yesterday morning i spent a little over an hour in a waiting room while ray had a vasectomy. i barely had time to get through this week's issue of "entertainment weekly."
since the day i met him ray has been adamant about not wanting children. and in the time we've been together (almost 6 years now) i've come to the same conclusion about myself.
so over the last few months, as it's become clear that i should get my IUD removed, we each had a consultation about sterilization procedures. i learned that tubal ligation is serious business, with general anesthesia and a puffed-up belly-full of gas. it's surgery, with a recovery room and everything. ray learned that vasectomy only requires local anesthesia and a couple of tiny incisions. after amassing all the facts, ray quickly volunteered to be the one to get snipped.
yesterday when he emerged from the bowels of the clinic after the procedure, he was fully dressed, walking normally, and aside from being a little freaked out over how quickly the whole thing happened he was emotionally steady as well. we made an appointment for a follow-up lab (gotta check to make sure all those sperm have actually DIED! DIED! DIED!) three months from now, then drove to the drugstore to get his prescription filled (tylenol with codeine).
he's only taken one of those pills. he says he's in no pain... a little discomfort from a bit of swelling, maybe, but definitely not pain. when i woke up this morning he was loading the dishwasher and feeding the cats. he's supposed to be "off his feet" for 48 hours, but so far i've only seen him be still when he was napping yesterday afternoon.
he's off work until monday, and has been told not to do anything strenuous for a week. and it's going to be a while before he can get on a bike again (which is his only means of transportation), so i'll be carting him around a lot.
which is something i'm all too glad to do for him.
Posted by xta at July 28, 2005 11:14 AM | TrackBackWell, while I think that you would have made a stunningly interesting contribution to the gene pool......I also respect your reproductive choices and am glad you guys had such a good option available to you.
Am I morally obligated to have another kid to make up for the one you are not contributing to the left-wing cause? - you know the religious right is out there breeding........
Posted by: Gidge at July 28, 2005 12:40 PMCan you cart me around too? I had my wisdom teeth out this week--about the same level of postop pain and inconvenience. I feel for Ray, though the specifics are obviously different. I read somewhere that inactivity is best for healing without complications, and I'm practicing that inactivity as much as humanly possible (for a breeder with two active offspring, anyway).
Hey, I just remembered, you saw me pregnant with Jake--who'd want to go through THAT? I feel like I did my part to lower the birth rate among WXDU djs c.1994-1995, just be sharing the experience in all its hideousness. (And the second time, it was worse.)
Posted by: Penny at July 28, 2005 01:10 PMpenny-
as i recall, while you were pregnant you were having violent reactions *to the smell of toast.* i cannot imagine nine months of that.
and gidge-
like you NEED an excuse to squirt out more babies! ;-)
huh. well. not sure what to say. but, for some reason (what a joke) feel COMPELLED to say something.
I had IUD's for years and years. After Youngest we had agreed that it was K's turn. He didn't recover as well as Ray. And was VERY private about it (he would KILL me right now) but he also managed to leave all his paperwork regarding the surgery in a library book - which went back to the library. The librarian was good enough to mail it all back to us and I was able to tell him that the papers were posted at the front desk so that their rightful owners could claim them.
heh
heh.
Now you can make all those "shootin blanks" jokes.
Posted by: blackbird at July 28, 2005 02:02 PMpenny, i remember that pregnancy! that was hell! i think one of like two things you could eat were sugar wafers. i remember you sitting at board meetings eating packets of sugar wafers. and talking about how you had to leave the apartment every time your husband cooked food.
Posted by: lisa at July 28, 2005 03:44 PMas someone who has had the post-surgical belly o' gas, let me just say: wise choice for you not to go through with it. the gas made my shoulders hurt like hell and the swelling took about five days to go down. it was definitely way worse than any of the pain related to the surgery itself, and sounds a lot more annoying than what ray is going through. be sure and treat him to lots of loco pops so he can get well soon!
Posted by: alicia at July 28, 2005 05:33 PMYep, sugar wafers--I've almost never eaten them since then, either. Hideous months. I think I caused poor Martin Hall a traumatic vasectomy just by being in his presence, he always looked so horrified by my gravid state. (The Carolina-born son, Jake--not "Nusrat," as Christa speculated in the notebook--will be ten next week.) I like being a mother, but kids should really find a way to grow on trees.
Posted by: Penny at July 28, 2005 05:42 PMChrista, I have never been so entertained by your comments. Good on Ray for getting the snip. The benefits are multi-fold.
(I could put a smiley there, but I can't decide if it would look prurient or not)
and blackbird - a library book! oh my god! I'm laughing out loud.
Posted by: pinky at July 28, 2005 07:35 PMthey don't exactly SQUIRT out you know.
Not like I'm having liquid babies.....
on a side note, did I ever tell you that IF we ever have another one we've already picked the boy name?
It's Ray..........
They prepped. They snipped. We left.
Moderate soreness under control by staying off feet and staying on codeine. Nothing strenuous for a couple weeks. Back to work Monday, I intend.
Thanks for everyone's good wishes! I'm sure I'll be fine. See ya next sometime.
I hope everything comes out well for both of you. OMG, did I actually say that? :)
Now, in my official role as The Most Cynical Person On The Planet And Official Parade-Rainer, I'd like to add that the idea of making antibodies to my own sperm kinda grosses me out. I guess alternatively one could have his testicles removed and get hormone replacement -- in some ways not too different from having a hysterectomy (the hysterectomy is still much worse surgically).
Posted by: Joseph H. VIlas at July 29, 2005 09:22 PM