I know like religion and politics, circumcision is also a contentious topic. In our religion it is something that gets done prior to being baptized. I am warning you this won’t be a pleasant read but I will make it as real as possible without getting into too much nitty gritty detail.
Circumcision isn’t something pleasant by any means and despite doing it because religiously it is right for us as a family it is something I will never forget. There were actually a few moments throughout the procedure where I actually had to look away because I just felt like it was SO invasive – or so it appeared. To be quite honest, I am not sure what I found more difficult to handle – the procedure or the recovery process. Finding a doctor that actually did this type of procedure proved to be more difficult than we had thought. I guess like anything major in life whether it is buying a house or a car, or be it getting dental work or surgery, you want to ensure that the neighbourhood, the auto make, or the doctor you have chosen is the right one…and sometimes you can never really be sure, but in the end you just have to go with your gut once you have exhausted all avenues of research. The most important thing wanted to achieve is that the procedure will be done correctly and be done in a facility that was very sterile.
The first thing we did is GOOGLE, cause of course our only source of information is the web right. We wanted to do our research and ensure that the doctor we chose for this procedure had positive reviews based on persons of past experiences and that they were positive on EVERY level – procedure, bedside manner and sterility. I had entrusted my hubby to find the so called ‘right’ doctor and it was more daunting than we had thought since there weren’t a whole lot of them (doctors) that perform this procedure. Were people not just getting it done? Why is there a lack of these types of doctors?? Finally after many days of research we found the ‘one’ and after speaking to a few different friends who also had used the same doctor we felt a bit more at ease. Yay right, well not really cause at the end of the day we were still putting our little man through something that was going to be quite invasive and he was only 5 days old.
So D day had arrived, and of course we end up being slightly late to our appointment, which heightened the anxiety I was feeling. The doctor wasn’t too impressed and neither was I! Once the doctor got passed our tardiness he asked if we were nervous about the procedure that was about to take place. I quickly responded with a big ‘YES’, he then puts out his hands in front of me, shakes them and then replies ‘me too’. It was then we realized that the doctor was trying to humour us…I get it, ha-ha but I was far to nervous to make this a laughing matter. The doctor remained humorous as he got things ready, he got me to undress my son to his diaper and we laid him onto a bed that had leg restraints where once naked had to lie in there until the procedure was complete. It was made of plastic, but for a newborn it was hardly something cozy and warm. I will leave out the details here because the procedure isn’t for everyone. Basically in a nutshell the doctor injected the area with some freezing, gave me a cup that had sugar water in it and a cloth made out of cheesecloth and told me that I had to keep my son sucking on this cloth during the procedure as the whole sugar rush aids in feel good endorphines which help negate pain receptors. Great right, I just hope he was right and that the freezing took affect by the time he started. He got his tools ready and began the procedure.
A part of me wanted to watch but then a part of me felt so disturbed by the whole thing. I knew what to expect because I took it upon myself to watch a video on the procedure. I couldn’t help myself, I needed to know what I was in for. Watching the video was like watching a video on giving birth…not something you ever really want to see, but almost have and want to just so you know what exactly is about to go down. So I watched the initial part and then when I took a breather and looked back, it was done. Literally the procedure took 2 whole minutes. The freezing took much longer than the actual surgical operation and to my surprise Zayd didn’t even flinch. He had no idea what had just happened and he just laid there the entire time sucking this sugar cloth from my hand. Amazing. I was just thrilled that he was fine during the entire procedure and wasn’t going to remember it by the time he was old enough to know.
Now the healing process, well that is taking a lot longer than I have hoped for, even though I was warned that healing time was going to be lengthy. I mean everything went and looked like it was supposed to but because of the swelling and slight blood I found diaper changes was just devastating for me. I know that it will take a few weeks to look a lot more ‘normal’ and it has only been a couple days, but all I can say is that Vaseline is our BEST friend and that I cannot emphasize enough.
