Conference moira::parenting_v3

    
    The best thing is to talk to your OB.
    
    My OB said that she operates on the patient the next day after
    delivery. The operation involves an 1 inch incision below the
    belly button. The tubes gets either tied and cut or clamped.
    
    
    
    Eva.

    Depending on what Hospital you deliver in.  I gave birth to both
    my daughters in a Catholic Hospital and could not have the procedure
    done.  Therefore, my hubby had the pleasure of having a vasectomy
    ;-)!        
    
    Denise

re: .0

I'm not trying to rathole this topic, but have you considered having your 
husband get a vasectomy?  From a strictly medical point of view, a vasectomy
is an outpatient procedure while having your tubes tied is surgery requiring
a general anesthetic (sp?).

Bob_who_had_vasectomy_a_few_years_ago

I was never any too comfortable with the idea of a vasectomy, and had heard
rumours of potential problems.  My wife ended up having her tubes clamped
during her last c-section.

Since then I heard a confirmation of the rumour, and now I'm afraid I cannot
remember the source to quote it, but basically becasue the testes continue to
produce sperm (unlike the ovaries which have a stockpile of eggs), they are
usually released into the body and are destroyed there, but the problems
occur because this apparently upsets hormonal balances causing amongst other
things, severe mood disruptions (and no these were determined not to be the
psychological reaction to the operation).

Stuart

	Gary and I had always planned on having him be "fixed" because, as was
said earlier, it is a lesser operation in the male.  

	However, I talked my OB and he said that if we waited til 6 weeks after
the birth he would agree with that.  But that right after the birth everything 
is still pushed up where it is accessible and especially since you're already in 
the hospital, it's a lesser deal for the female to have it done.  

	The plan was that if I delivered vaginally, the tubes would be tied the 
next day under general anesthesia.  If I had a c-section, he would snip'em
while he was in there.   (Why make another cut?)  In either case, if he 
suspected	 any serious was wrong with the baby or I was experiencing any
problems, he reserved the right to not perform the operation at that time.

	After a long unproductive labor, I had a c-section  with epidural.  
They tie and cut my tubes at that time.  It's hard to tell how much the time 
was tube tieing and how much was closing me up after the C-section, but I was 
only in the OR for about 15 mins after Katie was delivered.  So it's obviously 
not a lengthy procedure.

	Things to bear in mind.  Even sterilization is not 100% effective.
Occassionally the tubes grow back.  If they do, your risk of ectopic pregnancy
is much higher than normal.  (Ectopic pregnancies are ones in which the baby 
attaches somewhere other than the utereus.  In this case it would be in the tube, 
which just cannot expand the required amount and will rupture - a life-
threatening situation...)

Tracey

	

    
    I requested having my tubes tied after my 2nd also.  However, it
    was recommended to me to wait about 6 months.  I was told that directly
    after birth, there is so much blood in the area that it makes it
    easier for the tubes to re-connect themselves.    
    
    There may also have been an underlying message that you may want
    to wait until after the "trauma" of having a child.  You may change
    your mind about having another.  
    
    Anyway, I did wait the 6 months and all went well.
    
    
    					jean

    I had my tubes tied after my fourth child.  It was a normal vaginal
    delivery, I went in the next day, general anesthesia is required in a
    case like that, and had them tied.
    
    My only caution is that it might make recovery from birth a bit more
    difficult, it did for me.  Because you're sore, stretched, tender, etc.
    to start with, then you get pumped full of gas so the doctor can see
    the tubes clearly, recovery might be a bit more painful.  The doctor
    did tell me it was easier to tie the tubes right after birth, cause
    they're higher up in the abdominal cavity so more accessible.  Had I to
    do it over again, I would have waited a few months till I was feeling
    fit again.  But There is something to be said for striking while the
    iron is hot! :*)  I don't regret having had it done.
    

    Is it the clamping process that can be more easily reversed? I know one is
    more so than the other. Same thing with the vasectomy - cutting versus
    clamping. 
    
    Andrea

    
    From what I understand, yes the clamping process is more easily
    reversed...but it's also the one that fails the most often.  So,
    if you're thinking of even possibly SOMEDAY of having another child,
    I suggest waiting for either operation.  Go with another form of
    birth control - granted, more inconvenient, but at least you'll
    know you can still have another when you want.  Then, when the day
    comes that you KNOW you don't want anymore, go ahead and sever the
    tubes.
    
    Also, the operation to reverse a vasectomy or tubal is much more
    serious and expensive and not a guarantee.
    
    
    					jean