·:[ The Healthy Mom ]:·
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This was in response to a West Side Mom member online discussion about circumcision

I’m back, and saw this and of course have to share my experiences.  Again, these are MY personal opinions and experiences.  If you judge me by them, then you need to find a new mom’s group. 
First I have to say that we were talking about the penis a lot during the Vegas weekend.  The discussion was that one person really enjoyed looking at penises, but the rest of us did not.  Other than our own husband’s, of course.

Both of my boys are circumcised.  I wasn’t there for Zander’s original circumsicion, but my mom and Doug were.  I went into the office where he had it done and saw some blood and instruments and it made me squeamish.  They used a plastibell.  I didn’t research my pediatrician, so I just went with the one on call at the hospital.  Big mistake.  The plastibell did not work like it should have and we had to get have it fixed a few weeks later.     I was with him that time.  He sucked on my finger during the procedure and did fine.  Needless to say we never went back to Dublin Pediatrics after that.  We had another issue later on because he was a big baby.  The fat pad on his pubic bone kept his penis retracted all the time. When he started to get erections, the skin stuck together.  Ouch.  No one told me that I should have been pushing the skin back over the head of his penis after the circumcision.  This would not have been an issue if he was a skinny baby.  We treated his penis with A&amp ointment and I gently pushed back the skin each morning with the first diaper change.  After he thinned out, no issues.

With Zevan, Doug was home with Zander when the doctor came to do his circumcision, so I went with him.  No anesthesia, just a little sugar water on my finger, and he was fine.  He didn’t cry, just sucked on my finger a whole bunch throughout the procedure.  I did nurse him just before we went in there.  His circumcision was done by hand perfectly.  I knew about pushing the skin back, so we never had problems after that.

And both my boys have beautiful penises now.   

Like Wendy, I have heard personal stories recently from parents of children who have had to had circumcision when they are older for various reasons.  Not hearsay, actual parents I know.  Of course they do their research and would never subject their child to unnecessary surgery.  I know of one medical condition, called phimosis, which is basically tight foreskin.  There are non-surgical treatments for it, but if those are not successful, then circumcision is the alternative.

There are all sorts of reasons for and against circumcision.   The hygiene issue could go either way, really.  Then there is religion/tradition.  (Have you read The Red Tent?  There’s a big circumcision chapter in it).

I’ll be perfectly honest.  Our reasons were tradition and personal preference.  We did it so that the boys would look like their dad.  Because that’s how it was done in both our families.  Because boys in general lack the ability to maintain personal hygiene habits - I don’t want to be cleaning their penises for them past the diaper stage.  Smegma may be healthy, but if you don’t clean your foreskin and it accumulates and gets stale, it gets stinky.  And, because in my life, I’ve seen a number of penises, and the one penis I saw that was uncircumcised looked odd to me.  Again, my opinion.  Lastly,

I believe it is completely up to the parents to decide.  And I believe that Dad should get a weighted vote if the parents disagree.  He has a penis.  Mom does not.  As long as he listens with an open mind to mom, of course.

On a semi-related note, you can also read about my experience when Zander was misdiagnosed with undescended testicles and they wanted to do surgery on him.

I’ll leave you with this:

Highlight of the policy published in Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

CHICAGO - After analysis of almost 40 years of available medical research on circumcision, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued new recommendations today stating that the benefits are not significant enough for the AAP to recommend circumcision as a routine procedure.

The new policy statement was published in this month’s issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the AAP. “Circumcision is not essential to a child’s well-being at birth, even though it does have some potential medical benefits. These benefits are not compelling enough to warrant the AAP to recommend routine newborn circumcision. Instead, we encourage parents to discuss the benefits and risks of circumcision with their pediatrician, and then make an informed decision about what is in the best interest of their child,” says Carole Lannon, M.D., MPH, FAAP, chair of the AAP’s Task Force on Circumcision. The policy concluded, however, that it is legitimate for parents to take into account cultural, religious and ethnic traditions, in addition to medical factors, when making this decision. It states that to make an informed choice, parents of all male infants should be given accurate information and be provided the opportunity to discuss this decision with their pediatrician.”

