Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Nursing in Public - my belief system

I've been thinking a lot about breastfeeding in public for the last few months.
I have another post entitled: Facebook: God created breasts for breastfeeding

One, it is extremely hard to do with any modesty if you are large breasted within the first 5/6 months.  But it does get better and easier the more head control the baby has.   I breastfeed in public very easily now at 8 months.  However, a small part of my breast tissue will show because I am large breasted, but no more than any woman who shows cleavage or breast tissue in their everyday wear.

If a woman asks me to cover up, and I know that she shows cleavage or breast tissue in her everyday wear, I am first going to be thinking "hypocrite" in my head, but basically I am just going to say, "I'm sorry but I choose not to do that."  However, if a woman who I know is modest in her everyday wear, and is a sweet type of woman, and if I see that she is a bit distressed, then I will be more willing to put a small cloth over the exposed breast tissue.

I will never put a blanket over my child's head because I do not want him breathing reverberated air (carbon monoxide).  I do have a nursing cover with a hole on top, and if the baby isn't squirmy (ie yanking it off) I will use it in auditorium type of situation where there are just a lot of people.  I will not use it for most situations however, because my child truly believes it is a toy, and will draw all types of attention to us because he is kicking it and yanking it and basically pulling it off.

Women who have problems with breastfeeding women exposing breast tissue in public, but expose their own breast tissue in their everyday wear or in their choice of swimsuits - well, I don't understand it.  Personally I believe they must have a problem with the actual act of breastfeeding - that they have a hard time separating the act of nursing the baby with a sexual type of act.  I wonder if most women who think that way have had issues with their own breastfeeding, or just chose not to breastfeed at all.


Here is a post I wrote after a friend's husband put in his status "Be discreet, cover your teet," plus a lot of hurtful joking about breastfeeding women in public in the comments following.

There are usually four reasons why you might see more than you want to when a woman nurses in public:
1) She's a new mom and she's just figuring it out - there is quite a learning curve, and it really is hard to learn.  One of the reasons why the USA's breastfeeding rate is so abysmally low (and in consequence our infant mortality rate so abysmally high) is that women are afraid of juvenile reactions from men who should know better.
2) Her baby thinks the cover is a toy - completely squirmy,
completely distracted baby makes momma give up the cover quickly.  Some babies have no problems with covers, some do.  Also, there is a concern with breathing in too much carbon dioxide.
3) Don't suggest using a bottle.  Some breastfed babies have not and will not use a bottle (it is called nipple confusion).  Some mommies can not pump - babies can get the liquid out, but the pump can't.  Mommies should be able to go out in public and feed their hungry baby wherever and whenever they want - oh wait - they can - all 50 states have laws protecting the breastfeeding rights of mothers, exposed or not.
4) Some women just don't care that some men never matured past their teenage years.  They are not going to allow some man's opinion dictate how they feed their baby.  So they breastfeed however they want to. They figure it is the immature man or woman's problem if they choose to be offended.  They believe in the saying, "If breastfeeding offends you, go put a blanket over your head."

And here is the question that I pose that tends to make people leave a breastfeeding woman alone:  If God created breasts to nurse a baby, is it a sin if you expose your breasts?  And if God doesn't think it a sin, then why should it bother me that you have a problem with it?

I believe, like the subject of racism, that being offended by breastfeeding is a socially, culturally taught thing, usually as a child or a teen.  You may live in a community where racism is an accepted norm, but that does not make it right.  You may live in a community where breastfeeding is offensive, but that does not make it right.

I see comments like yours and all I can think about are the many, many stories I have listened to and read from women who have struggled with breastfeeding, and I just want to get the word out that there are many reasons behind why a person might see more than they are comfortable with when glancing at a nursing mother. I just think of how many women have been genuinely hurt by comments and jokes like that and basically just wanted to get across that there are other viewpoints. It just makes me sad that people think jokes like the one in your status are culturally acceptable.


And to sum up, here is an article about breastfeeding in public that my husband Kevin wrote that I of course think is brilliant:

Written by Kevin C. Neece:
 
It is really a sexist view that proclaims that women are intelligent and responsible and can make choices about how they respond to stimuli and that men are just drooling animals, uncontrollably dominated by their passions because they are basically too dull-witted to do otherwise. Saying that men “can’t help it” or “are wired that way” may seem like compassion and consideration for men, but in reality it is a degrading gender bias. The truth is that we should expect all adults to behave like adults regardless of their gender.

