Weigh All the Pro's and Con's

By Geri (1999)

I just had my second child a week ago (male). He was born four weeks early and weighed less than 6 lbs.

After much research regarding this subject, I decided I did not want him to be circumcised. Needless to say, this caused much tension between my husband and myself because our first child is also a boy and he was circumcised (1st ds is 10 yrs old and at that time there was nothing for me to think about......it was just taken for granted that all boys were circumcised)......anyway, I gave in to my dh because I didn't think it was worth it to have this rift between us.

Well, Dear Son #2 was circumcised and at the 1st diaper change after the circ I nearly died.........the diaper was covered in blood........I just about passed out.....no joke. It appeared that there was still alot of foreskin left and it looked like a butcher job. I cried and cried for hours........I couldn't believe I allowed this to happen and am so mad at myself.....I should have stood up to my dh no matter what.

I had my son examined by the pediatrician......he agreed that there was foreskin still left and he explained that it was due to ds being a preemie. The pediatrician said that he rathered the OB's took too little foreskin than too much foreskin. By taking too much, they could somehow affect the urinary flow which could require major surgery to correct. The ped dr said that I could have the circ done over if I wanted to once ds' penis was a little bigger either by the OB or a urologist. I feel so guilty......I don't think I want him touched anymore......I couldn't bear to go through a 2nd mutiliation on him again.

My 1st Dear Son's circumcision was perfect, but then again my first son was not a preemie and a different dr did the circ. 2nd ds' penis was as small as, if not smaller than his pinky finger which probably made the circ a little more difficult to do.

For anyone who is researching this issue, I beg you to weigh all the pros and cons.....Dear Son #2's circumcision was --and still is-- very devastating to me. I feel if you want to have the circ done, especially on a preemie to just wait until the penis is large enough for the dr to work with. You need to make sure that the dr is experienced in doing circs too.....ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE HAND!!!!!!!!

For those of you who have had a circ that was not done quite right, what did you do? Did you have it corrected or left your son alone?

Please......no lectures.....I feel so low right now that I don't think I can get any lower. Thanks for listening.

Geri

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