Yes, we've finally taken the plunge and Zack is sans foreskin. It certainly took long enough for the NHS to get their act together. To anyone reading this who's considering circumcising their baby - find someone who'll do it for you in the first weeks of life or/and go private! My friend Elly got the local Rabbi to circumcise her son, and I know of friends in Wimbledon who've had their sons 'done' by their GP, and the 'egyptian man' too. If we have another son, that's what I'll be doing.
The Mile End Hospital only uses the Plastibell method of circumcision, and the procedure is explained on this web page:
http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/plastibell
Mum and dad are more stressed out than little Zee. He was so chilled through the entire procedure. Little Mohammed that went in before him (yes, Tuesdays is Circumcision afternoon - the place was bursting at the seams with little boys) screamed from the minute the doors closed, until well after Zack came out of the theatre. Zack seems to have taken it all in his stride, again, and gave me a big smile this evening when I changed his rather bloody nappy. Poor Keith had to take a moment to lie down while he was bathing Zack, so I took over and dried our boy and made sure the bleeding wasn't too much. He's on infant paracetamol to ease the pain and I'm hoping he'll heal really quickly. If his umbilical chord is anything to go by, he should be fine by this time next week ! He has been incredibly brave for a 3 month old.
Meditations on Motherhood and Parenting in General
I've recently started reading two books - 'Life after Birth' and 'Raising Boys'. Both are worthwhile reads thus far. I can't promise that I'll finish them - that's too much to promise right now BUT... what I've taken from them, I've found very helpful and thought provoking.
Keith and I were talking last night about IDENTITY and how things change inexorably once you become a parent. When you give birth, you are suddenly stripped of so much that you took for granted as your identity, and in the weeks and months that follow you spend alot of time soul-searching, and trying to find some of those things you 'used' to be. Naturally there's resentment and frustration, but being able to talk to Keith about it has really helped. I don't think that we've spoken about everything, but we've made a start and that has taken a huge load off my mind. That, and reading these books. It's all about normalisation - popular culture and some of the crap that they feed you in the media puts you under enormous strain to 'be' something or 'do' certain things. In hindsight I can see that we've made some mistakes, decisions that I would do differently now, but (to quote my cousin's wife, Mandy) "You don't know what you don't know", and that's a great truth. We're just plodding along, and hoping to make the right choices. I'm grateful for the resources that are out there. I need to make more use of them !
mum, zack and jackie in Cowes, Isle of Wight
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