Toren fun update

So, yesterday’s update was the scary one. Today’s is the fun one. Since we’ve recovered from the trauma a bit, we have had a number of first-time parenting experiences. So, hopefully this will offset yesterday’s post…

We decided to have Toren circumcised. That six-word sentence substantially minimizes the debate we had over this decision. I’ll spare you the details, but it literally came down to a 50/50 split as to whether or not we should circumcise him. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that there is not sufficient evidence to warrant circumcision, and since we’re science geeks, we didn’t know what to do (picture Spock trying to figure what to do when logic is irrelevant). So, we flipped a coin – heads we circumcise, tails we don’t. It was heads. Bye-bye foreskin.

Anyway, he was circumcised Wednesday, but he seemed to be doing okay with it. However, his penis was very sensitive (I can understand that!), which meant that every time we tried to change him for the first day or so after the circumcision, he would fight us and cry because we had to change the dressing on his penis. He’s getting a little better, but at the height of the pain I was in the middle of changing a dirty diaper but had failed to cover his penis, trying to spare him a little pain. Just as I put the new diaper underneath him, he let loose a torrent of urine. I obviously can’t be mad at him for doing what he needed to do, but it was an unpleasant surprise. The stream was pretty high, though, so maybe I should be proud of his urination skills (I’d say he had a good foot and half of clearance). But he did urinate all over the new diaper, his socks, his bed, and, since his carrier was right next to the couch I was sleeping on, he also managed to pee on my bed. Not too shabby for one stream!

This next story is even better. The diapers we’re using here at the hospital are Pampers. They have a cool stripe down the front that is yellow when it’s dry, but turns green when he’s wet. I looked down at his diaper after a feeding to see if he needed a change and it was green. No problem – wet diapers aren’t hard to deal with. I got my new diaper ready, slid it under, then pulled out the wet one. Just as I pulled it out, he launched a volley of feces right into the new diaper. He was lying there silently, almost as if he was daring me to get mad at him. Lucky for him he’s cute. I grabbed another diaper, slid it under, wiped everything up, then pulled out the newly soiled diaper. Just as I pulled that one out, he launched a second volley. This one had a bit more punch and volume – it covered the new diaper, but also managed to hit his receiving blanket as well. He was still lying there silently as if nothing had happened. I let him hang out there for a few minutes to finish up before I tried to get a third diaper on. Some day he’ll need to learn that looks can only get him so far!