As a man, I am personally tired of hearing such views bandied about so easily as though they are not at all bigoted. It may be culturally acceptable, but it is wrong to expect men to be the lowest common denominator of our species. Adult men are expected to be and are often portrayed as no more than college frat boys with families. But college frat boys are just junior high boys with newfound freedom and legal permission. And junior high boys are just elementary school boys with sex drives. So essentially, we are telling men that their progress as a gender is so stunted that they can never truly be expected to grow out of boyhood. This is now excused because we tell them that they are genetically wired to be too stupid to grow up. When you place no expectations of civility and maturity on any human being, they will more often than not respond to those expectations by remaining in the realm of their baser instincts. If, however, people are treated as beings capable of civilized, respectful behavior, they develop as such.

Moreover, the story of human progress tell us that the basic project of being human consists of learning, changing, growing, and trying to become more than what we are. By insisting that men are incapable of advancing themselves in a conscious, focused manner, we are depriving them of their basic dignity as human beings by ignoring their potential to grow in positive, civil and mature directions.


As a man married to a breastfeeding mother, to whom I am very sexually attracted, I can say that simply having developed the mindset of the natural, feeding function of the female breasts has allowed me to consistently view my wife’s breasts as sources of food when seen in a functional context, and as sources of arousal when seen in a sexual context. There has never been any confusion between the two. I did not have to be trained or desensitized. All I had to do was learn about the purpose and beauty of breastfeeding. Were the activity of public breastfeeding more common and accepted in our culture in general, and were our expectations of men inclusive of more than unthinking Neanderthal-like sex drives, there would not be an issue regarding the response of intelligent, civilized men to public breastfeeding. A mother must be asked to do no less than put the needs of her child before other considerations. A man’s response to what he may or may not see for a brief moment is his own to deal with.


The breastfeeding conversation among Christians today tends to focus on nipples, nudity, and naughtiness. Instead, Christians should be about the business of helping to develop a view of breastfeeding as normal, natural, and necessary. Part of that process includes the promotion of breastfeeding as an acceptable, everyday experience. This may create some difficulties along the way for Christians who are now grown men, but it will also help prevent future complications for the Christian men of tomorrow. If our boys are raised in a culture that values and openly accepts the fullest, truest nature of the female breast, we can come one step closer to a world that no longer reduces breasts, and indeed women, to mere sex objects.

Familiarizing the younger generation with a broader understanding of the feeding function of breasts will help to prevent unnecessary and unwarranted sexual temptation in the future rather than creating such temptation by presuming a universally sexualized view of the breast. This is not about a few instances of men being bothered by seeing a little skin. It is about a process of cultural education and development toward a more enlightened future where sex is a natural part of life and not something that dominates our lives in a negative fashion. In this future, breastfeeding is placed in its proper context as a normal and necessary function of motherhood, no longer overshadowed by over-sexualization, nor oppressed by the tyranny of titillation. Therefore, normalizing public views of breastfeeding mothers is a move toward moral responsibility and away from the domination of sexual temptation. As such, it is important that it be carried out, not flippantly or defiantly, but with a focus on awareness, education, and acceptance.


 I love articles that are thought-provoking and helps to rethink thinking, don't you?
Here is another great article on the issue of modesty that I think can be applied to public breastfeeding:

Modesty, Body Policing and Rape Culture: Connecting the Dots 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/2012/12/modesty-body-policing-and-rape-culture-connecting-the-dots/

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Condensed Version of Pregnancy Research

Here is a very condensed version of my research.  I hope it will help you make all the myriad of decisions you will have to make in the next few months.

Oh, during morning sickness I could only eat a few ingredients - watermelon, tomatoes, fruit, potatoes, organic bread, quinoa, and rice.

If your doctor or midwife says you need protein (some say 40 grams a day, some say 80), do not ever take protein shakes (soy or whey) because they tend to make big 10 pound babies.

Some great sources of protein are quinoa (22 grams per cup, whole foods sells it in their bulk bins), Ezekiel cereal with organic milk or almond milk, or coconut milk, and spirulina powder.  Chicken and turkey are good meat sources, but you'll want to stay away from red meat cause it will make your back ache worse, and from fish because of the mercury.  I ate fish twice during my whole pregnancy, and i felt guilty for doing it, lol.

