Umbilical Hernia

Turns out that my crazy belly button is a result of an umbilical hernia.

The midwife at my checkup yesterday told me about it. She said that I've always had a little hole near my belly button where guts could squish out, but it was just never a problem before. Now that my belly is big, it's more obvious. Fortunately, my guts are behind my baby right now, so they won't squish out while I'm pregnant. The midwife said I might need to get the hernia repaired after the baby is born. We'll just have to wait and see.

Then she said, "But if it turns black and blue, come in right away."

Sure thing.

So I'm sad that I might need "repairing" after the pregnancy. And my belly button will never look the same again. The upside, though, is that when Elise sticks her little elbow into the gaping hole in my abdomen and pops up into my belly button, I can really FEEL her. I can pet her and touch her gently and feel her move. And that's really cool.