When I got pregnant with my first child, I hoped I'd have a boy. I'd grown up with three sisters and wanted a son so badly. After about a year into my son's life, I realized I knew next to nothing about penises. No one told me my son would get an erection at 2 weeks old and that he would be capable of peeing in his own eye while I was changing his diaper.
I've had to learn the rules that come with raising a son. I know fellow moms of boys know what I am talking about. We've learned that, for them, there is never a bad time to play with their penis, show it to people and talk about how it is "pricked up and won't go back down."
So, when I got pregnant with my third child and I learned I would have another son, I thought I would be an expert in the penis department.
I was wrong
But all that phone call did was put him in panic mode
"What?! That can't happen!" he said, when I told him our son's penis was gone. "I don't know what you mean. Did it just shrink?" When I asked him if that hat ever happened to him, he answered definitively, "No, that has never happened to me! I don't think that has happened to anyone, ever."
Feeling more panicked than ever, I called the doctor's office and while I was on hold I checked inside my son's diaper about 20 times.
When I told my son's doctor his penis was gone and it looked like a tiny concave circle, she didn't laugh at me. She did, however, tell me what to do. "Jack has a little fat pad around his penis," she said. "Sometimes when babies have that, their penis can nestle inside and it really does completely go away. It's like a turtle's head. Just put your fingers on either side of the fat pad, and gently press down."
I did as I was told and was so happy with the result, I yelled, "Yes, we have a penis!" It literally popped back out, kind of like a jack-in-the-box.
My son's penis continued to play a disappearing act for years
To this day, every time I find out a friend, family member or random stranger on the street is going to have a boy, I always tell them their child' penis might disappear and I let them know what to do if it does.
I mean, this should be something everyone is aware of.