I did however take several supplements.
I took Juice Plus because I truly believe it helped me not get sick during my entire pregnancy.  No colds or anything.
At the beginning I could barely take any pills, only small capsules or soft gels.  I found a few prenatals that came in this form (Nature's Promise health food store on Park Row in Arlington has a few).
Once I hit 18 weeks, I could take pills again (the second trimester is so lovely). 
My prenatal of choice is Nature's Plus Source of life Prenatal, because it is Whole Foods based, not chemical, and because you only had to take 2 pills instead of 6, and it is reasonably priced.  And they never caused constipation (which is a problem with a lot of prenatals.  Iron supplementation usually causes constipation - bad, the type that gives you hemrhoids). But around 20 weeks you can take chlorophyll pills which are a great iron source with no constipation problems.  You just have to remember to take them everyday once you start.
I also took Omega 3 Fish oil 1000 mgs 2x daily which helps with your mood swings, growing the baby's brain, and with postpartum depression.
I take Now brand Calcium and Magnesium supplements because they are in softgel form.  Calcium and Magnesium really help with leg cramps and back aches. 

Best Big all-encompassing baby book:
Dr. Sears The Baby Book
Amazon link
www.askdrsears.com

Two books to avoid because they have a well-deserved reputation for sabotaging the breastfeeding relationship as well as other things, and basically just stupid:
The What to Expect Series
Babywise

Here are my top two favorite websites:
www.kellymom.com - best breastfeeding site
www.drmomma.org - my favorite website for all things parenting related.  I've read almost all the articles - I have learned so much from this site - highly recommend browsing thoroughly for several hours.

Also, here are some great birth videos:
You can Netflix Orgasmic Birth (link), Business of Being Born (link) (this one is also available thru Netflix streaming video so you can watch it on the computer), Birth without Violence link, and there is a lot of prenatal yoga videos if you type in pregnancy, and several breastfeeding videos if you type in breastfeeding. :)

Breastfeeding video:
http://www.breastfeedingvideo.com/

Another recommended video:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4067643

Consider taking a breastfeeding class at your local hospital or birthing center.
Two books you must get if you plan on going back to work after the baby is born.
The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More... Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws...
And here are the two MUST READ breastfeeding articles:

Ultimate Breastfeeding Preparation Checklist
http://www.bestforbabes.org/checklist/

Breastfeeding Booby Traps

http://www.bestforbabes.org/breastfeeding-booby-traps/

Decisions, not choices

 Found this comment on facebook - love it.

Lorri Carr Personally, I am becoming disturbed at the use of the term "choices", as if we are all automatons who have no options except to select from the "choices" that someone else has pre-determined for us. I think that is faulty logic, and poor semantics, and degrades us into mere robots being told to "pick one of these", or to follow an algorithm (that we did not write) even if the circumstances do not all fit into the boxes.

I believe that whole, thinking human beings make DECISIONS, not choices. Decisions imply thought, questioning, careful contemplation of what one has been able to gather in knowledge prior to coming to a conclusion. Choices implies that the options are already limited by others, and you can only select a preference from the list that is offered to you, and I am offended by that. Perhaps these mothers whose feelings are hurt made choices instead of decisions, and THAT is why they feel like they failed - not because of the choice they made, but because they took the lazy way out and did not think, did not question, and they know it.

For example, if I am told that my "choices" are to have or to not have an epidural in labor, I say that is patently a lie. I can make a decision to explore other options, such as not even being in a hospital at all. My decisions are not limited by anyone else's list of "choices", they are arrived at after much consideration and thought, and usually as much research as I feel is needed to make that decision one that is intelligent and well-informed. Sometimes it only takes a few more split seconds to arrive at a decision than it would take to simply make a choice, so using one's brain works even in an emergency.

I don't offer choices to women, I ask them to think and make real decisions for themselves, because their options are limited only by common-sense safety factors and their own imaginations and physical abilities. A choice is a pathetically weak commitment, whereas a decision has weight and conviction enough to see a mother through a difficult birth.

This is a matter of basic human maturity. If a woman lacks the wisdom to make decisions, it is questionable in my mind whether she is suitable or prepared for motherhood. If it makes her uncomfortable to have to think, then obviously it needed to happen at long last. If it upset her, then she must have needed it. People who made the best possible decision at the time are never that easily upset about it afterwards.



http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=428512883668&id=197958149482

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Circumcision and mothers

I and my husband lately have been talking, and the issue of circumcision (I really hate that name, it makes it sound all pretty and clinical, I personally prefer genital mutilation and human right's violation) has really been weighing on our hearts lately.  We want to get more involved - in helping people, in educating people, and in the political arena.

