Hernia and lots of pain...hoping for baby to stay in!

[jenneology]

So I learned yesterday why I've been in so much pain for the last week. I have a hernia right behind my bellybutton. Its a totally fluke thing to happen. It appears that when my intestines moved out of the way to make room for my uterus, a pocket of insulating brown fat (it cushions internal organs) stayed behind between my uterine wall and abdominal wall. Then last week, it somehow got pushed up through my abdominal wall and it now stuck between the muscle layer and skin. And it really hurts!

Its seriously such a random thing to occur in pregnancy. Right now I'm hoping that the baby stays in until the pocket of fat dissolves and is cleared from my body, and hopefully that can happen quickly, say in the next two weeks?

I'm 38 weeks now so baby's got time to stay in so the hernia can resolve. Its really good that its not the typical hernia and it is something that is already on its way to getting better.

I've kind of lost hope that someone else would have experienced something similar to this who could share their experience with me. I have lots of questions mostly around, if I were to start laboring, how would the pain from the hernia affect the labor process? Would it be more painful?

I'd really appreciate some good vibes and positive thoughts that can guide the little helper cells that remove dying cells from the body in doing their jobs fast and efficiently. I'm excited to meet my baby, but I don't want it to be seriously more painful that it needs to be!

[ScootchsMom]

That sounds painful! No advice, but I hope it resolves quickly.

[AustGirl]

You poor thing. As if pregnancy itself isn't uncomfortable/painful enough!

Sending "go away hernia" vibes your way :

[the_lissa]

I had a hernia in my last pregnancy that was pretty bad and it actually didn't affect my labour or birth at all. I hope you have similar luck.

[trauerweidchen]

No advice or experiences to share, I'm afraid, but here's sending lots of : for a quick recovery and an easy birth! : : :

[j_p_i]

No experiences or advice here either, but lots of and : for things to clear up before labor! You've got time, take care of yourself mama.

[jenneology]

Originally Posted by the_lissa

I had a hernia in my last pregnancy that was pretty bad and it actually didn't affect my labour or birth at all. I hope you have similar luck.

Will you tell me more? You can pm me if you'd like.

[jenneology]

Thanks for all good vibes!

I went to the naturopath today and she gave me some more tips to reduce the inflammation. On its own, I'm already feeling much better. Its nowhere near as sensitive to pressure as it was 4 days ago. I hope it keeps getting better so I can move around normally before the baby starts to come.

[OceansEve]

ugh good luck mama, sounds very unpleasent : hope you are totally healed before baby comes.

[the_lissa]

Originally Posted by jenneology

Will you tell me more? You can pm me if you'd like.

Sure. I'm blanking on what to tell you right now, but feel free to ask me anything.

I also had it repaired when my son was 8 months old, so if you do end up needing it repaired, I can help you too.

One thing i remember was how I would hold it with my hand whenever I sneezed or coughed because it would hurt and I was scared of pushing it out more, but then it didn't bother me when Iw as pushing.

[jenneology]

Originally Posted by the_lissa

Sure. I'm blanking on what to tell you right now, but feel free to ask me anything.

I also had it repaired when my son was 8 months old, so if you do end up needing it repaired, I can help you too.

One thing i remember was how I would hold it with my hand whenever I sneezed or coughed because it would hurt and I was scared of pushing it out more, but then it didn't bother me when Iw as pushing.

Alright, here I go with questions:

What kind of hernia was it? Were intestines involved? How large? Was it very painful? How long were you in pain from the hernia? What did contractions feel like? What kind of contractions did you have? Were you able to move freely in labor? Did you find any positions in labor uncomfortable because of the hernia? What position did you deliver in? Was the early postpartum period uncomfortable? What about breastfeeding the new baby with the hernia?

Right now, I'm using compression and support to keep it from hurting. I have a scarf that I'm keeping tied around my belly that is being really helpful. The naturopath told me that I should keep it on during labor too and it should help. Coughing and sneezing, even laughing make me uncomfortable and scared so I've been holding my bellybutton in with my hand. The naturopath also suggested finding something hard, flat and a little bit bigger to put over the hernia to keep it pushed in. She says that's what they do for newborns with umbilical hernias.

Since I'm much less uncomfortable now than I was, I think I'm realizing that I went into overdrive trying to figure out what was wrong and finding some solutions for it. If I had known Friday or Saturday that today I'd be feeling as good as I am, I might not have searched so hard for an explanation. But I was scared that it might indicate something really wrong was happening. Thank goodness its not worse than it is.