC]

That's a hilarious story Nellie!
I was so thankful not to have to confront the circumcision issue with our first two, This time I left it entirely up to my dh, figuring he knows more about the equipment than I do. He was pretty adament that we do it, since he has also seen some adult males with problems relating to not being circumcised, though I know research today doesn't really say you definitely should or shouldn't do it. That said, I'm relieved that it is over with so I don't have to think about it anymore!

[PrincessFiona]

Regarding circumcision....I thought I'd add to the discussion....We didn't circumcise and then our oldest developed a phimosis. His foreskin was extermely tight . He could not retract it at all. We thought we'd have to circumcise him as a 9 year old. Turns out...most boys who develop the tightening of the skin don't need circumcision anymore. Pediatric urologists are now using a steroid cream to weaken/loosen the skin. We were given the option of trying that or having him circed.

After meeting with our pediatrician and getting the prescription, we were pretty sure that it wasn't going to work...but tried it anyway. He had a completely normal foreskin within two weeks...no surgery, no trauma, etc...It was amazing.

kris