Snip, Snip, Snip

Against the hospital pediatrician's recommendation, we waited until we brought Drew home until making our final decision. We had been rolling it around in our minds for the past month now, and I finally decided to go ahead and make the appointment.

I had to take him on my own, which I guess wasn't the worst thing in the world. While I know a lot of people make it a family affair, I figured having my daughter in the room might not be the best thing for her, or me really.

I wasn't as anxious about the whole thing as I thought I would be, but when I was sitting in the waiting room, my nervousness took over.

Is it going to hurt him? Will he bleed a lot? How will I take care of it? Will he be okay?

I knew I was making the right decision -- for him, and for us.

Our pediatrician conducted the well baby visit and then told me that the doctor who specialized in the procedure would come in and perform it. I figured that was good -- I mean, "specialized" has to mean something, right? -- hopefully really talented with sharp knives.

I asked if they would use any topical anesthetic and he said that they generally don't. I figured that it would over quickly anyway, and that if I needed to, I could breastfeed him right before and that might help him with the pain.

The "special" doctor came into the room with the nurse, and they asked me to hold down his legs while the nurse held his arms. Thank goodness I couldn't see anything because the sounds of your child screaming and the clanging of medical instruments alone was enough to make me faint.

It was over quickly. He bled a little. They went over the care instructions and left me to nurse him. I held him tightly, cried softly with him, and told him that he would be okay - that I would be okay - that everything would be alright.

And it is.

His tongue is great and now his latch is way better.

GOTCHA! You didn't really think I'd tell you what I did with my son's penis now did you?

Comments

[tom]

You did get me. I missed the fine print before my other post LOL.

[tom]

I just wanted to post about unanatheised circumcisions. In this day and age there is no reason for this to happen anymmore. The AAP strongly urges that babies undergoing circumcision be given pain relief because they are safe and effective. Just because babies do not remember traumatic experiences does not mean they are not effected by it. Circumcision which is something I do not understand why it still goes on should be done ethically. A doctor who does not use pain relief is not a good doctor no matter how good he is with sharp knives and any parent who chooses to have this unnecessary procedure done should make sure that child is given pain prevention without exceptions.

[Madame M]

Oh.My.God.

In tears of outrage until that last excellently timed moment.

[MamaMichelsBabies]

Lol! My jaw was on the floor thinking you had to help hold him for a circumcision! My heas still spinning a bit.

Good thing on the latch, all 4 of mine got the clip and they still wouldn't latch properly... you got all the luck lady.

[Jenna]

Best. post. ever.

[Christina]

LMAO thanks for that. I had my son's frenulum snipped by an orthosomething or other surgeon and they put him in a dentist chair. On my husband's chest, of course. He was in the sling and nursing like a champ in less than twenty minutes after the procedure. Go you guys!

[jaelithe]

Ah, good job getting this done in a timely fashion. My sister was tongue-tied as a baby; no doctor ever paid enough attention to catch it until she was six or seven, and though it didn't interfere terribly with her nursing (my mother nursed her successfully for two years), the extreme delay in fixing the problem did give her a slight speech impediment which it took her years to overcome and which she is embarrassed to talk about to this day.

(She also has never been able to learn to pronounce the Spanish R, which doesn't sound like that a big of a deal for an estadounidense, until you find out she's studying to be an anthropologist and wants to do work in South America).

[MC]

My heart was pounding in my chest reading that! LOL I'm glad the latch is better now.

[Jill]

Good for you!!! One of my pet peeves is that I have 3 friends (well, one is a cousin) who had thier son's circed, but would not FF because thier sons were tongue tied and they didn't want to "make him have unneccesary surgery just so I can BF".

[Tori]

You got me you little brat! I was taken in till you said they told you you could breast feed him before if you liked. I thought why won't they let you breast feed him after when her really needs it!
Good for you doing this procedure now.
We'll talk about his willy another time after several drinks!!!!!!
Kisses to the new babe...

[rhiannon esposito]

you got me!
I wonder if that is my son's latch problem?

[bluepaintred]

so happy you had his freanulum snipped this early. we fought and fought with our doctor for eighteen months and he finally agreed to snip it during a completely different surgery while he was under anesthetic alread.

unfortunatly our son missed many speech milestones and at four.8 is Still really hard to understand. he started speech therepy this january to get him ready for kindergarten.

so yea, yay for you for getting it done!

[Kristi]

Baby penis talk is soooo last year anyway.

[Jessica]

Very funny! I did enjoy the little tease but was oh so curious on your decision. As the mother of a 3 yr old little girl and expecting a boy this summer this is a topic that I have been contemplating for a couple of months now. I understand the need for privacy on this one though. Not everyone is respectful of others decisions.

[Kelly]

Good on you for keeping your snipping decision private. Because you know the floodgate any admission (cut or uncut) would open...

And I hope your nipples are enjoying the much deeper latch! Go Drew!

[JailDiet]

How'd you like to say at a party, "Well, I'm a pediatric specialist in circumcision."

The mini-crowd gathers around and collectively say, "Ahhhh."

