Monday, March 12, 2007

To Be or Not To Be

I have previously mentioned that I currently have a few friends and family expecting their first child. I don' think any of them are finding out the gender of their baby beforehand (or at least they are not fessing up about it. I can't blame them, Demi and I kept it secret the second time around.). So for them, I have this conundrum: To circumcise or not to circumcise? That is the question.

I know. The subject matter brings up a lot of anxiety for both Moms and Dads. Moms don't really understand it since they are not familiar with the equipment. Dads just get that sick feeling, way down past the pit of their stomachs. I will say that on this topic, Demi and I did a lot of research. A lot of research. I will spare you all the gory details and say you can sum it up with this: It is all out personal preference. You go with what you know. Sources can quote you all the health-related, scientific, and religious data. You can find an argument for either side. It is more of a quandry than Tastes Great/Less Filling. Or Dan versus Dan. But it really boils down to style. What looks good to you?

The best advice I can give you is to pay attention to the instructions for post care no matter what you choose. You will have a lot going on, a recovering wife, sleep deprivation, diaper changing, spitting up, and the list goes on. I give you this real life example. Our friends, the Lynns, had a baby boy a week before we had our son. Another baby boy was born the same day in this hospital and that family shared resources with them. Again, keep in mind you have some new experiences to deal with. So you have this blackened stump where the belly button should be and will be. You need to treat this a few times a day with rubbing alchohol to speed up the drying out process. It will eventually shrivel up and fall off.

Now you may also have a fresh circumisition to treat. Like any wound you need to care for it precisely. Every change of diaper requires fresh gauze and vaseline. You don't want it healing and drying onto the diaper. That would be worse than pulling off the bandaid. No our friends, the Lynns, are in the baby bathing area and changing their little bundle of joy, when the other baby boy lets our a blood curdling shriek. Not a newborn cry, but a "this is the end of the world as we know it" cry. The new parents next to them had both the vaseline and rubbing alchohol out. Remember when I said to pay attention to directions? Yes. They reversed the treatments for the different "ailments." Talk about your cruel and unusual. Learn from this. I implore you. Learn from history.

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