Thank you and good night… 

I haven’t had much time to blog lately. So, some quick notes and workouts…

October 8:
Speedwork
Dist: 5mi, inc Warm; 2×1600@9:59 w/800 jogs; Cool

Cold, wet, rainy run…yuck!

Dry, but pretty cold run. Ran with Zevan in the jogger - and his CD player. I thought I had him all bundled up with hat and gloves and ski jacket. Turns out those gloves were thin because his hands were really cold when we were done. Bad mommy! Next time I need to wrap him up in a blanket. Or leave him with my dad… I was able to maintain running throughout the workout.

94     19/24     Maida Scott              37   Colo Springs       CO   0:57:48

This course was killer. It had a lot of uphills, most of which I walked up, moaning and groaning the whole way. I flew on the downhills to try and make up for some of the time. We crossed the creek several (5?) times, which I wasn’t expecting. And to end the course, we had to go down one riverbank and pull ourselves up the other side with a yellow nylon rope. Which wouldn’t have been too bad, except I picked the wrong side to go up - the muddy side. After several slides, I moved more to my right, where it was less muddy and more sandy. I finally got enough traction to get up there.

This is not my ACTUAL run - when I got to the course, I realized that I had forgotten the receiver for my iPod So, this is just an approximation based on a prior run I did for 5 miles.

When I dropped Zevan off at my parents house this morning, after we took Zander to school, I chatted with my mom a short time. I got to the trail about 8:30 AM. By the time I finished and got back to the car, it was 10:35, so I went straight to Buena Vista to pick Zander up. I think I won’t be able to run more than 10-11 miles during school time.

It was a cold morning, but manageable. I forgot my earphones, so I used the headset that Zevan has been using. And it broke about 2 1/2 miles into my run. Damn. So I ran sans music for the next 6 1/2 miles. It wasn’t awful, but I definitely missed it.

I also had some trouble figuring out where Sinton Trail goes, and turned around earlier than usual, and hit another dead end before going back. Weird.

I also could feel, right around mile 6, that my running was lopsided. My right foot kept hitting the ground hard while the left foot just hit. I tried to stretch to balance myself out, but I stretched the wrong side. It made for a very odd gait, and alot of tweaks in my hip and right knee.

I saw Dr. Audrey this afternoon, and she confirmed that my left leg was shorter than my right. She adjusted me back and suggested that I stretch my psoas muscles before running, particularly the shorter one if I feel lopsided again.

ARGH!  Zevan was having some hellacious tantrums today.  If I had been in a better frame of mind, I would have videotaped them so you could see his little temper. 

He has trouble enunciating, and when he gets upset, it’s pretty much unintelligible.  And if I keep asking him to repeat himself, he gets madder still. 

He gets SO frustrated when things don’t work like he wants them to.  He really thinks he can do everything Zander can do.  When he can’t, he just loses it.  And he clenches his jaw, and pounds his little fist, and with each sentence, it starts as his normal voice and by the last word, it has escalated into a angry yell.     Wonder where he gets that from    Uh, me?

He and I went to Hobby Lobby today to get stuff for their costumes.  Of course, he fell asleep on the way there.  So I put him in the trusty ergo and he slept for about 30-40 minutes while I shopped around.  When he woke up, he was feeling happy again.  We even went to Wal-Mart and he was really good, even though he still seemed a little tired.

Sigh.  I really hope it doesn’t get to the same level as Zander’s did.  I’m still edgy from those. 

He’s been dry through the night for 2 nights now!     So I know if I put him on the potty first thing, he will go.  He always says he doesn’t want to go, but then if I leave him on the potty by himself, he’ll usually go within 10 minutes.  He has never pooped in the potty though.

Speaking of which, I found the most HILARIOUS video of Joe from Blue’s Clues singing a potty song.  Oh. My. God.  It was so bad it was funny.  I miss Steve.

