So Meg's had this little spot on her tummy for weeks now. It's a little spot under the skin above her belly button about the size of a dime. I mentioned it to her doctor a few weeks/months ago. She thought it was likely just a fat deposit, but we'd keep an eye on it. On Friday, the doctor pressed on it a little more (to the extent Meg would let her) and she thinks it might be a mild hernia instead since it seems to only show up when she's standing and flexing her stomach muscles.
My only real exposure to hernias is the kid on my block growing up who had one when he was in elementary school. The doctor explained that in kids that age, the problem ends up more in their testicles, turning them blue and painful, therefore needing surgical intervention. In Meg's case, she likely just has a little piece of intestine sticking through her stomach muscle. We will hope that it goes away on its own as it likely isn't causing any problems. If it ever did cause a problem, the remedy is surgery. According to the Toddler 411 book, umbilical hernias like this rarely require any treatment, but we'll certainly keep an eye on it.
I am living breathing proof that an umbilical hernia is not too terribly troublesome. I did end up having mine surgically "treated" and now, while it looks like I have an inney. I really don't have any at all. Instead of my belly button popping out when I was pregnant, the "fake belly button" just stretched to be about 1 inch long. Weird, really weird.
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