Originally posted in 2011 at Plus Size Preggo
Spoke to an OB at my practice yesterday (they rotate so you get to know
everyone), and I was pretty disappointed with what I was told about my
birth plan, even PO’ed at one point…As I told my sister, who came to
the appointment with me: “Unless something magical happens during birth
that makes me want to blow everyone in that hospital, I am NOT going to
do a hospital birth with the next baby!” (Blunt but true story LOL)
* I’d like the following people to be present during labor and/or birth: My husband, my sister, and my mother. “OK”
* I’d like to wear my own clothes during labor and delivery. "OK, but you probably won’t want to"
* I’d like to take pictures and/or video during labor and delivery. “Only allowed BEFORE labor, AFTER birth and NOT during newborn tests”
* I’d like the option of returning home if I’m not in active labor. "OK"
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like my partner to be allowed to stay with me at all times. "OK"
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to eat if I wish to. "Not going to happen"
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to try to stay hydrated by drinking clear fluids instead of having an IV. "Not going to happen, either"
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to walk and move around as I choose. “You’ll be strapped to a monitor so you can walk as long as you’re not far from the edge of the bed” read: NO.
* As long as the baby and I are doing fine, I’d like to have
intermittent rather than continuous electronic fetal monitoring. "We can do it, but it’d be a nuisance." read: "Not going to happen"
* As long as the baby and I are doing fine, I’d like to be allowed to
progress free of stringent time limits and have my labor augmented only
if necessary. "OK"
* If available, I’d like to try a birthing ball, birthing stool, squatting bar, and/or a birthing tub/pool. “What are these things?” I WISH I was kidding.
* I’d like to try the following pain-management techniques: bath/shower, hot/cold therapy, massage. "No bathing or showering, stay home and do that until you MUST come to the hospital"
* Please don’t offer me pain medication. I’ll request it if I need it. "Make sure you tell them that at the hospital" I thought that’s what the point of THIS was?
* If I decide I want medicinal pain relief, I’d prefer regional analgesia (an epidural and/or spinal block). "OK"
* When it’s time to push, I’d like to be coached on when to push and for how long. "OK"
* I’d like to try the following positions for pushing (and birth):
semi-reclining, squatting, hands and knees, whatever feels right at the
time… "We’re not equipped for that" read: "Not going to happen"
* During delivery, I’d like to give birth without an episiotomy. Again, “Make sure you tell them that”. Um, will do.
* After birth, I’d like to hold my baby right away, putting off any procedures that aren’t urgent. "OK"
* After birth, I’d like to breastfeed as soon as possible. "OK"
* After birth, I’d like not to get oxytocin (Pitocin) after I deliver the placenta unless it’s necessary. This is where I got pissed. "Well,
we will do that so you don’t bleed. I mean, you’re going to bleed
anyway…but we’re physicians. This is what we do." Uh-huh. So basically,
fuck yourself. We’re medicating you one way or the other.
* After birth, I’d like my partner to cut the umbilical cord. "OK"
* If I have a c-section, I’d like my partner present at all times during the operation. "OK"
* If I have a c-section, I’d like the baby to be given to my partner as soon as he’s dried, if appropriate. "OK"
* If I have a c-section, I’d like to breastfeed my baby in the recovery room. "OK"
* I’m planning to bank cord blood privately. "OK"
* After delivery, I’d like all newborn procedures to take place in my presence. "OK"
* After delivery, I’d like my partner to stay with the baby at all times if I can’t be there. "OK"
* I’d like 24-hour rooming-in with my baby. "After
the birth, ALL babies go to the nursery for a bit, but then he’s all
yours" I almost clawed at her face when she said that. I’m going to
fight this one.
* I plan to breastfeed EXCLUSIVELY. "OK"
* Do not offer my baby: formula, sugar water, a pacifier. "OK"
* I do NOT want my baby circumcised. "OK"
* I’d like to wait and see how I feel before deciding about the timing of hospital discharge. "OK"
So I reiterate…I knew I’d be disappointed because I was expecting too
much from a hospital, but for the most part, I expected this. Next go
round, once I know I can successfully have a birth without
complications, it’s birthing center all the way!!!
