Umbilical Hernia

Hayleigh - posted on 06/16/2010

Hi everyone and thank you for all your comments.
We have since had several appointments with various doctors and consultants and referrals as it turned out my daughter not only had an umbilical hernia but also a secondary hernia about the size of a pea above and a defect in her abdominal wall causing a raised area from the middle of her chest all the way down to her tummy button when she strains or moves from laying to sitting. The consultant that travelled down to visit us at the children's hospital spent a lot of time with us drawing diagrams etc and has decided that to operate would do more harm than good. She would be left with an awful scar down her tummy which although would fade would be clearly better avoided. The defect in the abdominal wall is not something that will rectify itself as there is a huge space between the muscles (I can't remember the medical term for it now!!) and the hernia she has is so large you can easily push your index finger into it. For that reason the consultant said it was safer to leave it as he is happy that any bowel that moves through the hole will not become obstructed or strangulated and can freely move back to position (sounds terrible when you start talking about bowel moving through holes and strangulation!!!)
She has been discharged and will not be operated on so will always have a big 'outey' tummy button and a raised section down her middle. She's 2 in a fortnight so I tell her she has a special tummy button and just keep my fingers crossed that when she's at school and it's seen when she's changing for P.E or swimming or whatever that no one makes fun of her!!!!
I hope all of you who have been kind enough to share your experiences of hernias (!!) have very happy healthy children whether it be with little innie tummy buttons or special outie ones like my beautiful girl ;)

Jennifer - posted on 06/15/2010

My daughter was born 6 days "late" with one. Her doc has been monitoring it and says they don't really do surgery for most of them now. She will turn 3 in a few weeks and still has a small one. It doesn't cause her any troubles and is slowly getting smaller.

Sharon - posted on 06/15/2010

If it helps my daughter has the upper abdominal one and the surgeon said they usually leave those alone until they reach the age where they begin school....3-5 years of age. They want the muscles to heal on their own as far as they can. However my daughter is having surgery this friday for hers at 2 1/2 years of age because they want to repair what has not healed yet before she enters school this fall. The hernias do shrink as the muscles heal themselves but sometime they need a little help - that is what the surgeon told us.

Laura - posted on 06/15/2010

its nothing to do with being born early. two of my kids have had it and they were both over a week late. my eldest has had surgery on it and my youngest has now been referred. she was 3 when she had hers my little one is one. it may be that she may well have to an operation. they have only referred my boy this early because his sisters didnt go so they may not do your daugthers till she is a bit older. the op is simple and takes 20mins and will be out the same day.

Lisa - posted on 01/27/2009

my son, Conly, had this same thing - poor fellow, it stuck out like a long balloon and when he cried or strained it would get bigger.  Doctors told me the same thing, wait until 12 months, it will likely correct itself but I was not convinced because it was so big.  But sure enough, it's totally normal now without any intervention - he kind of "grew into it" around 1 year old - it started looking normal and still does -- he's 4 now.  And it's an innie!

Melissa - posted on 01/21/2009

Hello Hayleigh my 15 month daughter has the same thing and our doctor has told us that it will correct itself. We were also told that it will usually correct itself fully by the time the child reaches age 5. That seems like a long time to wait for it to correct itself but I would rather wait that long instead of going ahead with an operation. My daughters has seemed to get larger instead of smaller and our doctor is not concerned about it at all. I do have to agree that when she screams and crys it does seem to pop out alot more and it does not look that pleasant but I know that it is not bothering her. She also thinks that it is great that her little outie belly button is cute unlike a "normal" innie.

Dorothea - posted on 01/20/2009

My son had a HUGE one,and it went away on it's own. It took a while, and was a bit unnerving for the people who changed his diapers, but it did go away. Don't worry. Enjoy your daughter, and all her little quirks.

Anne - posted on 01/20/2009

Two out of my three kids have had umbilical hernias. My oldest son's went away by the time he was one, my younger son is seven and still has it. His hernia was so big when e was born that I could put three fingers in it. It's slowly down to where I can just put one finger in it. Our doctor has said that as long as it doesn't bother him we don't need to fix it. For the last couple of years my husband and I have left it up to our son to get the surgery and he likes his outie so haven't done anything yet.

Chrystal - posted on 01/20/2009

My daughter who is nw 5 years had a unmbilical hernia when she was 3 months old and the doctor wanted to wait till she was 1 year at her 1 year check they noticed it had srunk and so they put it off till she was 2 and by the time she was 17 months it had gone away on its own and she is just fine with her innie : ) I also had the same thing when i was a baby and they operated on mine and i also have and innie, my brother in law had the same thing and had surgery ( hes the same age as me so same times) and he has NO belly button at all! give it time the doc knows what hes doing even though i thought they were just to busy to take care of my baby. its gross to look at exspecaily when they cry because it pops out soooo much but it will go away : ) better to wait and be safe! (plus when i was prego with both my kids my belly button never poped out : ( i was really bummed and blamed it on the surgery! wether its true or not i dont know! LOL)

Spring - posted on 01/20/2009

My son had an umbilical hernia when he was young and the doctors said it would go away on it's own by around age 2 and it did.

