Umbilical Hernia - Saint Paul,MN

I had the surgery done after my 3rd baby was born. My hernia began during my pregnancy with child # 2, but I did nothing until I knew I was done having kids. The surgery is only a few hours and I was out of commission for only a couple of days. Your husband will have to take a few days off to help out, or you'll need to have someone else come in.

The surgery was great though. Besides fixing my hernia, the doctor also cut off all that extra skin that was hanging there. My hernia also caused my belly button to stretch to about 4 times its normal size and he fixed that too.

Eventually, you'll have to get the surgery done. It might be easier to do it when the baby is so young and not moving around. Also, you're not allowed to carry heavy objects for a while after the surgery, so I'd do it while the baby is so small and hardly weighs anything.

It's difficult for me to answer your question as to what you should do while pregnant. I got mine when I delivered my daughter--it was like someone took a knife and cut/sliced me across the stomach on the inside--and it wasn't discovered until she was 2.5 years old. Yes, I had pain. But the pain came and went and didn't cause me undue pain until the very end. My doctor couldn't find where the pain was coming from. It got to the point where I'd be driving my car to work in downtown traffic and I'd get a sudden, searing, knifelike pain that would slice across my stomach. The pain was so intense that I would almost black out. Finally my doctor sent me to a surgeon. He had me stand, poked his finger into my belly button, and asked if that hurt. Hurt? He just about made me pass out! Yeah, THAT was the spot.

The surgery went well, and I was up and about pretty fast. They used laproscopy, I believe, to do it. But I have a high pain tolerance level and heal pretty fast, so my results might not be the same as yours.

Oh, and mine didn't stick out; it was inside. In fact, by the time the surgeon went in to fix it, it was pretty bad. He said 2.5 years was a bit long to wait to have it fixed. I just looked at him and said my doctor couldn't find it. He said that is actually very common for the type of umbilical hernia I had.

So with yours sticking out and being pregnant, I can only imagine the pain. But I really wonder if they'll do anything about it until after the baby's born, just because they don't like doing surgery while the baby's still inside. I also wonder if the hernia will change your birthing options--like having to have a C-section--just because of the intense pushing that occurs with a natural childbirth? It could cause it to become worse or, in the worst-case scenario, break open.

I would talk to my OB/GYN and look at all the options. If it's better to wait until it's time for baby's arrival to do something about the hernia, then I would try to have it taken care of right after her delivery. Maybe if you have a C-section the surgeon could be there and fix the hernia right away? That would be the best-case scenario.

I have one and unlike the other ladies, mine bugs me! I got it while I was pregnant with my daughter along with gall bladder issues. When my surgeon removed my gall bladder, he saw the hernia and said it looked like a "good one". I didn't have problems with it UNTIL my son started PreK, then Kindergarten and caught every cold and flu.The coughing and sneezing made it pop out and HURT!!! When I have gas, the kind that bloats your belly...it pops out. It's time for me to get mine fixed, but I'm not up for dealing with the recovery!

I have an umbilical hernia from 3 pregnancies and my ob always asks if it bothers me. I don't know if she means physically or aesthetically :) but it doesn't bother me much either way. Nobody sees my tummy except my husband. It doesn't hurt. Is yours painful? My ob says if it doesn't bother me then its best to just leave it alone.

Go talk to the surgeon. The surgeon can answer all your questions and help you make the best decision. The surgeon is the expert. Trust them.

I had an umbilical hernia with my second child. It hurt pretty bad but my dr told me that after the baby's born, sometimes working out can fix it on it's own. And if not he said there's a very simple surgery he can do. I never had the surgery and my belly button, while it never looked the same, no longer hurts. I'm now pregnant with my third child and have had very slight pain a couple times when I laughed but nothing to complain about. I never did ask the doctor about it but I figure if it's not bothering me, then no big deal. I know I'm not full of information but I hope this helps.

I got an umbilical hernia during my pregnancy with twins (I had an 8lber and a 7lber!) and now three years later I have never had it repaired. I would like to do it one day because my tummy muscles have a hard time holding everything in so my tummy is a little pudgier than I would like. I have managed to loose weight which helps and I think most of the time I look pretty good. I avoid doing sit ups or any hard core ab workout and i've never had a problem.