Showing posts with label circumcision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label circumcision. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
My Birth Plan
Originally posted in 2011 at Plus Size Preggo
* I’d like the following people to be present during labor and/or birth: My husband, my sister, and my mother.
* I’d like to wear my own clothes during labor and delivery.
* I’d like to take pictures and/or video during labor and delivery.
* I’d like the option of returning home if I’m not in active labor.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like my partner to be allowed to stay with me at all times.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to eat if I wish to.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to try to stay hydrated by drinking clear fluids instead of having an IV.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to walk and move around as I choose.
* As long as the baby and I are doing fine, I’d like to have intermittent rather than continuous electronic fetal monitoring.
* As long as the baby and I are doing fine, I’d like to be allowed to progress free of stringent time limits and have my labor augmented only if necessary.
* If available, I’d like to try a birthing ball, birthing stool, squatting bar, and/or a birthing tub/pool.
* I’d like to try the following pain-management techniques: bath/shower, hot/cold therapy, massage.
* Please don’t offer me pain medication. I’ll request it if I need it.
* If I decide I want medicinal pain relief, I’d prefer regional analgesia (an epidural and/or spinal block).
* When it’s time to push, I’d like to be coached on when to push and for how long.
* I’d like to try the following positions for pushing (and birth): semi-reclining, squatting, hands and knees, whatever feels right at the time…
* During delivery, I’d like to give birth without an episiotomy.
* After birth, I’d like to hold my baby right away, putting off any procedures that aren’t urgent.
* After birth, I’d like to breastfeed as soon as possible.
* After birth, I’d like not to get oxytocin (Pitocin) after I deliver the placenta unless it’s necessary.
* After birth, I’d like my partner to cut the umbilical cord.
* If I have a c-section, I’d like my partner present at all times during the operation.
* If I have a c-section, I’d like the baby to be given to my partner as soon as he’s dried, if appropriate.
* If I have a c-section, I’d like to breastfeed my baby in the recovery room.
* I’m planning to bank cord blood privately.
* After delivery, I’d like all newborn procedures to take place in my presence.
* After delivery, I’d like my partner to stay with the baby at all times if I can’t be there.
* I’d like 24-hour rooming-in with my baby.
* I plan to breastfeed EXCLUSIVELY.
* Do not offer my baby: formula, sugar water, a pacifier.
* I do NOT want my baby circumcised.
* I’d like to wait and see how I feel before deciding about the timing of hospital discharge.
I’ m sure a lot of these won’t be do-able (I’m looking at YOU, eating during labor and no IV!) but I’m going to take this to my OB appointment tomorrow and talk everything over with my doctor to see what I am willing to compromise and what MUST be.
(This nifty PDF was a big help in articulating just what I wanted during my labor and delivery.)
* I’d like the following people to be present during labor and/or birth: My husband, my sister, and my mother.
* I’d like to wear my own clothes during labor and delivery.
* I’d like to take pictures and/or video during labor and delivery.
* I’d like the option of returning home if I’m not in active labor.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like my partner to be allowed to stay with me at all times.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to eat if I wish to.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to try to stay hydrated by drinking clear fluids instead of having an IV.
* Once I’m admitted, I’d like to walk and move around as I choose.
* As long as the baby and I are doing fine, I’d like to have intermittent rather than continuous electronic fetal monitoring.
* As long as the baby and I are doing fine, I’d like to be allowed to progress free of stringent time limits and have my labor augmented only if necessary.
* If available, I’d like to try a birthing ball, birthing stool, squatting bar, and/or a birthing tub/pool.
* I’d like to try the following pain-management techniques: bath/shower, hot/cold therapy, massage.
* Please don’t offer me pain medication. I’ll request it if I need it.
* If I decide I want medicinal pain relief, I’d prefer regional analgesia (an epidural and/or spinal block).
* When it’s time to push, I’d like to be coached on when to push and for how long.
* I’d like to try the following positions for pushing (and birth): semi-reclining, squatting, hands and knees, whatever feels right at the time…
* During delivery, I’d like to give birth without an episiotomy.
