Umbilical Hernia

Since Holden's cord stump has fallen off, his belly button has increasingly grown in size. Alarmed by this, Alex and I first turned to Dr. Google to see if we couldn't find out what was going on before his one month examination.

We discovered that he has what is called an umbilical hernia. MayoClinic.com defines it as a common, harmless condition that "occurs when part of the intestine protrudes through a weak spot in the abdominal muscles."



It should hopefully go away on its own within a year.

In the last few weeks, we've seen it increase in size, so we opted to see the pediatrician today just to put our minds at ease. He basically told us what we already knew from our online research, and added that he has seen them grow up to 4 times the size of what Holden's is now, but are harmless. I hope that it doesn't get any larger. It just looks so awful already, poor baby!

We left the doctor's office feeling a bit more relieved. We will go back next week for his regular check-up, where he will get his first set of vaccinations. Stay tuned for updates!

P.S. Holden now weighs 10 pounds and 9 ounces!