No longer a "Wimpy White Male"

Ben's been home a week... Sorry for the lack of updates, but I have been exhausted. I'd forgotten about the whole transition period when a new baby first comes home.


Ben finally started eating well early last week. At one point, Doug actually got into a bit of an argument with one of the nurses, because it was looking as if they wanted to keep Ben longer (I think Doug seriously thought that they were keeping him longer than necessary because I have good insurance) but luckily the NICU doctor agreed with us and he was released.

It was funny while Ben was in the hospital, I kept hearing him referred to as a Wimpy White Male by the nurses. Initially, I thought that was fairly offensive, but just ignored it. Finally, one of my OB/GYN doctors came over to talk to me in the waiting room asking how he was doing and also referred to him as a WWM. I assume that I gave her a quizzical look, because she launched into an explanation. It appears that if a baby is a white male, then he is more likely to have problems with things that are really non-issues when they are newborns. They are more likely to need assistance with breathing and feeding for no apparent reasons. Now, normally I would just ignore this type of explanation due to the fact that it sounds racist, but I was hearing this from a doctor that I respect greatly. Over the next couple of days, I did a little more observation in the NICU and I have to admit, that it appears to be a fairly accurate assessment. In Ben's NICU, if a baby was big and healthy looking (a baby that didn't look as if he belonged in a NICU) then it was a white male. The baby girls and and African American boys were all going home earlier and with lower weights, but were eating and breathing as expected. I have yet to find time to look this up, but I bet there is some info on this on the web somewhere.

The girls were so excited to finally have him home. They had only been able to see him once through the nursery window because the hospital is on lock down do to H1N1. They were only letting parents into the NICU to see the babies, and they usually do not allow NICU babies into the viewing area of the nursery. I had to convince one of the night nurses to let me bring him to the window. Meron laughed pretty hard at him, and Leigh cried. Actually, Leigh's best friend Caitlyn also cried. It was such a sweet moment.


I was pretty happy to have him home for Thanksgiving, but I had mentally prepared myself to spend Thanksgiving Day in the hospital waiting room in between Ben's feedings. 12 days of spending the majority of my time in the waiting room was interesting (it was much easier the first two days while I was still a patient as well). I live a fairly sheltered life, and don't regularly hang out in the general public. I usually avoid crowded places (IE. shopping malls, tourists attractions & the like) like the plague. This is not due to some type of social phobia, I just don't really like crowds (or people, really)... So, this whole waiting room crowd was some pretty crazy people watching for me. Georgia has some very interesting people. I saw and heard things from these people that I would have thought was spawned from a brilliant TV comedic writers mind... Overall, it reminded me why I normally avoid crowds. Also, it made me respect my doctors even more.

My pair of OB/GYN doctors are awesome. They are Yale/Johns Hopkins educated sisters who have recently taken over their father's practice. They were like pitbulls on a steak (learned that one here in GA) while investigating my multitude of medical issues. They went after each issue so thoroughly that I was constantly impressed. They also hooked me up with several specialist that with which I have been just as impressed. So, after many days of hanging out in the hospital waiting room observing the general public in GA, it occurred to me that these women are practically saints. I can't imagine matriculating from Yale then then trying to educate and treat the mostly uneducated GA masses. (That probably sounds pretty snobby of me, but I really have never witnessed things like what I saw in that waiting room.)

Anyway, the girls were pretty happy to have Ben home also. Leigh, in particular, fawns over him constantly. She was so worried that I would be spending most of Thanksgiving at the hospital and was thrilled that both Ben and I were home instead. Meron is cute about it, too. Her favorite thing, so far, about Ben has been his farts. She gets all giggly every time she hears one and gives him a big smile that seems to say "You rock". Overall, there has been a big improvement with both of them since Ben has come home, and Doug and I aren't constantly rushing off to the hospital.

Ben... what can I say? I am one lucky mommy. He is such a sweet, snuggly, mellow baby. He rarely cries; usually only when he is hungry. His first couple of days home were pretty stressful, because it was still a fight to keep him awake enough to finish his feedings. But after a couple of days it was like things just finally clicked and he started eating like a pig. Since then he has been gaining weight (he had dropped from 7lb 4oz to 6lb 12oz at one point in the hospital) and now weighs over 8 lbs.


Oh, and I have to say, lactation seems to be the best weight loss program, ever. I am averaging a weight loss of close to a pound a day. I now weigh 25 lbs less than the day Ben was born (that's 20 lbs less than my first OB appointment). I am in no way watching what I am eating; I am not exercising. Seriously, if I had known losing weight could be this easy, I would have investigated inducing lactation without having a baby years ago. As it stands, Ben may very well be on breast milk until he is 10. (I know, I know... TMI)

EDIT: I did find quite a bit of infomation about Wimpy White Males.