[alliegad]

I figured I'd post here since life with a babe means we are all in kind of the same postpartum boat. Does the up and down line on your belly (linea *****, I think?) go away ever? Does it take a while?<br>
Just wondering....

 

[nonconformnmom]

It goes away but takes a while... What I've found is that the line disappears, but my navel seems to collect the pigment and my navel looks "dirty" for a long time after the actual line is gone. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eyesroll.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="roll"> No bikini for me this summer!

 

[jstar]

wierd--my navel looked dirty too!<br><br>
and my linea negra did go away. i just didn't notice when. i couldn't really see the underside of the flabby pooch for a while there :LOL

 

[Llyra]

I'm 9 months PP, and mine is faded but not gone. I had a really dark one, and long, too- it extended up past my navel to the middle of my stomach.

 

[mady5]

Mine is still as dark as ever at 10 weeks pp. And my belly button looks pretty funky too. Between that and the strech marks, I just gave up and bought really long tshirts for this summer. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eyesroll.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="roll">

 

[boston]

mine was big and dark.<br>
it suddenly dried up and flaked off at about 2 or 3 months PP.

 

[paquerette]

I didn't get one, but my baby seems to have one, very faint. Residual hormones, I figure.

 

[milk_maker]

My son is 3 1/2 months and my linea negra is almost totally faded. As for the dirty belly button, I soaked in the tub one night and got the skin softened up. I then scraped the brown stuff off with my fingernails. I had a few scabs where I scratched too hard and had to rescrub a few areas, but now my belly button looks nice and clean...no brown stuff.

 

[juju's mom]

I had dd in November and I can still faintly see mine. I wear it as a badge of honor. I don't want it to go away. I also don't wear bikinis but that is not the point! :LOL<br><br>
Jenn <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/slinggirl.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Slinggirl"><br>
sweetest lil babe

 

[Luminosea]

I have a dirty belly button too! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"><br>
I didn't realize it until about 4 months postpartum but you can scrub the line off!<br>
It kinda gets flakey like the pp said. I wonder why it is on the surface? I always thought it was below the surface of your skin.

 

[StacyL]

Mine was never very dark (I'm very fair) but it took about 4 months for it to fade away. I don't recall it ever being on the "surface" though... weird. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/headscratch.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="headscratch">

 

[kamesennin]

My daughter is 3 1/2 mo and I still have mine, pretty dark. My baby has one too!

 

[mamabeca]

Mine is really almost gone now - <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/bag.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Bag">: the part I can see anyway! Seriously, it's nearly gone. W/dd it took about this long too - 4 - 6 months (or more...or less...).

 

[ssolberg99]

7 months and mine is very light. I also realized that you could "clean" it out of your belly button around 4 mo.

 

[mum2tori]

I had to look, haven't thought about it since DS was born 8 months ago. :LOL Yes, they do go away eventually. I actually had trouble being able to tell if it was gone just now... the vertical "washboard effect" of stretch marks made it a little difficult to tell. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eyesroll.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="roll"> Nope, no bikinis for me anymore. Worse is the fact that the stretch marks now extent past my belly button.

 

[Marlet]

Haven't read all the posts so I hope this hasn't already been talked about but anyone get it AFTER the baby was born? I am very light skinned so I didn't expect to get one at all.....never showed up during pregnancy. Now that the baby is here I suddenly have one! What's up with that? Anyone else?

 

[alliegad]

Hmm, no, I have never heard of getting one after you have your baby! Interesting. These women though who speak of their baby having one shows that the hormones can kick in later though, right? I didn't know babies got them sometimes and I definetly did not know that the actual line pigments were ever on the surface of the skin. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">