Haha. You're too funny...

[fidget]

uh evil woman I was clutching my little man saying owie!!

Tongue clipping for a good latch is a GOOD thing! Pee pee clipping for any other reason then medical necessity makes me cringe.

[Heather]

My oldest had the same problem and having the clipping done helped so much with her latch. It was a nightmare because the doc cut too close and it bled forever....a trip to the ER hours of bleeding mouth baby later, I still don't regret it. Plus, now she is a three year old who can do really funky things with her long tongue.

[TB]

Oh my god. I was freaking a little bit that you had to hold your own kid while they circumcised him. I don't think I would have the balls for that, pun intended.

[Awesome Mom]

Good one!

My youngest was tongue tied too. It was not snipped until it was too late for out breastfeeding relationship. My pediatrician actually told me that he does not recommended it until they are much older but I am glad I got his done when he was a few days old since it is much easier to have it done when they are so little. His was quite extreme too so I know it would have hindered his talking a lot.

[Mom101]

I'm totally sitting here imagining certain people reading this while they foam at the mouth and their heads spin around 360 - and delighting in the image. You're awesome.

[Suebob]

You tease.

[amanda]

Ok, so I came back and read the whole thing. Touche. And I'm all for midwives, but "a sharp fingernail" zoiks. Glad he's got a better latch. My daughter just improved hers thanks to 6 teeth. Not great for milk, but damn, girlfriend is set if I start to drop her.

I am one sore muthah.

[Jenn]

lol - good one :)

glad it helped!! here's to a speedy recovery

[Her Bad Mother]

Sneeaaaky lady. Had me clenching, there.

[Merry Jennifer]

Oh my gosh...my son had this done also. It was terribly traumatic for me, but my baby didn't seem to mind one bit. Good story!

[creative-type dad]

Ahhh, you're a tricky one!!

Remind me to never lend you money

[Christina]

Ha, good bait and switch there!

And honestly, it's your choice regarding what you did with your son's penis. I'm just glad I'm not having a boy so I don't have to deal with that decision. Now I can focus on hoping my girl doesn't need her frenulem snipped, because that doesn't sound nice either.

[Mel (Was Mama! Mama! Now Freak Parade)]

Phew.
I'm so glad you were talking about his tounge.
Nicely done.

[joy]

OMG! I was worried there, I have to say! I mean, it's your choice, but the idea of waiting on it until they're older to do it--it made me go a little pale. (and I know, I know--it's not that big a deal. I'm just glad I never had to deal with it in any way shape or form)

I am so glad the boob sucking is going better now:)

[Kate]

WOW, you totally got me. I'm so easy to fool.

Well when are you going to tell us what you did with your son's penis? I'm curious to know since it was a topic on your show and I called in.

[Sarah]

That totally got me! Well written! Well done! I'm glad everything is going a little better for him, now =)

[Kristina]

Ha ha! Love it! We had tongue-tie with Connor and it took him a good month to get the latch down - so glad the latch is way better already!

[Kind of Crunchy Mama]

Whew! I was feeling a little sick there. I almost clicked away before I got it. Glad I made it to the end.

[FishyGirl]

You totally got me - I had never heard of such a thing before. Glad Drew is doing well, a bad latch is nothing fun for Mama either. Thanks for being educational as well as fun.

[Damselfly]

My friend had to get her son's frenulum clipped, too. I was like, what's a frenulum? Am I even spelling it right?!

[laura]

Ha! Figured it out halfway through!

[Jill]

You got me too, although we did the same with our second child. He had such a tight tongue it was heart shaped. We went for occupational therapy for six weeks to help him learn to nurse, but we never got it to work. They said he'd used an inappropriate sucking action for the 9 months in the womb and was born with bad habits they couldn't undo.

BTW, they used a topical anesthesia for him- a little dab on a Qtip. One drop of blood and it was over. Technical name: frenulumectomy

[katbliss]

Ahh the old frenulem cut. I had the smae problem with #1. But the second they cut it we were both soooo much happier.

[prescott]

Darn, I was hoping for a nice flame war with my morning coffee.

[heidi]

Too funny- I kept waiting for the twist and when it came I was still totally surprised! Shouldn't have been, though. We had to have Molly's tongue clipped, too, and it did wonders for her as well. Glad to hear it was as easy for Drew as for my Birdie:)

[Mama C-ta]

Cool b/c I was about to throw up at the thought of not even a topical anesthetic being used!

Good job, a good latch is priceless, not that I'd know anything about that.

[krista]

hmm, aren't you clever!

[mothergoosemouse]

That. Was awesome.

[babbleabble]

Ha Ha! Nice.

I thought something was wrong with my daughter when she was born because her tonge was not like mine.

Turns out I am the one with the problem and her's is perfectly normal. The dr. was nice and didn't laugh too much when I brought it up - and he waited until I started laughing first.

[BFF]

You.
You're good.
Yoooou're good.

[JChase]

You totally got me! Glad he's okay!

[Fairly Odd Mother]

You are friggin awesome. I love a little tease in the morning!Glad he's doing well!