Umbilical Hernia Anyone?

Mine was small......BUT excruciating! It was definitely worse than childbirth. Mine was umbilical as well and I had it fixed with surgery. I think most surgeries are uncalled for but there is NO other way to fix it and living with it can make it worse. There are also dangers associated with it if your intestines get caught and strangled in the hole. Mine was small enough for a couple of simple stitches. I almost wish I had had the screen put it because as you gain weight you can pull this area again. With the screen, it's not supposed to happen...at least that's what they told me. I have not had any issues with it but I do feel a little pull every once in a while when I reach the wrong way. Recovery was quick...I was back to normal completely in 6 weeks.

Hope this helps!...and congratulations on #5!

M.

My daughter, at 7 years old, had Hernia Surgery.
Her's was an "Inguinal Hernia."

Keep in mind, that hernias can get worse. It is a hole in the abdominal wall... and the internal organs, poke out of that hole. Hence the 'bulging' of a Hernia.
Now, what is poking out of that hole/Hernia, are internal organs. Such as, intestines or in my daughter's case, even the Ovary.

IF a Hernia "strangulates"... this means, that whatever is sticking out of that hole, is getting strangled.... by the Hernia hole, which at any time, can close up. Hence, the internal organ if it is getting squeezed like a vise... and it is sticking out of that hole... it can GANGRENE, and it is then an EMERGENCY situation, and you can lose, that organ.
If an organ is getting strangulated... then you have about 2 hours to get into the ER and operating room.

My daughter had her's surgically corrected/fixed, via Laproscopic surgery.
She was a champ about it.
She said, she is GLAD she had the surgery because now she does not have to worry... and she was having pain from it too. And it was Bulging...

It is not about how much pain it causes... but the 'potential' for it getting 'strangulated.'

Look online about 'strangulated hernias.' or symptoms of strangulated hernias.
There are MANY types of Hernias and levels of seriousness.

My Daughter's surgery took 1 hour. General Anesthesia. Then recovery after. Of which, it can take a couple of hours. Then she came home. Rest and not doing ANY strenuous activity. Follow-up check ups. And per HER Surgeon, not doing anything strenuous or heavy lifting for about 2 weeks post-op... BUT that the incision takes IDEALLY 1 month, to completely heal and mesh together. He has seen, in kids, the incision/suture rupture/split, because the kid did not reduce any heavy activity after the surgery.

My Daughter, recovered fine and was up on her feet in no time. BUT... just to be cautious, we did not have her do any heavy activities, for 1 month. AND I told her Teachers in school.

Her Surgeon's own son, had a Hernia surgery... because one day, he got a call, his son was being flown in to the hospital, because his Hernia, was strangulating. The Surgeon said at that point, it is about 2 hours, that you have to do surgery on it... or you lose that organ due to Gangrene... etc.

Hernia Surgery, is done in various ways.
Sutured together or there is a "mesh" that they can use too.
EACH case is different.
The Surgeon, should explain this to you, per your case and issues.

Now, for Diastatis.... doing OBLIQUE stomach exercises is what is recommended. NOT crunches. But stomach exercises that you cross your elbow to the opposite knee sort of thing.
BUT your separation, sounds like a lot.
So, it may not work.
I have Diastasis. But my separation is not as great as yours.
Only about 2 fingers.

Yes, I have a herniated belly button from my pregnancy, too. Doesn't hurt a bit. I thought about having it taken care of via surgery, but it's a major surgery and I'd be in bed for a week or so afterward and to me, it just wasn't worth it. In my case, it's not too bad looking and since it doesn't hurt, I probably will never do anything about it unless it gets worse. (I had my child 6 years ago)

Hi T.,

Sorry about answering so late... I saw your post a while ago but our computer is broken... I was waiting for it to be fixed so I could
respond...... Since that hasn't happened, I am writing back from my phone!!! So, please excuse any spelling errors or strange typing.... I really wanted to get back to you though.

I had an umbilical hernia during my second pregnancy. I had been sick with a terrible cough for two weeks and one night I just noticed that my belly button felt extremely sore to the touch. I also realized it was bulging out and that I I pushed on it just so I could push the bulging part back in. Kind of icky! I had never heard of an umbilical hernia but I just knew it was a hernia of some sort. I googled "belly button and hernia" and self-diagnosed that evening! Of course all this was verified by OB and ultrasound. My OB had my visit a general surgeon just to get aquainted and to make sure that if anything happened I would already have a surgeon lined up. I'm glad she did!

At first it didn't cause much pain unless I pressed on it. It was kind of like a funny party trick (hey, look at this weird thng my belly button can do!) but as the pregnancy progressed it got much worse. It started getting "stuck" ..... It was excrutiating and I could hardly move when it would happen. Fir a while I could push it back in with a little manipulation (lying down seemed
to allow gravity to pull it back in).

The final straw came when I was visiting my family back East. My son (1 and a half then) and I were staying with my Mom. My Mom had gone
to work that day so I was pushing my son around the neighborhood in a stroller. I was probably a half mile from her house when my hernia got "stuck"..... I was doubled
over in pain and couldn't get it back in. Somehow we got home and after an hour I finally called my Mom and asked her to come
home from work. I was stuck on the floor and my poor son was freaking out! He wouldn't come anywhere near me even though I was doing my best to act normal (I just kept smiling and told
him I was "resting"......

After about 1.5 hours it finally went back in. It happened once more the next day. I ace bandaged it and tried something similar to your sock method. I made it home on the airplane, saw the surgeon the next day and ha surgery the following day! I was 23 or 24 wks by then ... Can't exactly recall. I do know that they said second trimester is safest for surgery. I had IV sedation which is safer than
anasthesia while pregnant. My surgeon used the mesh, which from my understanding, is the best method.

The recovery was OK. Rough the first few
days and no lifting for a while. I had to teach my son to get in and
out of his crib with a chair ... Kind of crawling
out onto me and the chair.

I believe the hernia was so problematic at that point in my pregnancy because my uterus was growing up past my belly button.

The rest of the pregnancy was fine and after I recovered I continued with normal exercise including weights and cardio up to the date I delivered

After my pregnancy I noticed the bulge
again. An ultrasound
confirmed I had a
hernia again. I had another surgery and the old mesh (which was all crumpled up apparently) was replaced. The only reason I had to have a
second surgery was because there was no way for
the mesh to adhere to a growing
belly! The second mesh fix did the job and has lasted incredibly well.... Through a third pregnancy even! I had a few pulling type sensations while pregnant with number 3 but nothing I couldn't handle. I also exercised throughout pregnancy
so I really believe the mesh is the way to go.

I'm sorry you are
dealing with this. I don't know how far along you are but if you end
up needing it repaired during pregnancy,
don't worry!

Best of luck!