Stacey - posted on 01/20/2009

My daughter had the same issue when she was born.  She was only one week early, but a very large baby.  The doctor just kept an eye on it and wasn't going to do anything about it until she got older and wanted to see if it would correct itself.  It did go away on it's own.  I can't remember how old she was exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was by the time she was a year old or so (definitely before she was 2).  She has a perfect belly button (she's 13 now).  I'm sure each child is different, but I'm sure if it's shrinking some on it's own then her chances are probably good.  I wouldn't stress about it too much. 

Gail - posted on 01/20/2009

hi Hayleigh, just to let you know one of my triplets had an umbilical hernia, i know it looks frightening and sore but believe me it will go away - it took about 4 months to go completely but there is no sign it was ever there. so dont worry she will be fine xxx

Gina - posted on 01/19/2009

DO NOT do the quarter thing without first consulting your physicain!! My Nurse Practioner told me to that and then called me a 1/2 hour after I left the office and the Dr advised her to tell me NOT to do that. They used to do it back in the day but now have found more harm then good from it!! Just FYI!!

Sumbul - posted on 01/19/2009

Dear Hayleigh,

My twins were born premature and the boy had umblical hernia and as you seem to have noticed it does not really bother them. It is more likely than not to disappear.

She is just 6 and a half months right now. You must wait till she is one atleast before you start contemplating a consultation or surgery (which is a minor operation).

My son's navel looked fine at about 12 - 13 months, and yes it would seem to shrink at first and then would not seem to shrink at all. He looks fine now at 23 months no surgery was required.

Hope it will shrink in time for your baby too.

Christine - posted on 01/19/2009

My daughter is 12 months and has one also.  It's gotten better over the last year and has gone down al ot, but isn't the same.  I don't think we'll do the surgery for awhile if at all.  No worries though, I think you have until she's at least 2 years old to even worry about it.

Virginia - posted on 01/19/2009

The surgery is a breeze.  My daughter also born prematurely 6 weeks early had no issues and did not even need tylenol.  She had it in the AM and was wild and wanting to run by about 3pm.  It really is not big deal at all!!!!!!!

Jacqueline - posted on 01/19/2009

My daughter was born 4 1/2 weeks early and she had a umbilical hernia and we had a Nurse Practitioner and she told me to try a old wives tales of taping a quarter to her belly button. Well I tried it. I disinfected a toonie by boiling it in water, let it cool down then taped it to her belly button with surgical tape (so I can take it off without hurting her), then after some time we changed it to a loonie then eventually a quarter. If memory serves me correctly I did this for about 6 months and today she has the perfect cute little innie belly button. She's 7 now and has no complications.
My daughter's umbilicle hernia was always squishy, so I guess with time it healed :)
That's my 2 cents and story.....Hope everything works out for you both.

Kanera - posted on 01/19/2009

My sister had a premature son and he ended up getting the hernia surgery to fix it. He's fine.

Amanda - posted on 01/19/2009

My daughter also has one and it looks as though she will have to have it operated on as hers has not corrected itself at the age of 2. The operation as far as i understand it is very routine with a very small chance of complications, although to leave it go I feel is more of a risk, with the chance of it getting larger and strangulating organs

Rebecca - posted on 01/19/2009

I have twins, both born premature, and both with hernia's.  Elaina's was cured by itself by about 4 months old, and Conners was not until around 8 months (his got worse before it got better) they are now 15 months and no more hernias!  Hope this helps.

Gina - posted on 01/19/2009

Hi Hayleigh! My son who will be 2 in June has one as well. He was a full term baby. The Dr said he was good to go until he was 2 but now they are saying even longer. He goes to the Dr this week and Im going to ask about it because I would rather get it taken care of now. I think they use the age 2 as sort of a window and hope it goes in on its own. I have talked to people that had the same problem and it did correct itself and others it did not. Lots of luck!!

Ez - posted on 01/19/2009

Are you scared about her having the operation? The info I've read on hernia's is that it's better for them to be operated on because more complications could arise in the future -such as trapping parts of the bowel.



My son (also born premature) had an inguinal hernia (in his testicle) operated on at 5wks. The operation was over within 90mins and he was fine to go home the next day. He's now 11mo and hasn't had any complications.



Sorry I couldn't really put your mind at rest!



Peace.





click the link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbilical_h...

Shannon - posted on 01/19/2009

Just wanted to say my son who was born only 2 1/2 weeks early had an umbilical hernia. It did go away on its own. He is 2 now and has a perfect little innie belly button. I cant remember how old he was when it went away but it did!! I am sure your daughters will too!!!