* After birth, I’d like to hold my baby right away, putting off any procedures that aren’t urgent.
* After birth, I’d like to breastfeed as soon as possible.
* After birth, I’d like not to get oxytocin (Pitocin) after I deliver the placenta unless it’s necessary.
* After birth, I’d like my partner to cut the umbilical cord.
* If I have a c-section, I’d like my partner present at all times during the operation.
* If I have a c-section, I’d like the baby to be given to my partner as soon as he’s dried, if appropriate.
* If I have a c-section, I’d like to breastfeed my baby in the recovery room.
* I’m planning to bank cord blood privately.
* After delivery, I’d like all newborn procedures to take place in my presence.
* After delivery, I’d like my partner to stay with the baby at all times if I can’t be there.
* I’d like 24-hour rooming-in with my baby.
* I plan to breastfeed EXCLUSIVELY.
* Do not offer my baby: formula, sugar water, a pacifier.
* I do NOT want my baby circumcised.
* I’d like to wait and see how I feel before deciding about the timing of hospital discharge.
I’ m sure a lot of these won’t be do-able (I’m looking at YOU, eating during labor and no IV!) but I’m going to take this to my OB appointment tomorrow and talk everything over with my doctor to see what I am willing to compromise and what MUST be.
(This nifty PDF was a big help in articulating just what I wanted during my labor and delivery.)
Friday, August 23, 2013
Circumcision: opinions, facts, and a rebuttal.
I just ran across this article today, and I have to say it really fired me up. Every person is entitled to their opinion and every parent of a son has a choice to make regarding their foreskin. I firmly believe that like religion and all sorts of other things, there are certain choices that should be my son's and his alone, and I would be doing him a disservice by taking such choices away from him.
That being said, I feel that because a lot of controversy swirls around circumcision, so do a lot of misconceptions. So I wanted to break down the reasoning the author uses in her article FOR circumcision, and offer some alternative views. The original authors views are in italics.
"First and foremost, we knew we wanted it done for hygiene reasons. It's so much harder to keep that area clean if the procedure isn't performed -- and we believed it would leave him more prone to infection if he was not circumcised."
"In babies, the foreskin is completely fused to the head of the penis. The infant foreskin is perfectly designed to protect the head of the penis and keep feces out. All you have to do is wipe the outside of the penis like a finger. It is harder to keep circumcised baby's penis clean because you have to carefully clean around the wound, make sure no feces got into the wound, and apply ointment." - Psychology Today.
The foreskin retracts on its own throughout childhood, at which point the child should be taught to pull the skin back and wash like any other part of his body with water and mild soap.
"Second, and I really don't care how stupid or cliche this sounds, we didn't want him to get teased in the high school locker room because he was the only boy who hadn't been circumcised.......And there was no way I was going to let my kid be the dude with the weird looking penis."
I think this is the part of the article that most burned me. Firstly, you're putting your child through a potentially dangerous procedure for the sake of fitting in. Secondly, at the rate circumcision is dropping in the country, it's a possibility that a circumcised male may be in the minority by the time the authors son is in high school. Lastly, and I feel most importantly, the last sentence in the paragraph is the kind of thinking that leads to bullying. The fact that she's even throwing out there that someone may have a "weird looking penis" and that it's reason to be potentially made fun of only teaches that "we should make fun of whoever looks different to us". Not the parenting style I personally adhere to.
"Lastly, we worried about how being uncircumcised might affect his sex life down the road......I know I'd want to hop out of bed and run if I saw all that extra skin staring back at me."
Once again, she closes the paragraph with a really judgmental-based-on-looks sentiment that really irks me and only perpetuates stigmatizing intact genitalia. Also, here's something to consider about your circumcised son's future sex life: a study in Belgium found that there is less sexual satisfaction and sensation in circumcised penises (so intact men have better sex, according to the study). Yet another study shows, quote "circumcised men have more difficulties reaching orgasm, and their female partners experience more vaginal pains and an inferior sex life". And lastly, here's a big one: "Researchers surveyed 300 men and found that circumcised fellas had a 4.5 times greater chance of suffering from ED than noncircumcised guys." That's Erectile Dysfunction, if you weren't sure.