Some people I'm sure think that I am judgmental or dogmatic.  I'm really not.  It just hurts my heart so much and I feel so much compassion towards all those poor baby boys out there and their loving but naive moms. 

I especially like just talking about the myths - there are so many crazy myths out there about circumcision, and its so interesting to me when people say, oh, I didn't know that - or - I didn't realize that.  Its the same as when I was teaching and a student finally gets that light of understanding in their eyes, and you know that you did your job well that day.

Moms are especially hard.  I think a lot of mothers have damaged psyches as well.  If they admit that it was something that was wrong, that they deliberately harmed their child, they would have to go through a grieving process and would have to live with the sorrow of that decision. It is easier to cling to their cultural/social/religious biases than to deliberately open themselves up to pain. It takes a strong, intelligent, confident woman to admit that circumcising her sons was wrong. I really feel sorrow and compassion towards both type of mothers - the strong and the weak.   Link to help with grieving circumcision

Some moms hang so tightly onto their beliefs, that even if their adult son came to them and said, I wish you had not done this to me, I wish I had my foreskin, I'm going to have to spend a lot of money and work very hard on restoring my foreskin - even if they were armed with this information, and could go back in time knowing what they know now - they still would circumcise.  And that is something I barely understand.

Some moms actually have had the gall to say - if he doesn't know what he's missing, he won't miss it.  And who's going to tell him that he should miss it but some vigilante mom telling him that circumcision is wrong.  That is one of the most sexist statements I have ever come across on a board.  I discussed this with my husband, and he says that it is very prevalent today to think of men of being incapable of thinking for themselves.  You can be as insulting as you want to men these days - its like some sort of feminist payback.  Just turn it around and apply it to women - oh, your family has breast cancer, so we're going to cut off your child's breasts - don't worry, if she doesn't know what she's missing, she won't miss it.  Some man might tell her that what was done to her was wrong, but we'll continue to tell her that it is no big deal, and she'll believe us.  She doesn't have much of a brain and won't look it up for herself.   Etc. Etc. Etc.  sigh.
Link to show what "he is missing" 
Prepuce video - The Prepuce  an informative video
Circumcised men psyche ink

The things that women will say astounds me, especially on the topic of GM.  I keep hearing, it should be a parent's choice.  Why?  Men are suing doctors RIGHT NOW AND WINNING for mutilating their genitals WITHOUT THEIR INFORMED CONSENT.   Who cares if a parent gives their consent - as a doctor, they are obliged by their own ethical code to do no harm to their patient without an informed consent.  A baby, obviously, can not give consent.  So all these doctors are very obviously being sued for malpractice. DUH.  Of course, until it reaches the billions of dollars that performing circumcisions bring in, unfortunately, it is all just a drop in the bucket.

I wholeheartedly believe that it should never be a parent's choice and firmly believe genital mutilation on boys and girls should be illegal.  Oh no, the government shouldn't have a say in this, women tell me.  Well, obviously it needs to be because society are still acting like idiots.  Just as binding a girl's feet had to become illegal before the cultural norm was changed, so must circumcision.

Which comes back to helping parents.   The most fervent intactivists I know are the ones who allowed their first born to be circumcised, and then discovered too late that it was the wrong decision.  They are the ones who are spend countless hours helping educate parents so that those parents don't have to live with regret.  Link to Second son, Second Chance

One woman said to me - the controversy over circumcision is just a lot of drama.  I don't think its that big of a deal.  This statement still gives me a slow burn inside.  Just because it is no big deal to you, doesn't mean it is not a big deal to the millions of men with damaged penises, all their grieving, sorrow-filled moms, and all their wives dealing with this issue.  Women can choose to be apathetic about issues where other people suffer (abortion, child slavery, domestic abuse, etc) because it is easier to live your lives pretending it doesn't happen, or that it does not pertain to you.  One day though many women get their heads out the clouds, and realizes that one of these issues is important to them, and they start getting more involved, and they start making a real difference.  This is what I hope the issue of circumcision will be like for me.  Life is unfair, but I have always believed that as Christians we should try to make life a little bit more fair.  And of course we should always strive to be rewarded with the words "well done, my good and faithful servant."
Link to stories of mothers who regret and are trying to make a difference.


This is a page in progress, I'll be back with more comments and links.

I did not circumcise my son - but I had researched the subject while I was TTC.  Who knows what I would have done in my 20s - I knew nothing back then  Here is a great article on reasons why not to circumcise your son.  20 reasons why I didn't circumcise my son 



And here are the medical reasons (and God-given reasons) to be intact as God planned:

The foreskin has numerous protective, sensory, and sexual functions.

