Perhaps most alarming of all is having to wonder whether your baby’s genitalia are normal. The strange appearance can raise questions that you’d rather not have to ask, but that you need to know the answer to.
If your baby is a boy, you may notice a bulging or swelling in his testicles. This may be a hydrocele. It is common in newborn males, and is the result of extra fluid trapped in the scrotum. It’s harmless, and can take anywhere from six months to a year to completely go away. Have it checked by your baby’s pediatrician at every appointment, though; if the size of the swelling changes frequently, it could signal a hernia.
Your baby boy also may have an undescended testicle. Before a boy is born, his testicles are located way back inside his belly. At about the 29th week of gestation, they slowly descend into the scrotum. In about four percent of baby boys, one testicle will be undescended – meaning it didn’t “drop” like the other one and is still in the pelvic cavity. The vast majority of undescended testicles will gradually drop into the normal position by the time the baby is a year old (in one-year-old boys, only 0.7% of testicles are undescended). If the testicle doesn’t assume the normal position by age one, it can be brought down surgically.
If you chose not to have your baby circumcised, his foreskin will be tight, meaning that you cannot retract it to see the head of the penis. This is normal. The foreskin shouldn’t be forcibly retracted or you could cause injury to the baby. Most baby boys’ foreskins will be retractable by age one, and the rest by about age three.
Baby girls can also have genital “issues” at birth; the most common is swelling. The labia, or vaginal lips, may be very swollen at birth and from two to four weeks afterward. Your baby girl may also have a projection of pink tissue from her vagina, called a hymenal tag. All swelling is the result of Mom’s hormones still circulating in the baby’s system.