My big day…

When I was born, I was born with “hypospadias”… The best way to explain it to everyone is : “Hypospadias is a birth (congenital) defect in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside, rather than at the end, of the penis.  The incidence is reported to be 1 in 300 live male births.”  Of course, I had to be the 1 in 300, because I like to be different! As a result of this condition, I had to have it surgically repaired when I was 8-9 months old, so today was my big day. Mommy and daddy were very nervous, but also VERY glad the day was finally here, and also soon to be over! Mommy found the best pediatric urologist, who did the successful surgery in 45 minutes! I loved my “loopy medicine” they gave me before the surgery, and I just smiled, giggled an cooed at mommy until it was time to go in. When I was in the OR, I was a happy little guy, playing with my blood pressure cuff until it was time for them to give me medicine to put me to sleep through a fun looking “monster” face mask. When I was asleep, they gave me an IV (which I am VERY glad I didn’t have to feel), and fixed me right up! When I went to the recovery room, I was too sleepy to wake up, so I made mommy and daddy wait nervously in the waiting room for quite a while. After a great bottle of glucose water, I started to wake up, and mommy & daddy could finally come back to see me. They looked SO relieved (even though I only kept my eyes open for a few seconds to see them)! After a little time back up on the pediatric floor, and some discharge teaching for my mom & dad (how to take care of my incision and my catheter that I need for a few days), it was time to pack up and head home. The whole process took about 7 hours, and I didn’t cry ONCE the whole day! My sister Abby was SO proud of me, and was very happy to see that I was ok. She even baked me a special cake with Aunt Bridget to celebrate my successful surgery! Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers for me and my family, and I’ll keep you updated on how I’m doing!

-Ben

Hanging out with daddy before my surgery…

Cuddling with mommy after I was all fixed up…

I hardly even noticed I had an IV until they took it out!

My Aunt Bridget and sister Abby are the best!

A mere 24 hours after surgery, and I’m pretty much back to my happy, giggly self!