Bris=Traumatic

Tuesday was Eli's bris. (It was more than 8 days after his birth b/c of Passover.) I was worried about it. Josh's family was all here. My family was not - except for Tina. We are still having issues with me/us being Jewish. It makes me sad, but I understand where they are coming from, I guess. Anyway, the actual snipping went well, I guess. Eli cried like a maniac, but it was pretty quick and he quieted down soon after he got some wine-dipped gauze in his mouth.

So...it was supposedly all over. The mohel then showed us how to do the aftercare. Except Eli was still bleeding. He was freaking out and crying when we took off his diaper. The mohel said he had knicked a vessel and we had a "bleeder." Josh, who can't handle blood and related phenomena/words, just about passed out on the bed as there was A LOT of blood coming out of our wee one's junk. The mohel tried to stop it by applying pressure. Didn't work. Eli was very unhappy and started crying and screaming more. The mohel then attempted to clamp it. First time, it didn't work. Eli is now SCREAMING louder than he's ever screamed before. I am holding his upper body as still as I can and crying my eyes out while the mohel is still working on trying to clamp the vein. The second time around he managed to do it. Still more ear-piercing, blood curtling SCREAMING from my 10 day old baby. But at least he stopped the bleeding. It was just horrible.

But apparently, this can happen. No one told me that. All along, I've been told, it's no big deal. And, it's worse for you than him. No way. I mean, it was horrible for me, but it was AWFUL for him. I never want to do that again. Seriously, if we have another boy, I don't think I can do that again. I'd much prefer he make his own informed decision later in life. (This will not make the Jewish relatives happy, but whatever.)

Sorry to those of you with a similar situation. I understand this is relatively common, but doesn't happen every time and that where Eli was bleeding was a little unusual and pressure usually fixes the situation. So it's not usually as bad as our experience, I guess, even when there is a "bleeder."

And, just so you know, everything is seemingly fine now. The bleeding has stopped. There has been less crying with every diaper change. And the pediatrician said everything looks fine. We, luckily, had an appointment the day after, so we had her take a looksie. So, sigh of relief. All I could think was, how could I have done this to my new baby. I just can't believe that such a procedure is such an integral part of my religion.

In happier news...our baby is a total piggie and now weighs 11 lbs 5 oz. Most babies have only regained their birth weight at two weeks, but ours has gained almost a full pound over that.