Le Circ

No, it's not a fancy restaurant. It's a circumcision. I found out last week that they call circumcisions "circs".

I saw a total of 4 of them in two days. The first day there was only 1 and the doctor used something called a Gomco Clamp, as seen below.

The next day a different MD did the procedure on three babies and she used something called a Mogen Clamp.
If you asked me a week ago what I thought about circumcision, I would have been very casual about it and would have said "What's the big deal?" I have a different opinion about it now. I still think it is up to the parents, but I don't think it is something I would choose for my child.

Why do I say that? Because of the look on my face while I watched it being done. My jaw was down to my knees and my eyes were wide open. My instructor just about peed herself and said she wished she had a camera. I'm not surprised, since that's normally how I look in the OR, but people can't see it because of the mask.

Just so you think it isn't completely barbaric, they numb the baby with lidocaine. Plus, to keep the kid distracted they use a concentrated sugar water called "Tootsweet" which is put on a finger and given to the child like a pacifier. Everyone in my group, except me, was scrambling to give the sugar water. I was thrilled because I got to put on sterile gloves and prep the instruments for each procedure. Naturally, that was the highlight of my week.