Oh Baby!

Timberlyn’s Belly Button

Many of you know that Timberlyn has had a herniated belly button since birth.  We have known that we would probably have to fix it some day.  We initially had hope that it would fix itself, but that was not to be.  We took her in for a follow up visit to the surgeon and he said, “It’s time to fix it – this thing isn’t going to go away on it’s own.”  And what a thing it was!

We have gotten plenty of stares and odd looks, and many questions about her weird belly button.  She also liked to play with it and show it off.  Leonard called it her second nose!  It really looked a lot like Gonzo’s nose (from the muppets).  Especially when she is mad!

Here she is on surgery day.   April 29, 2013

A final shot before they took her back.  Believe me, it could get much bigger than this!

They gave her some versed to drink and Leonard and I think that it should be provided for emergency (like long car rides)  for anyone with children.  It was awesome.  She was goofy and happy, playing with Leonard’s face.  It was pretty funny to watch her.  Then they took her back to the OR.  Leonard went with her – they don’t let pregnant women back there – and she drifted off to sleep with the mask of sleepy drug.  The whole thing took about 45 minutes.  It’s scary to send your child off to surgery with a bunch of strangers.  I hope I rarely have to do that in my lifetime.  She was well taken care of though and there were no problems. 

She was very sleepy that day and slept on the couch when we got home for the rest of the afternoon.  She woke up sad and obviously sore, I gave her some Motrin and an hour or so later she was running around with the kids and laughing.  WHAT?  I couldn’t believe it.  She is one tough cookie.  You could tell when the medication wore off as she would get tearful and say, “OW” while rubbing her tummy, but the Motrin worked great for her. 

Update: June 3, 2013

Four weeks later, you’d never know she had surgery.  No complaints or problems.  The doctor is happy with the results, and although her belly button will never be “normal” it is SO much better!  For a while, when you would ask her where her belly button was, Timber would hold up her hands and say, “Uh – Ahhh”  Which in Timber talk means “All Gone!”  She wasn’t sure what happened to it.  Now she just points and shows us her new belly button.  She seems to be a little more shy about showing it off.  Funny because it was so strange before and she loved to show everyone, now that it is more normal, she doesn’t like to share!

Not too bad for only 4 weeks later.  Dr. Torgenson, her surgeon, said that it will continue to get smaller over 6 weeks and then a little bit over the next year.  Plus as she gets bigger, the extra skin that is there from being stretched out will disappear.  All in all, we call it a success.  You can’t even see the scar from the surgery.  Pretty amazing for a pretty amazing girl!!  Love you Timberlyn!