Hernia - Chicago,IL

I also have the same issue. Haven't had it repaired yet due to moving (and avoiding surgery in general). My doctor said there were a couple of options for how to do the surgery but to wait if we were going to have more kids. He said that it would tear again if I got pregnant again and would have to be repaired again. He also suggested waiting until I was down to my prepregnancy weigh as well. Don't know of a surgeon in the area yet, sorry. I haven't gotten settled enough to do that. Karen

I had the same problem. I got mine in my first pregnancy and lived with it through 2 more pregnancies. Finally when my youngest was 3 mos. old, I got it fixed with the same smiley face procedure. I had 3 C-sections and they hurt a lot, but this did not hurt at all, not one bit!(I also had my tubes tied at the same time.) The problem was this.....My children were 3, 21 mos. and 3 months old when I had the surgery and they said not to lift over 10 pounds....that is impossible unless you can hire someone to come into your house and do everything which at the time we could not afford. Within 1 month, my hernia popped again and now I live with the pain daily. So follow the rules. One day I always say, I will fix it again and not lift a thing this time. Good luck!!

Hi D.

I had my umbilical hernia repaired when my son was 8 months old. I had the surgery 1 month after the hernia appeared and was diagnosed by my primary care doctor. I had it done at Northwestern by Dr. Eric Hungness. He is young (probably late 30s) but experienced and I was very happy with him and his nurse.

It was a one day, outpatient procedure. I went in early morning, had surgery, spent about 1-2 hours in the recovery room and then came home. The recovery was easier than I expected. I have had 2 c-sections and those were definitely harder recoveries. I did not even need to take the prescription pain medication that they gave me to go home with. I did have mesh placed to repair the hole, but no complications thankfully. I did try to get some help with my kids as you are not supposed to lift anything heavy for a couple of weeks but we managed with friends/family and some additional help. It's doable (I had 3 year old twins and an 8 month old at the time!)

You will need surgery at some point. The danger in waiting and seeing (and I am not trying to scare you) is that the hernia can become strangulated. Literally a portion of the intestines/internal organs can get trapped in the open muscle, and that is a life threatening medical emergency (which actually happened to my mother-in-law, it's very serious). I personally would not even think about going through another pregnancy with an unrepaired hernia. I don't think anyone can guarentee that you will never need surgery again, but you're definitely better off having it repaired.

I do have a little "smiley face" incision over my belly button. It is quite small and very thin and faint. I'd even be willing to email you a picture of it if you would like to see Dr. Hungness' work! ;)

So yes, if it were me, I would get it repaired soon, recover, and then get pregnant. HTH!

**edited to add, based on other responses, it sounds like most doctors advise waiting until after pregnancy but you might want to contact Dr. Hungness for a second opinion**

I too have a herniated belly button from pregnancy. My ob, told me to wait until I was done having kids to have the surgery since expanding the area again while pregnant may herniate it again. No need to do it twice! She also said, she could fix it if I had another Cesarean and it was my last child. Since I had Vbacs for the rest after it herniated, it still is not fixed. On the list but not a huge deal when I am not pregnant.