Circumcision question

stillplanning2008 · July 2012

Greetings, new mommies!

Ive wandered over from the Sept 2012 boards in search of some wisdom. My husband and have decided that we will be circumcising our son when he's born.

Can anyone prep me on what to expect? I know the procedure is typically done in the first days of life before we leave the hospital and will be done by the ped on call.

Will they use my ped or ped practice? What is the after care .. I'm assuming it would be similar to care for stitches for me (spray bottle as opposed to wipes)? Length of healing time?

We have a meet and greet coming up with our ped but that's not for a while still and I was curious as to what you all have experienced.

Thanks mommies!!

hjreeves · July 2012

Our ped did ours. She had us use gauze and put some vaseline and a certain ointment similar to neosporin on the gauze and rap it up you will need to change it each time it gets wet during a diaper change. We didn't have problems they had us do it for 10 days they will check it at week appt.

starrynight1658 · July 2012

My OB did DS' circumcision and did a fantastic job. It's typically done the day after birth, but we had to wait a week because of some health issues with DS. The whole thing took about 20 minutes, and the doctor said our son didn't even make a sound during the procedure. We had to stay at the hospital for 2 hours after so they could monitor the bleeding, but since you'll already be there, it won't be a big deal.

After care was pretty easy: they wrapped a piece of gauze around it for the first 24 hours. Then, we had to unwrap it (moistening it with Vaseline first), and keep a piece of gauze wrapped around it with Vaseline or antibiotic ointment until it stopped being red (about 5 days). It looked really sore, but DS actually grabbed a hold of it a couple times and yanked and he didn't seem to be in pain.

The doctor that does it will definitely give you after care instructions and signs of infection to look for.

mwitter80 · July 2012

Are you sure it's the pedi? In most hospitals your obgyn does it, for insurance reasons. Obs have to be insured for surgery, because they do c sections, but pedi don't because they don't perform surgery, so they don't usually perform circumcisions.

The only thing we needed to do was to wait for gauze to fall off and then put Vaseline on it, only so the diaper didn't stick to it, and once the scab came off that was it. The healing process took no more than 10 days. The worst part was that they took him from me for 30 minutes. Dh was allowed to go, but didn't want to. I was ok with that once I found out my obgyn was doing it and not a stranger.

mrs+harlow · July 2012

An OB actually did my son's. Two OB's at the practice I go to perform the circumcisions. It was done the evening before we were discharged.

After care was simple. There was a gauze wrap around his penis. We sponge bathed him ( you do this until the cord stump falls off). The gauze falls off on it's own and before and after at each diaper change you put Vaseline on the penis. We used wipes not a spray bottle. It healed in less than a week. Follow the doctors instructions for care, as there are many methods in how they are performed. We were not given instructions to pull the skin back at each diaper change, but some doctors tell you to do this. My son's healed perfectly.

stillplanning2008 · July 2012

Thank you ladies!! I clearly didn't know as much as I thought I did! I had thought a friend said their ped did it .. I never thought about my OB doing it .. I'll have to ask at my next check up, since that's before the meet and greet. Glad to hear you all didn't have any issues with it healing properly and that it healed pretty quickly!

jess9802 · July 2012

Our pediatrician performed the circumcision at DS's two week appointment. We had to wait at the office for 10 minutes afterward to make sure he wasn't bleeding. The pediatrician wrapped his penis with gauze, but once it came off we simply applied Polysporin to his penis until it had healed. We were given some instructions on how to care for it - it was a lot easier than I expected it to be and the healing was very fast.

naybird · July 2012

Our pedi did it about a week after little boy was born. It took about 20 min. and DS had no complications.

The Dr put a plastic "bell" over the tip and the bell fell off when it was healed. No problems at all. We were told to clean him with wipes. It didn't even seem to bother DS.

jeffsjayme · July 2012

At our hospital, either the OB or the Ped can do it - it depends on the ped's preference. In our case, our ped performs them, so he did it. But I guess some peds don't like doing them (or won't do them or can't do them), so then the OB will do it. I don't think it really matters for insurance as long as they are insured to do so.

It took about 45 minutes from "taking him away" to "bringing him back". My husband actually went with him and watched the procedure.

tarajayne · July 2012

Our guys had them about 24 hrs after birth. The hospital ped did it. DH went with them. We had to put vaseline around the tip for about a week I think. The first night afterwards they were extremely fussy but the next night they were fine. I was so scared the first few times I changed diapers to hurt their little peepees but they seemed fine.

kincaid44 · July 2012

Our pedi did our sons a week after he was born. I wasn't expecting to have to wait that long. After his procedure, they put gauze on him. We were told to removethe gauze when we got home, and everytime he needed his diaper changed to put a&d ointment on it. It took a few days for his ring to fall off, and since then we've continued to put ointment on it because it's still red and tender. I was an emotional wreck when they brought him back from his procedure, so maybe prepare yourself for that. He was shaking like crazy and gasping because he had been crying so hard. I'm sure all babies handle it differently, but just be prepared for the emotional aspect of it!

happymaryd · July 2012

Why in the world did you decide to circumcise? You son deserves better than that.

babycareRN · July 2012

You should realize that a baby's diaper is not the ideal location for an open wound. And that infants have abnormal reactions to pain after circumcizing. And that the cultures it is done in is to either test a man's pain tolerance or to control his sexual libido.

happymaryd · July 2012

" I was an emotional wreck when they brought him back from his procedure, so maybe prepare yourself for that."

This is a healthy response to harming a child unnecessarily. It's supposed to discourage things like this.

mieuxmieux · July 2012

The pedi did DS's. They said it went very well, he didn't cry (and I believe this because we were right across from the nursery and didn't hear anything). They gave us a tube of vaseline and said to squeeze it onto the tip at every diaper change and basically leave it alone until it is healed. It only took about a week. He never really seemed bothered by it.

babycareRN · July 2012

An infant not crying during and after a circumcision is unfortunately a sign that it went into shock.

annette4797 · July 2012

Our pedi did our LO's. He did really well. Our pedi used a plastibell. We were instructed just to use soap and water until the plastic ring came off. Not hard at all...they will give you specific instructions afterwards!

Iwantsomeprivacyplease · July 2012

First they strap the baby to a special device to stop it from moving. At this point it will probably be crying due to fear caused by being separated from it's parents. Next they may or may not anesthetize the baby. If they do there is a very real risk of death, and since it does not completely eliminate the pain, many choose not to. Next the foreskin is removed. At this point the baby may go into shock and become quiet from the intense pain associated with cutting one of the most sensitive parts of their body, coupled with a newborn baby's greatly heightened pain sensitivity.

Then the wound must be carefully cleaned to prevent infections, or adhesion - both of which may require further surgery to fix. After which your child will have to live with increased risk of infection, decreased sensitivity, increased risk of contracting AIDS and other STIs, along with a host of other complications. Furthermore, there is absolutely no reason for it to be done at birth. The chances that your child would need to be circumcised for a medical reason are tiny, and the circumcision can be performed at the time it is required, if ever.

https://www.circumstitions.com/reasonsnotto.html
Here is some further information.
Please don't do it.

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