Preparations for Birth
I haven't written as much about the preparations for this birth, probably because I know a lot more and I feel a little more at ease. We have been doing some thinking about the care that we want for Chubby immediately following his birth. There are several baby care activities that are standard procedure, but at the suggestion of Pam, our doula, we have been researching them and giving them some thought.
First, the erythromiocin eye drops - these are customary for all babies born in the U.S. because they protect against blindness due to bacterial STDs like chlamydia and gonorrhea that the mother may be carrying. The eye drops make their eyes goopy, blur their vision for a while interfering with their bonding process, and sting a bit. Because I tested negative (routine procedure at your first prenatal visit) for these STDs, I see no reason to put Chubby through that.
Second, baby's first bath - typically, a nurse bathes the baby soon after birth because most people view them as "dirty". We have learned that the vernix on a baby's skin is actually full of properties similar to breastmilk that actually help protect the baby's skin. There isn't a good reason to immediately wash it off. In fact, it would be helpful to massage it in and allow it to protect his skin. Our plan is to give him a bath ourselves when we feel it's time. We have heard that it may be a nice way to involve Sarah Graves with him in those early days.
Third, Hepatitis B shot - This is important if the parents or anyone living in the baby's home have hepatitis B. We do not and none of the immediate family do either, so it is something that we will delay. Immunity is not developed until all three vaccines have been given and our vaccine schedule recommends delaying this one until later in childhood, unless there is reason to believe the child may be exposed.
Fourth, Vitamin K shot - Vitamin K promotes blood clotting and newborns have low levels of vitamin K making them susceptible to bleeding issues, primarily brain bleeds that occur in about 2 of every 100,000 live births between 3 and 7 weeks old. The downside is that some studies have shown vitamin K injection leading to an increased risk of childhood leukemia (an additional 2 of every 100,000 kids) and more rarely causing scleroderma, a skin irritation. We have heard about giving the vitamin K orally in several doses over several weeks and gradually raising a newborn's levels so that it is not a massive influx of vitamin K all at once impacting cell division and potentially resulting in the increased cancer risk. Our hospital does not offer the oral dose, so we would have to work with our pediatrician to get a prescription for it and administer it ourselves. Another option would be for a breastfeeding mother to supplement 1 mg of vitamin K a day over the course of 10 weeks and pass along additional vitamin K to her baby through her milk. I am torn about which option seems right for us. We don't have any family history of bleeding disorders, so we don't expect him to be at a higher risk for a bleeding problem, yet the injection carries risk of its own.
Fifth, the big decision, circumcision - Over 100 years ago circumcision became routine in this country because it was believed to reduce the incidence of masturbation and later it was believed to be more sanitary reducing the potential for urinary tract infections and infections under the foreskin. Research has since rebutted these beliefs and even the American Academy of Pediatrics says there is no medical reason to circumcise. Those who are against circumcision have strong beliefs that a circumcised penis is less sensitive (probably supporting that stop masturbation motive way back) and that the infant boy does feel pain during the circumcision. Those who believe in circumcision talk about the reduced risk of penile cancer, but the occurrence of that is very, very low to begin with, so I don't see that as a valid reason. The lack of medical reason topped of by hearing the baby boys being circumcised scream while waiting in the doctor's office made my mind up pretty easy - we aren't circumcising. Don't worry about Chubby being picked on in the locker room because now more than half of baby boys are not being circumcised!
As we have researched this topic more, we have learned that we also do not want to retract or pull back the foreskin. It will gradually retract on its own and until it does, there's no need to do any more washing of that area than put him in the bath. It is painful for them to have it manually retracted and it causes bleeding and some nerve damage. By the time a boy is a teenager, and often well before that, it has retracted fully on its own.
There you have it, our baby care decisions (well, mostly) for Chubby. Yep, we get a little more crunchy all the time!
First, the erythromiocin eye drops - these are customary for all babies born in the U.S. because they protect against blindness due to bacterial STDs like chlamydia and gonorrhea that the mother may be carrying. The eye drops make their eyes goopy, blur their vision for a while interfering with their bonding process, and sting a bit. Because I tested negative (routine procedure at your first prenatal visit) for these STDs, I see no reason to put Chubby through that.
Second, baby's first bath - typically, a nurse bathes the baby soon after birth because most people view them as "dirty". We have learned that the vernix on a baby's skin is actually full of properties similar to breastmilk that actually help protect the baby's skin. There isn't a good reason to immediately wash it off. In fact, it would be helpful to massage it in and allow it to protect his skin. Our plan is to give him a bath ourselves when we feel it's time. We have heard that it may be a nice way to involve Sarah Graves with him in those early days.
Third, Hepatitis B shot - This is important if the parents or anyone living in the baby's home have hepatitis B. We do not and none of the immediate family do either, so it is something that we will delay. Immunity is not developed until all three vaccines have been given and our vaccine schedule recommends delaying this one until later in childhood, unless there is reason to believe the child may be exposed.
Fourth, Vitamin K shot - Vitamin K promotes blood clotting and newborns have low levels of vitamin K making them susceptible to bleeding issues, primarily brain bleeds that occur in about 2 of every 100,000 live births between 3 and 7 weeks old. The downside is that some studies have shown vitamin K injection leading to an increased risk of childhood leukemia (an additional 2 of every 100,000 kids) and more rarely causing scleroderma, a skin irritation. We have heard about giving the vitamin K orally in several doses over several weeks and gradually raising a newborn's levels so that it is not a massive influx of vitamin K all at once impacting cell division and potentially resulting in the increased cancer risk. Our hospital does not offer the oral dose, so we would have to work with our pediatrician to get a prescription for it and administer it ourselves. Another option would be for a breastfeeding mother to supplement 1 mg of vitamin K a day over the course of 10 weeks and pass along additional vitamin K to her baby through her milk. I am torn about which option seems right for us. We don't have any family history of bleeding disorders, so we don't expect him to be at a higher risk for a bleeding problem, yet the injection carries risk of its own.
Fifth, the big decision, circumcision - Over 100 years ago circumcision became routine in this country because it was believed to reduce the incidence of masturbation and later it was believed to be more sanitary reducing the potential for urinary tract infections and infections under the foreskin. Research has since rebutted these beliefs and even the American Academy of Pediatrics says there is no medical reason to circumcise. Those who are against circumcision have strong beliefs that a circumcised penis is less sensitive (probably supporting that stop masturbation motive way back) and that the infant boy does feel pain during the circumcision. Those who believe in circumcision talk about the reduced risk of penile cancer, but the occurrence of that is very, very low to begin with, so I don't see that as a valid reason. The lack of medical reason topped of by hearing the baby boys being circumcised scream while waiting in the doctor's office made my mind up pretty easy - we aren't circumcising. Don't worry about Chubby being picked on in the locker room because now more than half of baby boys are not being circumcised!
As we have researched this topic more, we have learned that we also do not want to retract or pull back the foreskin. It will gradually retract on its own and until it does, there's no need to do any more washing of that area than put him in the bath. It is painful for them to have it manually retracted and it causes bleeding and some nerve damage. By the time a boy is a teenager, and often well before that, it has retracted fully on its own.
There you have it, our baby care decisions (well, mostly) for Chubby. Yep, we get a little more crunchy all the time!
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