+1 to circumcising, and pretty much letting dh take the lead on that decision. I learned in my Prenatal Class today (taught in hospital) that we will need to find a private clinic ourselves and take baby in his 1st week, since the hospital does not perform infant circumcisions. We are in Canada and I knew it wouldn't be covered by govt medical but was surprised to hear that the hospitals don't do them.
@Blonde1817 I would normally stay out of this conversation, but no one else said it so I will - my son will NOT be circumcised. There is NO medical or logical reason to do so. My thought is: if you wouldn't circumcise your daughter, why would you circumcise your son?
Thanks for the input everyone! When I asked DH, he was all for circumcision and really didn't give it a second thought. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, as usual lol. I will probably ask the pediatrician for more info about it when we meet with her for her interview, but I think I'll just end up going with my first instinct on this one.
On another note ... I would so highly recommend taking childbirth classes to anyone who is on the fence! Ours were so helpful. When I first looked the birth plan (given to us in a packet from the birth center/hospital we're delivering at), I had no idea what most of the questions meant or what I would prefer. After completing the classes, the questions all seemed so obvious (other than the circumcision one)! It's so nice to feel a little bit more knowledgeable and confident about labor.
We aren't circumcising, LO isn't circumcised and FI isn't either. I get that it's more of the norm here in the states, but that is becoming less and less the case, and as @books&icecream mentioned, it isn't medically necessary so I don't really see the point personally.
@NicholeL16 Less than 4 pounds! Can you imagine how tiny they must be? I'm crying too. I can't imagine how I'll react when our regulars start posting there!
really proud of the fact that we haven't had any comments on the thread itself yet. I mean, haven't had to tell one person that no replies allowed, this is for birth announcements only. Yay! We're smart
Omgoshhhh first birth announcement!! We're getting so close guys! Hoping those babies do great!
Also, on the note of pumpkins and plants, the mums in our yard started to get buds this week, I told DH it means fall, and thus baby will be here soon!
Eek I'm so behind I was just taking in the circumcision comments (it's not the norm over here so found it fascinating that everyone is so for it etc) and then I saw a birth announcement.. Need to go read, October is sooo close!
Anybody else having heart palpitations after reading the birth announcement and realizing that holy crap, yes, any of us could really feasibly have our babies at any given time?!
Anybody else having heart palpitations after reading the birth announcement and realizing that holy crap, yes, any of us could really feasibly have our babies at any given time?!
I agree!! I suddenly felt a little panic attack regarding this! I just asked my boss if I could take Monday off to work on baby's room... Sh*t is definitely getting real!!
@Blonde1817 I would normally stay out of this conversation, but no one else said it so I will - my son will NOT be circumcised. There is NO medical or logical reason to do so. My thought is: if you wouldn't circumcise your daughter, why would you circumcise your son?
We did a lot of research before we had our first and, while it was a close call, we circumcised. Our reasoning: if it becomes medically necessary, the risk of complications rise dramatically as a child ages. It's much more difficult and risky to circumcise an adult than an infant. So, while the chances that circumcision would become medically necessary in the future are low, we decided not to take that risk. As far as I know, female circumcision is never medically necessary and the only purpose is to remove pleasure from sex, so comparing the two seems disingenuous, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
@ignoscemihi I agree with everything you said. Words are hard and I couldn't put my thoughts together in a way that made sense but if I could, that's what I would've said, lol. Both of my boys are circ'd and I would do it again but it's so hard handing your baby over knowing what's about to happen. I'm so glad I don't have to make that decision this time!
@Blonde1817 I would normally stay out of this conversation, but no one else said it so I will - my son will NOT be circumcised. There is NO medical or logical reason to do so. My thought is: if you wouldn't circumcise your daughter, why would you circumcise your son?
We did a lot of research before we had our first and, while it was a close call, we circumcised. Our reasoning: if it becomes medically necessary, the risk of complications rise dramatically as a child ages. It's much more difficult and risky to circumcise an adult than an infant. So, while the chances that circumcision would become medically necessary in the future are low, we decided not to take that risk. As far as I know, female circumcision is never medically necessary and the only purpose is to remove pleasure from sex, so comparing the two seems disingenuous, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Obviously the cultural reasons are typically different. But most advocates of both practices claim hygiene as the primary advantage (which isn't true in either case). I don't believe it is a "bad" thing to do, and yes, sometimes it has to be done later in life, but the risks of infection from the surgery are higher than the risks of problems due to not circumcising, hence why I wouldn't do it. There are things I will continue to fight people on but this isn't one of them. Just wanted to point out a different opinion.
@Blonde1817 I would normally stay out of this conversation, but no one else said it so I will - my son will NOT be circumcised. There is NO medical or logical reason to do so. My thought is: if you wouldn't circumcise your daughter, why would you circumcise your son?
We did a lot of research before we had our first and, while it was a close call, we circumcised. Our reasoning: if it becomes medically necessary, the risk of complications rise dramatically as a child ages. It's much more difficult and risky to circumcise an adult than an infant. So, while the chances that circumcision would become medically necessary in the future are low, we decided not to take that risk. As far as I know, female circumcision is never medically necessary and the only purpose is to remove pleasure from sex, so comparing the two seems disingenuous, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Obviously the cultural reasons are typically different. But most advocates of both practices claim hygiene as the primary advantage (which isn't true in either case). I don't believe it is a "bad" thing to do, and yes, sometimes it has to be done later in life, but the risks of infection from the surgery are higher than the risks of problems due to not circumcising, hence why I wouldn't do it. There are things I will continue to fight people on but this isn't one of them. Just wanted to point out a different opinion.