Advice I have actually found useful: Don’t try to do too many stops in one day. It might take longer to get things done, but you will remain more sane if you just do 1-2 stops per day. Prioritize and plan. I try to do this most of the time. And nearly every time that I tried to squeeze in just ONE more thing, I always regret it.

I devote the rest to projects at home, napping, playing with/reading to the boys or sometimes just plopping them in front of the TV or letting them play computer games - educational, of course.

I try planning just one twenty minute activity together with each of them per day, it can make a big difference.

If I give them that time, I can “trade” it for my time. I had to bank some time first, so they got the idea.

Now I can mention it when you are getting ready to go run an errand. “Remember when we made cookies/drew pictures/played animals/superheroes today? Now it’s time for you to help mommy by being good in the store.”

Then during the errand, “If you can stay good until we check out, when we get home, we can play your favorite game.”

They can be reasoned with. The hardest part is that I absolutely have to do it without getting angry. It takes A LOT of work and patience on my part.

I’m SO not looking forward to big tantrums from Zevan. Sigh.

So, now that Zander is in school, I take Zevan with me on my Thursday short runs. Last week, he wanted to listen to my iPod - or as Zevan calls it, “earpod” So, to keep the peace and stave off any tantrums, I gave it up to him while I ran. Of course, it still logged my workout, and Zevan listened to the ZBoys playlist.

This week, I wanted my music back. I burned a CD with their playlist on it, so Zevan listened to that in a portable CD player with his cute little headphones (courtesy of Frontier Airlines) and I got my iPod back. While I ran, he would sometimes sing out loud. Particularly the Teen Titans theme song and Life is a Highway. So cute!

I actually managed to maintain a running pace during the whole workout. That’s a first!

Afterwards, we picked up Zander from school and ate lunch at home before going to Thorndale Park for the weekly West Side Moms playdate.

It was Doug’s last day at Infor, and he was getting out early. He met us at the park. After a really nice time at the park, a bunch of us headed to the Colorado City Creamery for ice cream. It was really a perfect afternoon. After ice cream, the kids spent a long time playing in the fall leaves in front of the creamery.

Last night was climbing night. May is going to be late, so I decided to go early and do some bouldering and stretches before she gets there. I boulder for a while, then do my PT stretches, then boulder some more. When May arrives, I’m working on a V2 with the cute boy. And by boy, I mean a high school senior. Still cute, with nice abs, and an excellent climber. Because he’s coaching me, I attempt some moves I normally would never try without a mat underneath me. May is amused by this.

She’s got her kids with her. They are chatty and friendly. May is not happy about something, though. Brad picks up the kids at some point while we’re climbing. They didn’t even say bye, which I thought was odd.

So, we’re climbing a couple of routes. She goes up a 5.10. I go up the same one with poor results - all the bouldering has worn me out already. I come down, and May bursts into tears

Much hugging and tears follow. Turns out her son had not one, but two mega tantrums in the span of 4 days. The most recent one was that very day. It’s been a long time since he’s had any. She managed to keep her cool both times, and any mom who has tried to remain calm in the face of a tantrum is extremely draining. I really feel for her.

I only recently got respite from Zander tantrums, and it seems that Zevan is on his way to starting his extreme tantrum phase. I have to say I’m NOT looking forward to it AT ALL.

So we climb a few more routes - I’m tired, she’s tired, and we call it a night and head over to Village Inn for the comfort of diner food.

By the end of the night, it seems she’s feeling better.

Update 10/6:
Turns out there was a reason for the tantrum on Wednesday, at least. A school related incident that would have made me have a tantrum, too. As a mom, it’s nice to figure out a reason behind the madness. If only I could figure it out for 2 1/2 year olds…

Two days after my adventure run, I ran my longest distance yet.

So I started running, and at the half mile mark, I hit the center button on the iPod nano to check my pace and time, and it tells me “5 minutes 25 seconds, 0 miles completed, pace 0:00″ Say what?

