Umbilical Hernia? I thought that was something children had and grew out of. I’m an adult! I’ve never had stomach problems. Hernia? I’m young and relatively healthy. I work out and before I got pregnant the first time I had very nice abs. I thought being in such good condition before starting my family would help prevent physical complications after giving birth. Wrong!
During my first pregnancy I worked out three days a week in order to maintain a healthy body. I didn’t push myself too hard, just enough to get my heart rate up and keep my thighs toned. My stomach was going to stretch no matter what I did; stretch marks seem to be a genetic curse in my family. Despite being healthy and fit I became one of the many women who are pregnant for the first time to end up with Preeclampsia.
Preeclampsia lead to an emergency birth situation ending in a Cesarean section. Recovery from a C-section is draining. I remember feeling like my body was sucking all my energy out of me in an attempt to heal itself. Two and a half months after my baby girl was born I was beginning to feel whole again. My body was healing, or so I thought.
During the fourth month after my pregnancy I noticed a stinging burning pain directly above my navel. At first I was worried that my scar from the C-section had opened, but I had a low horizontal incision, which didn’t seem to be located anywhere near the pain I was feeling. Investigating my pain I discovered a lump protruding above my navel. My guts were trying to push their way out of a tiny hole that had somehow developed above my belly button. The thing that confused me is how I developed a hernia.
Pregnancy had stretched my stomach, but I hadn’t seen any signs of a hernia during the entire nine months. I looked at my bulging tummy many times and never noticed any weak points in the super stretched skin around my navel. Due to complications with preeclampsia I had never endured labor so I never had to push or strain my stomach with contractions.
So how did I end up with an umbilical hernia from pregnancy? My family doctor informed me that umbilical hernias are very common in pregnant women. But, I didn’t feel like I was one of the many because I never went through labor. I determined that labor strain isn’t always the cause of post birth umbilical hernias. Now what?
After reading up on umbilical hernias online I learned that they often heal themselves in children. I was hoping my body was healthy enough to heal itself. Adults with umbilical hernias can get hernia belts that help hold in the bulge. From what I could tell, some articles are unclear, the hernia belt doesn’t really lead to hernias healing themselves, but it is a possibility in rare situations. More commonly it just offers support and relief from the hernia coming out and causing pain.
I was willing to test it out. Unable to find where to purchase a hernia belt, I decided to buy some tight spanx knock offs. The tummy tucker material sucked my entire rubber tummy in nicely. I suddenly looked like I had a figure for the first time since I had my baby. This seemed like a fantastic additional benefit to hernia support. The only problem was that I was still having stinging burning pain.
I was confused because my hernia wasn’t bulging out, but it was still hurting me. Panic and worry kicked in. “I must have some horrid condition involving leaking innards!” I thought. Returning to my family physician I discussed my constant pain regardless of the bulge protruding or not. We decided to operate and fix the small opening. Because we weren’t sure if there was an additional problem we opted for a small incision instead of a laparoscopic procedure.
Thankfully the operation was considered a simple outpatient procedure. I arrived half an hour before the operation was scheduled in order to prep. Nerves kicked in, as they do before any procedure no mater how small. I was wheeled into the operating room and then the sedative kicked in. I love sedatives.
I woke up a little while later to find the surgery went incredibly well. The incision was less than an inch big. My constant pain had been caused by my intestines being lodged in the small opening even when it wasn’t bulging. The opening was constantly irritated. The hernia itself required only two stitches in order to close. I went home that day with orders not to lift anything over 20lbs for 5 weeks.
Three days after the simple surgery I was feeling amazing. I didn’t even need pain medication any longer. What a relief! I was feeling better with a healing incision wound than I had with a tiny little hernia. However, my belly button is a little different than it was before. There is a quarter inch scar hidden in the tuck of my skin. My only problem was trying to remember not to lift anything over 20lbs. I was feeling so energetic and relieved from pain that I wanted to accomplish anything and everything around the house.
Umbilical hernia? I still don’t know how I ended up with one without having much pregnancy strain or previous indication of a weak area above my navel. But, I don’t worry too much about it now. I’m just relieved it’s fixed.