Most advocates of both practices use genital cutting as a rite of passage, as the majority of these countries are developing (or third world). Women are to be cut in order to be married. Men are cut as a passage into manhood.
Speaking to male circumcision: The prevalence of circumcision in western society does claim hygenic reasons, but the percentages in non-american countries is quite low. In America, 90% of males are circumcised. Canada only has a 9% infant circumcision rate. Circumsicion in the UK has been steadily declining, appearing at current less than 12%.
However in Sub sahara Africa rates are at 62%, most occurring over the age of 15. The Philippines have a rate of 93%, and South Korea is rated between 90-95%
@kmolleltz You are completely correct. I debated adding in a reference to religion /right of passage, but figured I didn't want to open that can of worms For anyone interested, the general European opinion is "only Jews are circumcised".
@books&icecream I feel like I get a pass since we are circumcising to hopefully pair that with the fact the our son is half white and NOT have to go through the terrible manhood ritual later on....
@books&icecream Sorry if I came off as snippy. I did interpret your comment as saying circumcision was bad since you compared it to female genital mutilation (and I think we can all agree that there are no benefits to that practice, only downsides). From what I understand, American Academy of Pediatrics believes the benefits outweigh the risks, but they don't focus on risk of medical necessity and the benefits they cite include prevention of UTIs, penile cancer and transmission of some STDs.
I understand why this topic is fraught. We struggled with the decision, but ultimately decided to circumcise our first and we will again with our second. I will remove this post if people feel like it doesn't belong here. Sorry to bring it down, guys.
re: the birth announcement. I had an incorrect 'shit got real' moment, when I accidentally opened up the October 2015 baby month board and saw 20 pages of birth announcements. I was like WTH did I miss in 3 hours
On a lighter note, I just decided against getting a cute maternity dress from Zulily because it takes so long to ship from them that by the time I got it, I'd only have 5-6 weeks of pregnancy left.
@ignoscemihi Can't speak for anyone else but you didn't offend me. Well-founded points are always welcome to the discussion, IMO.
However, circumcision was definitely a major tangent (especially because I think there was a thread for that early on?).
My newest sh!t got real moment: when I realized that my maternity leave starts September 2, which is THREE WEEKS from tomorrow. I officially have 15 days to write an ENTIRE study report - in German. This is going to be both horrible and hilarious...
Re: SH!T JUST GOT REAL! Part 2
DS#2 due 25 April 2019
On another note ... I would so highly recommend taking childbirth classes to anyone who is on the fence! Ours were so helpful. When I first looked the birth plan (given to us in a packet from the birth center/hospital we're delivering at), I had no idea what most of the questions meant or what I would prefer. After completing the classes, the questions all seemed so obvious (other than the circumcision one)! It's so nice to feel a little bit more knowledgeable and confident about labor.
It's a boy!
The pumpkin patch is blooming and the strawberries are gone @ our local farm !!
PCOS baby due October 09, 2016
Beta #1: 22.5
Beta #2: 74
DH: 34
Married: May 2011
TTC #1: May 2015
DS: 10/20/2016
TTC #2: June 2019
#2 EDD: 2/20/2020
Also, on the note of pumpkins and plants, the mums in our yard started to get buds this week, I told DH it means fall, and thus baby will be here soon!
BFP #1 January 28, 2016
Felicity Joy, born September 2, 2016
My Chart
BFP #2 September 11, 2020
EDD May 23, 2021
I agree!! I suddenly felt a little panic attack regarding this! I just asked my boss if I could take Monday off to work on baby's room... Sh*t is definitely getting real!!
Obviously the cultural reasons are typically different. But most advocates of both practices claim hygiene as the primary advantage (which isn't true in either case).
I don't believe it is a "bad" thing to do, and yes, sometimes it has to be done later in life, but the risks of infection from the surgery are higher than the risks of problems due to not circumcising, hence why I wouldn't do it.
There are things I will continue to fight people on but this isn't one of them. Just wanted to point out a different opinion.
DS#2 due 25 April 2019
Speaking to male circumcision:
The prevalence of circumcision in western society does claim hygenic reasons, but the percentages in non-american countries is quite low. In America, 90% of males are circumcised. Canada only has a 9% infant circumcision rate. Circumsicion in the UK has been steadily declining, appearing at current less than 12%.
However in Sub sahara Africa rates are at 62%, most occurring over the age of 15. The Philippines have a rate of 93%, and South Korea is rated between 90-95%
percentages cited here.
For anyone interested, the general European opinion is "only Jews are circumcised".
DS#2 due 25 April 2019
I had a "shit just got real" moment yesterday. I opened my last bottle of pre-natal vitamins. It's a 64 day supply. OMG.
I understand why this topic is fraught. We struggled with the decision, but ultimately decided to circumcise our first and we will again with our second. I will remove this post if people feel like it doesn't belong here. Sorry to bring it down, guys.
BFP: 8/20/2018 - EDD 5/4/2019
However, circumcision was definitely a major tangent (especially because I think there was a thread for that early on?).
My newest sh!t got real moment: when I realized that my maternity leave starts September 2, which is THREE WEEKS from tomorrow. I officially have 15 days to write an ENTIRE study report - in German. This is going to be both horrible and hilarious...
DS#2 due 25 April 2019
Dating: 10/3/08 | Married: 12/27/14
TTC #1: August 2015 | BFP: 2/3/16 | EDD: 10/7/16
DD: 10/5/16
TTC #2: September 2017 | BFP: 4/28/18 | EDD: 1/7/19
DS: 1/9/19