So, again, every parent has to make their own choice regarding the topic of circumcision, but in case any of these misconceptions were your "deal breaker", maybe it's time to do some more researching and soul searching before committing to something permanent and irreversible for your child. I can see how it may not be an easy choice and there's definitely a lot to consider. I just couldn't believe the stuff the original author was throwing out as fact, so I felt like I NEEDED to do something showing that actually, all the reasons she used to make her choice were misconceptions at best, and that if any of those three things are something that weigh on your choice, that there's actually evidence to the contrary. Some people may still choose to do it for religious purposes, or so baby looks like Daddy, etc. I say as long as you really research extensively and you can come to a decision that sits well in your heart, then you've done your best as a parent and no one can ask more of you than that.
Thoughts on why you did or didn't choose to circumcise your son(s)?
That being said, I feel that because a lot of controversy swirls around circumcision, so do a lot of misconceptions. So I wanted to break down the reasoning the author uses in her article FOR circumcision, and offer some alternative views. The original authors views are in italics.
"First and foremost, we knew we wanted it done for hygiene reasons. It's so much harder to keep that area clean if the procedure isn't performed -- and we believed it would leave him more prone to infection if he was not circumcised."
"In babies, the foreskin is completely fused to the head of the penis. The infant foreskin is perfectly designed to protect the head of the penis and keep feces out. All you have to do is wipe the outside of the penis like a finger. It is harder to keep circumcised baby's penis clean because you have to carefully clean around the wound, make sure no feces got into the wound, and apply ointment." - Psychology Today.
The foreskin retracts on its own throughout childhood, at which point the child should be taught to pull the skin back and wash like any other part of his body with water and mild soap.
"Second, and I really don't care how stupid or cliche this sounds, we didn't want him to get teased in the high school locker room because he was the only boy who hadn't been circumcised.......And there was no way I was going to let my kid be the dude with the weird looking penis."
I think this is the part of the article that most burned me. Firstly, you're putting your child through a potentially dangerous procedure for the sake of fitting in. Secondly, at the rate circumcision is dropping in the country, it's a possibility that a circumcised male may be in the minority by the time the authors son is in high school. Lastly, and I feel most importantly, the last sentence in the paragraph is the kind of thinking that leads to bullying. The fact that she's even throwing out there that someone may have a "weird looking penis" and that it's reason to be potentially made fun of only teaches that "we should make fun of whoever looks different to us". Not the parenting style I personally adhere to.
"Lastly, we worried about how being uncircumcised might affect his sex life down the road......I know I'd want to hop out of bed and run if I saw all that extra skin staring back at me."
Once again, she closes the paragraph with a really judgmental-based-on-looks sentiment that really irks me and only perpetuates stigmatizing intact genitalia. Also, here's something to consider about your circumcised son's future sex life: a study in Belgium found that there is less sexual satisfaction and sensation in circumcised penises (so intact men have better sex, according to the study). Yet another study shows, quote "circumcised men have more difficulties reaching orgasm, and their female partners experience more vaginal pains and an inferior sex life". And lastly, here's a big one: "Researchers surveyed 300 men and found that circumcised fellas had a 4.5 times greater chance of suffering from ED than noncircumcised guys." That's Erectile Dysfunction, if you weren't sure.
So, again, every parent has to make their own choice regarding the topic of circumcision, but in case any of these misconceptions were your "deal breaker", maybe it's time to do some more researching and soul searching before committing to something permanent and irreversible for your child. I can see how it may not be an easy choice and there's definitely a lot to consider. I just couldn't believe the stuff the original author was throwing out as fact, so I felt like I NEEDED to do something showing that actually, all the reasons she used to make her choice were misconceptions at best, and that if any of those three things are something that weigh on your choice, that there's actually evidence to the contrary. Some people may still choose to do it for religious purposes, or so baby looks like Daddy, etc. I say as long as you really research extensively and you can come to a decision that sits well in your heart, then you've done your best as a parent and no one can ask more of you than that.
Thoughts on why you did or didn't choose to circumcise your son(s)?
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