When I was pregnant with Cooper, one of my biggest complaints was that my belly button hurt. It hurt a lot, for weeks. I had to put hot compresses on it for relief- I mean, this really hurt. People thought I was nuts (although, to his credit, Matt did say that he believed me) and my OB at the time claimed it was normal and wasn't concerned.
Fast forward to post-partum, maybe 2 months out, so perhaps May or June of last year. The rest of me looked pretty dang normal for having a baby- some stretch marks, some extra body fat, but hey, that's the price of having a kid. But my belly button? Weird. Really weird. Nowhere near normal. And it never improved from then on. To this day, it is weird.
I'm not vain, and I've never had aspirations to be a bikini model, but I felt sort of betrayed by my belly button. I felt like it somehow had failed me- it was the only thing not to heal up on track, or at least act like I had expected it to. And all the websites, all the literature, everything said that basically your bellybutton would go back to normal- even if it had popped out like a freakin' turkey timer.
But not mine.
Today, at a routine checkup, my doctor was doing some routine doctor-y stuff when she stopped and said, "Has your belly button always looked like that?" To which I replied, "No, I think it is broken." And thus, with a very quick examination and some light poking, a nearly two year quasi-mystery has now been solved. I have a herniated umbilical region, combined with a fairly significant "Diastasis Recti" (stomach muscles distorted via pregnancy), which combines to make a very weird looking belly button. Which means I have a hernia. In my belly button.
It isn't something I need to worry about right now, but I do need to get it fixed sometime when it is convenient. Maybe next year. She said there is no rush.
And I feel better about the whole thing knowing the real story. I'm not crazy, there WAS something wrong with my belly button last winter, and in all probability it DID get damaged during pregnancy, and it IS weird looking, and I CAN get it fixed without feeling like I am crazy for getting cosmetic belly-button-plasty. So there. Take that.
Now go stick your finger in your own belly button and thank it for not looking or feeling like mine.
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2 comments:
I think it's always such a relief to find out one isn't crazy after all. I hope that nothing irritates/exacerbates it until you can have the hernia fixed next year.
The big sister in me just HAS to add that your belly button has ALWAYS been weird :P
Now Jen, the mom in me has to add to your comment:
No, Leigh's bellybutton has NOT always been weird! (but Leigh knew that)
Leigh, I always loved your bellybutton, (and I was one of the first to see it) and you and your bellybutton deserve to be reunited .... when the time is right for you.
This experience is just another to add to the list of mother-knows-best anecdotes . In this case, Leigh, you are the mother who knew best.
Go for the surgery when timing works for you. In the meantime, consider it another medal of honor in the Motherhood Corps. I could not be prouder.
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