· Protection: Just as the eyelids protect the eyes, the foreskin protects the glans and keeps its surface soft, moist, and sensitive. It also maintains optimal warmth, pH balance, and cleanliness. The glans itself contains no sebaceous glands-glands that produce the sebum, or oil, that moisturizes our skin.11 The foreskin produces the sebum that maintains proper health of the surface of the glans.
· Immunological Defense: The mucous membranes that line all body orifices are the body's first line of immunological defense. Glands in the foreskin produce antibacterial and antiviral proteins such as lysozyme.12 Lysozyme is also found in tears and mother's milk. Specialized epithelial Langerhans cells, an immune system component, abound in the foreskin's outer surface.13 Plasma cells in the foreskin's mucosal lining secrete immunoglobulins, antibodies that defend against infection.14
· Erogenous Sensitivity: The foreskin is as sensitive as the fingertips or the lips of the mouth. It contains a richer variety and greater concentration of specialized nerve receptors than any other part of the penis.15 These specialized nerve endings can discern motion, subtle changes in temperature, and fine gradations of texture.16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
· Coverage During Erection: As it becomes erect, the penile shaft becomes thicker and longer. The double-layered foreskin provides the skin necessary to accommodate the expanded organ and to allow the penile skin to glide freely, smoothly, and pleasurably over the shaft and glans.
· Self-Stimulating Sexual Functions: The foreskin's double-layered sheath enables the penile shaft skin to glide back and forth over the penile shaft. The foreskin can normally be slipped all the way, or almost all the way, back to the base of the penis, and also slipped forward beyond the glans. This wide range of motion is the mechanism by which the penis and the orgasmic triggers in the foreskin, frenulum, and glans are stimulated.
· Sexual Functions in Intercourse: One of the foreskin's functions is to facilitate smooth, gentle movement between the mucosal surfaces of the two partners during intercourse. The foreskin enables the penis to slip in and out of the vagina nonabrasively inside its own slick sheath of self-lubricating, movable skin. The female is thus stimulated by moving pressure rather than by friction only, as when the male's foreskin is missing.
· The foreskin fosters intimacy between the two partners by enveloping the glans and maintaining it as an internal organ. The sexual experience is enhanced when the foreskin slips back to allow the male's internal organ, the glans, to meet the female's internal organ, the cervix-a moment of supreme intimacy and beauty.

circumcision and fathers

links for mothers whose husband wants to circumcise:
 http://www.circumstitions.com/men-vuln.html
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=112410

for daddy:
http://www.fathermag.com/health/circ/gmas/

http://www.noharmm.org/raising.htm

http://www.noharmm.org/appeal.htm

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/dads-view-of-circumcision.html

http://www.circumstitions.com/Father.html

http://www.circumcision.org/satisfied.htm

http://www.circumcision.org/femalesex.htm

Whose Body, Whose Rights? video

How to Identify Circumcision Damage in the Adult Male

And here are the medical reasons (and God-given reasons) to be intact as God planned:

The foreskin has numerous protective, sensory, and sexual functions.

· Protection: Just as the eyelids protect the eyes, the foreskin protects the glans and keeps its surface soft, moist, and sensitive. It also maintains optimal warmth, pH balance, and cleanliness. The glans itself contains no sebaceous glands-glands that produce the sebum, or oil, that moisturizes our skin.11 The foreskin produces the sebum that maintains proper health of the surface of the glans.
· Immunological Defense: The mucous membranes that line all body orifices are the body's first line of immunological defense. Glands in the foreskin produce antibacterial and antiviral proteins such as lysozyme.12 Lysozyme is also found in tears and mother's milk. Specialized epithelial Langerhans cells, an immune system component, abound in the foreskin's outer surface.13 Plasma cells in the foreskin's mucosal lining secrete immunoglobulins, antibodies that defend against infection.14
· Erogenous Sensitivity: The foreskin is as sensitive as the fingertips or the lips of the mouth. It contains a richer variety and greater concentration of specialized nerve receptors than any other part of the penis.15 These specialized nerve endings can discern motion, subtle changes in temperature, and fine gradations of texture.16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
· Coverage During Erection: As it becomes erect, the penile shaft becomes thicker and longer. The double-layered foreskin provides the skin necessary to accommodate the expanded organ and to allow the penile skin to glide freely, smoothly, and pleasurably over the shaft and glans.
· Self-Stimulating Sexual Functions: The foreskin's double-layered sheath enables the penile shaft skin to glide back and forth over the penile shaft. The foreskin can normally be slipped all the way, or almost all the way, back to the base of the penis, and also slipped forward beyond the glans. This wide range of motion is the mechanism by which the penis and the orgasmic triggers in the foreskin, frenulum, and glans are stimulated.
· Sexual Functions in Intercourse: One of the foreskin's functions is to facilitate smooth, gentle movement between the mucosal surfaces of the two partners during intercourse. The foreskin enables the penis to slip in and out of the vagina nonabrasively inside its own slick sheath of self-lubricating, movable skin. The female is thus stimulated by moving pressure rather than by friction only, as when the male's foreskin is missing.
· The foreskin fosters intimacy between the two partners by enveloping the glans and maintaining it as an internal organ. The sexual experience is enhanced when the foreskin slips back to allow the male's internal organ, the glans, to meet the female's internal organ, the cervix-a moment of supreme intimacy and beauty.