I stop the workout, check my shoe, and sure enough the transmitter is in there. I hit the reset button, and try again. Okay, NOW it’s receiving info from the transmitter. And I have an half mile that’s unrecorded. Bummer!

So, I start again. I really want to have a recorded long distance, so I decide to run 8 1/2 miles on this run, even though I already ran the 1/2 mile.

Right around mile 5, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. Two teenage boys, dressed all in black, are putting out a fire they have set because they saw me coming. I can smell burning paper. I run by them, not making eye contact. This is the first time I ever felt uneasy on my run. Of course, I am at a point where I am going to turn around shortly and have to pass by them again.

I macho-ly assess the situation, “I could take these guys if I had to,” I think to myself, “groin shot to the big guy, and get the eyes of the skinny one. They’re just kids. ::pause:: I *really* should get myself some pepper spray.”

After I turn around, I see that they are heading away from me, towards the creek. By the time I catch up with them, they have crossed the creek.

The rest of the run goes without incident. After I hit 8.51 miles, I walk a quarter mile back to my car.

This is a funny book with excerpts online about fertility, conception and pregnancy from a dad’s point of view…

http://www.westnet.com/~crywalt/pregnancy/contents.html

Here’s an excerpt that made me laugh out loud:

There were A LOT of people at the kids race at 1:30 PM. My boys were practicing running to the finish line a few times before their race. Their 50 m course instructions were to run up to the girl in the black shirt, go around her and come back. Parents were running with the littlest ones. I lost Zander in the crowd after he got to the girl. Zevan ran the wrong way, by the time I caught up with him, the race was over.

We do races in the living room, so they were used to that aspect of it. I think I might have them run a mini course at the playdates to practice for next time.

The kids got a number to wear (so cute) and a little award ribbon when they finished… Zander took his to school to share at Circle Time (basically show and tell)

Race #1 — 50 meters, untimed — Ages 0-3 — 50 Finishers

Name            Sex   Age School         Bib
Jonathan Lum    M     2   Sierra Vista    20
Zander Scott    M     3   Buena Vista     37
Zevan Scott     M     2   Buena Vista     38

Race Results
  72     18/29     Maida Scott              37   Colo Springs       CO   0:48:25
 102    14/15     Lanel Welsby            48   Colo Springs       CO   0:54:24

I ran the first race of the Pikes Peak Road Runners Fall Series yesterday.  On paper, it looked completely do-able.  A 3.5 mile run, and they say to wear old shoes because you have to run the last quarter mile up the creek.

I nearly forgot about the race until Michelle posted something about the Kids race afterwards.  Luckily, we did a hike on Saturday, so I didn’t do my usual running workout.   I got to the race start 10 minutes before the race started - just enough time to register for the whole series and pin my number on. 

The first mile of the course was a fairly straightforward loop.  A good portion of it was like a singletrack mountain bike course.  I actually had to push branches out of my face as I ran in some spots.  Then we dropped down towards the creek and the real adventure began.  Running on a ledge along the river, actually having to climb up the bank, very rocky terrain.  I thought running the creek would be a welcome change.  Nope.  Ankle deep water, with two choices of running surface - mucky, uneven riverbottom or smooth wet rock.  I almost bit it a few times the first 10 yards.  Luckily it was a nice day, so the water wasn’t too cold, even kind of refreshing, temperature-wise.  A few times, we had to get up on the rocky bank for a short bit before getting back into the water to run some more.  A quarter mile running the creek felt like a mile out of the creek.  And then running with all the muck in my shoes to the finish line was no fun either. 

I got a great surprise near the end of the run.  Doug, Zander and Zevan were at the finish line cheering me on.  It was AWESOME to see them there!

According to my iPod, the race was actually a little over 4 miles…  (and showed me that the transmitter in my shoe is, indeed, waterproof).

The next race is Oct 15…anyone up for some adventure running?  It’s in Bear Creek park and includes a rope climb…