I would rather vaccinate. Even though it's also intentional exposure, the virus is deactivated. The risks posed by the vaccine are smaller than the risks posed by the actual illness.

That's a really great question, because there are a lot of myths out there about what it really means to be intact. One of the reasons I hear a lot, about why parent's choose circumcision, is because they believe intact (uncircumcised) penises are unclean and get infected. Many American parents don't have a lot of experience with raising intact boys, and don't think to question things they hear (I know I didn't before having Jack). The truth is, that foreskin does NOT cause health problems, nor should it be seen as a medical problem.
Things that DO cause health problems:
1) forced early retraction. Why? because at birth, til as late as the end of puberty, the foreskin remains fused to the head of the penis. They share a common membrane, just like your finger nails are fused to the nail bed. Over time, the foreskin naturally separates and the only person who should be retracting the boy, is the boy himself. This is something to make sure you and your care providers know, as I have heard countless horror stories of negligible nurses and pediatricians forcefully retracting infants and children. This is what causes scaring and infection, NOT the foreskin itself. Proper care of the intact penis means NOT forcefully retracting, and WHEN it does retract naturally on its own, is the when the boy begins to roll the skin back to clean. Even the AAP confirms this "But foreskin retraction should never be forced. Until the foreskin fully separates, do not try to pull it back. Forcing the foreskin to retract before it is ready can cause severe pain, bleeding, and tears in the skin.".
The foreskin actually helps PREVENT infection, when cared for properly. No dirt or debris can get under the foreskin, when it is fused to the head still. And when it begins to separate at a later age, urine naturally flushes it out.
2)unsafe sex...which is remedied effectively with mutual monogamy, condom use, and abstinence. Circumcised boys are not invincible to STD's and safe sex needs to be taught and practiced by everyone.
3) improper hygiene. for a infant/child who has not naturally retracted yet, you wash the penis like you do a finger, just run water over it. As previously stated, once retracted, the boy can roll the skin back and wash under it himself with water and mild soap, and roll forward. Easy! and certainly no more difficult to learn to wash, than we teach our children to wash any other part of the body.

about 85% of the world's males are intact, and they don't all have their penises falling off from infection. And in the rare instance that something does come up, like a UTI for example, there are quick, easy treatments that do not require circumcision. So unless a penis gets frostbite or gangrene, circumcision should be seen as a last resort, as a medical treatment. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you'd like further sources/articles. <3

No lol! Why would I care if people knew my old address? Where I no longer live? Move along now. I'm perfectly aware that you can Google people. Now go Google a celebrity and stalk them instead :o)

I think there are classy people in the community in 2011! Maybe you should unsubscribe from the ones who bother you.

I do have friends who are not christians.

Perhaps my year abroad during my degree, because I had such a great time. I'm not sure if I'd change anything though. I'd be too worried of the effect it could have on my life now.

I started off as a Biology & Chemistry double Major with a minor in Spanish (only because that was super easy for me to accomplish). I finished four years, but was a few credits shy of completing my degree. Then, life happened... it took me ten years to go back to school, but now I'm back and am still working towards medical school. However, my focus has shifted from plain old biology to Biotechnology and I absolutely LOVE it.

thoughts? oh yes....I have thoughts ;)

You haven't hurt me at all because I don't know you and we don't have a personal relationship. You correspond with me through the internet and I'm sure that's as far as things will ever go. I don't know what events these questions are pertaining to, but rest assured that I have no idea or care about what is going on...

I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't stalk other people's pages to see what you write. But, if more than one person has an issue with you about this, then you may need to do some re-evaluating...You have come across quite inappropriate on a few of my posts, but I've learned to ignore it. So, others may notice it also.

Thanks so much!! That forum is nothing but trash. They trash tons of other YTers I know, too and it's simply because they're either jealous, bitter or unhappy with their own lives. That's the only reason anyone would spend SO much time watching our every move, just to criticize it and try to bring us down. But I appreciate the views and money they make me though :P And I never go on those types of sites, for the most part. I ignore the hatred and focus on ALL of the overwhelming love and support I get from most of y'all :o)

And I'm sorry you've found anonymously calling me names to be the most mature way of communicating with me. It 'divests' any legitimacy you might have for being able tell anyone to 'grow up'. If you don't like me, that's fine. If you have no interest in having anything to do with me anymore, then that's also fine. It's certainly no loss to me to be rid of someone harbouring such negativity. So do us both a favour and go forget all about me. You obviously weren't talented enough to perform in my circus.

Loraandlayton, InformationMommy, Frowniebrown86 & CandidMommy are my top 4. I watch a lot of mommy vlogs though. :)

Stephanie (CindaLindasMommy) is definately my closest youtube friend! We had the same due date with our boys, texted constantly thru the last couple months and even thru labor! We had our boys on the same day too an hour apart!

Well, I am all of those things (though the nurse part is still in-progress until I finish my training). I also have wavy hair, love movies, am pregnant, etc, along with a whole other list of things that can be applied to me. So I guess I'm the Wavy-Haired-Movie-Loving-Pregnant-Jewish-Goth-Nurse-to-be-in-London-With-an-English-Husband, and whatever else can be tacked on. Like the fact that I enjoy baking, am afraid of heights, and sometimes miss driving.

But, in all seriousness, I suppose your question boils down to whether or not I'm more than just the sum of my more obvious parts. Of course I am. Those are just bits of me and my life; easy labels. Identity is so abstract. I try to nurture and embrace who I am, what I can improve upon, how I change over time, how I stay the same. Those things are harder to expose to the world - not because there's anything to hide, or that I don't want people to know me. Quite the opposite, really. I love opening up to people, finding common ground, and learning from existing differences. It's just that those opportunities arise from spending time with me, face-to-face. I'm naturally reserved and shy, perhaps to my detriment. But that's just another part of who I am.

Whatever happens between other people isn't my business.

Haha thanks so much!! I honestly don't know what to tell you lol! I was the same way. I couldn't wait to have a family one day and raise my babies. I just knew I had to wait for the right husband and timing before I had children. It was hard to wait, but so worth it!! Try getting a puppy lol! Seriously... you have to spend so much of your day potty training, and puppy proofing and disciplining and teaching, etc. PHEW! It's a lot like having a baby, but not as tough. It's a good cure for baby fever. At least temporarily lol!

lol How DARE we stand up for our friends!! Honestly, I just feel bad for the person who asked this question. They clearly don't know what it's like to have a group of good friends who always have their back and support them. However, I'm not going to be made to feel guilty because I do have such a great group of friends. We're just loyal girls and if someone is mean to one of us, the rest of us will be there for them. There's nothing immautre about that. I find it amusing that people are so quick to jump on us and call us out on anything and everything, but seem to totally overlook the fact that we have a great collab channel with high quality, informative videos, that make us money that we donate 100% of to various charities. But we'll just ignore all that and bash us for being close friends and standing up for each other :o) Totes makes sense!

aww, how amazing would that be?! I would LOVE to have Lora in the same town as me, and we could get together whenever we wanted! If a job opportunity comes up in Texas, we would definitely consider it! I would move there tomorrow, if I could bring my family with us...or just make Lora move to Kansas :p

I would definitely start by going out and buying the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility! AMAZING book!! and I use a basal body thermometer from CVS :) let me know if you have any questions!