Circumcision is not simply the cutting off of useless skin. Author Gary L. Harryman innumerates what circumcision destroys:
***Its connective synechia, which fuses the foreskin to the glans while the penis develops.
***Approximately half of the smooth muscle sheath called the dartos fascia.
***Most of the erotogenic nerve endings on the penis, including the densely innervated ridged bands, reducing the sensitivity of the penis to that of ordinary skin.
***Specialized epithelial Langerhans cells, a component of the immune system.
***Thousands of coiled fine-touch receptors, including the Meissner's corpuscles.
***Estrogen receptors--the purpose and value of which are not yet fully understood.
***Ectopic sebaceous glands, which lubricate and moisturize.
***The protective covering of the glans, normally an internal structure. The foreskin shields from abrasion, drying, and callusing, and protects from dirt and other contaminants.
***The entire immunological defense system of the soft mucosa, which may produce antibacterial and antiviral proteins such as lysozyme, also found in mother's milk, and plasma cells, which secrete immunoglobulin antibodies.
***Lymphatic vessels, the loss of which interrupts the lymph flow within a part of the body's immune system.
***The frenulum, the sensitive "V" shaped tethering structure on the underside of the glans is also usually amputated, severed, or destroyed.
***The apocrine glands, which produce pheromones, nature's powerful, silent, invisible signals to potential sexual partners.
***As much as 50% or more of the total penile skin, radically immobilizing and desensitizing whatever skin remains.
***The "gliding" mechanism. If unfolded and spread out flat, the average adult foreskin would measure 15-20 square inches, the size of a postcard. This abundance of specialized, self-lubricating skin gives the natural penis its unique-hallmark ability to smoothly "glide" back and forth within itself, permitting non-abrasive intercourse, without drying out the vagina.
***The pink to red to dark purple natural coloration of the glans.
***10% to 20% of its circumference because its double-layered wrapping of loose foreskin is now missing making the circumcised penis thinner.
*** As much as one inch of the erect penis' length due to scarring and shrinkage from loss of the mobile, richly vascularized foreskin.
***Several feet of blood vessels, including the frenular artery and branches of the dorsal artery, the loss of which interrupts normal blood flow to the shaft and glans of the penis, damaging its natural function and possibly stunting its growth.
*** An estimated 240 feet of microscopic nerves, including branches of the dorsal nerve.
*** Perhaps most importantly, between at least 10,000 to 20,000 specialized erotogenic nerve endings of various types, which can discern slight motion, subtle changes in temperature, and fine gradations in texture.
And occasionally a boy will lose his life from this needless operation. It has been estimated that as many as 209 babies die every year from circumcision and related complications.

pooping in plastic

My response to a woman who threw away her child's plastic kitchen cause she pooped in one of the kithcen drawers:

Hey, if ever there comes a time when you don't want to throw it away, a good way of cleaning it is to take it outside and take the garden hose to it. Also get a bucket of hot soapy water. Put it in the bucket or pour the water in it and leave it out in the sun for an hour or so. Then dump the water on the grass, and then take the garden hose to it again. Repeat as often as necessary. Then put some vinegar water in/on it for about 15 minutes, and then rinse. Then let it dry in the sun for a few hours. Cleaning anything poopy is just easier outdoors, you don't feel as icky out in nature. :)

Of course, I wouldn't know what to do if the child pooped in a wooden bureau drawer.......