Hernia in 4 Month Old...

My oldest daughter had an "umbilical hernia" diagnosed when she was a baby. I had many suggestions, but i decided to follow the one of letting her grow and praying it will "close" on its own. If by the age of three, she still had it...then we would consider other options (surgery...yikes)...Thank God, it "closed" and she's 10 years old, extremely active and very healthy. I'd give it some time before diving into surgery!

Good luck!

LO

I know it is scary to think of your baby having surgery, but the procedure itself is routine. Both of my sons (3 yrs apart) were born with right inguinal hernias. My first had it repaired in the C-section room of the maternity ward at 22 hours old. My younger son had his surgery at 19 days old. The medical community was quite surprised by the first one, but both my husband and I have a family history of hernias. They were incredulous when my younger son was born.

My advice to you is to discuss all aspects of the procedure with both the surgeon and anesthesiologist. Make sure that both are comfortable with infants. The standard pre-op instructions are for adults, so make sure that you discuss specifics for your son. The second time around, the ped's nurses were fantastic. (The maternity nurses were great too, but you will be in ped's.) I planned to stay with my son in the hospital overnight, and they had no problems with me lying in the bed with him. She offered to bring in a crib for him, so that I could have the bed and was delighted when I told her that I preferred to sleep with him. You may want to call the pediatrics department ahead of time to discuss overnight arrangements. The other part I appreciated was that the surgery team allowed me to hold him the entire time until they carried him into the operating room. He was never left lying by himself while he was conscious. They also gave him a sedative before starting the IV, which the NICU nurses did not do.

The post-surgery care is not too bad, but it took about a month for my younger son to be truly comfortable with bowel movements. I think it has to do with the intestines finding their way back into place. It is no picnic, but you will get through it and be on to the next adventure. Good luck to you and your family. A. H.

Hi, my oldest son had two hernias, one umbilical and one inguinal. The doctors decided to wait and see. We were told the umbilical would probably heal up on its own, and we were to keep an eye on his inguinal. When he was 5 it was decided that the inguinal needed to be repaired, so they repaired the umbilical hernia at the same time. Because he had asthma, they decided to keep him overnight (if he had not had asthma, they would have sent him home the same day). He was up and running around that afternoon. He is now 14 and has not had a problem since. His scar is unnoticeable and he has no recollection of the event other than through his drunk looking pictures in the hospital.

Good luck

Hi. My son had this when he was about 2 1/2 (about 6 months ago). His daycare teacher noticed one side enlarged. I was obviously concerned. We brought him to his doctor and they confirmed. He had to go have minor surgery within a couple of weeks of that. During the operation, they actually checked both sides and found that the other one was not fully closed as well. Of course, I was nervous, but wanted it taken care of so that it doesn't get any worse. He did say that it just happens. From what I read, it's maybe because he was born a little early and the sacs didn't fully close. He went through minor surgery. They gave him happy juice to make him "happy" and then they took him. I was very nervous since this was his first surgery, I can't be there, and they had to put him to sleep (which is a concern in itself). The operation was about 2 hours and recovery was about 3 hours. We were there right when he was done and waited until he fully woke up. He's all done. The chances of it coming back is very slow. You can still see where they made their incisions. Over time, it should go away. He still has a scar at his belly button. I just recommend you consult your doctor and get as much info you can to get comfortable. Good luck!

Our son had a hernia when he was 18 months old. It wasn't a big deal at all. He was home running around the same day.If it's the same surgry I'd say dont worry.Good Luck, if your worried I'd get more info from the doctor.

Hi there!

I noticed the same thing when my son was two, his testicles were blue in color and I took him to the doctor. We were also referred to a surgeon who took an ultrasound and concluded that he had a hydroseal around one of his testicles and a hernia. He went into surgery a couple of weeks later, laproscopically, and now he his fine! The doctor explained to me that the tissue, for men especially, is really thin in that area and the intestine can fall through easily. There is nothing that you did wrong or nothing you could have done to prevent it...so don't worry! This usually happens more often in teenagers or adults who have put strain on their bodies, ie. weight lifting. But I guess our kiddo's don't have to worry about that later on...:) Let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
A.

Hello Marisa

Don't worry that is a easy operation. I know i have 7 kids
MY daughter is haaddy caped.

she didn't start walking Till she was 2or3.
She has had numeroius sugerys replacing the shunt thats in her head. We never got a good reveiw from Dotoers

You can relax it will be OK

Sencerly yours V.

p.s. let me know how thing go.
parys are with you and your family

My daughter (now 4 years old) had a double hernia opperation 1.5 years ago. She was born with it and a good idea to get it fixed early in life. She was fine and ready to roll the next day. The scars are still there but will fade with time. A hernia is a tear in the muscle tissue and needs to be mended so that every thing inside our bodies stays where it is supposed to. If not repaired it could cause more damage and trouble down the road.
Best wishes.
S.

If it is an inguinal hernia, there are to ways to repair. Open vs laprascopic (with a small telescope in the belly button.) Both are safe, and both have pros and cons. The procedure itself is about 30 minutes. Talk with a pediatric surgeon to discuss which would be better for your son. Good Luck.

From,
A pedi OR nurse.

My son had a hernia. We took him in an had it fixed. He was about 4 months as well. About 6 months later, he developed a hernia on the other side. We had that fixed too. I feel it was a good thing to do. The recovery the first time was one day, the second time, I could hardly keep my son down. The only hard thing was right before, because you know whats about to happen (be strong) and right after in the recovery room. Feel free to email me with any questions. If you have Kaiser, My surgeon was wonderful!

Good Luck!!

I have a son who is now 16 but had hernia surgery at the ages of three/five and nine. I'm sure they can explain that although it is definately scary it is nothing you did. If your son has the same type of hernia as mine, it was caused from the weakness in his abdominal muscles and once the testicles descended it did not heal and the intestines began to descend as well. The reason my son had several surgeries is because even though they stitched the muscles back together, they were still very weak. After two surgeries I requested a Pediatric Specialist at a Major Hospital. Once it was approved, the surgery was done and he has never had a problem since. He has two tiny small scars that no one but his significant other will ever see. I was told that many times when found in younger babies, it will heal itself. I think it depends on what kind of hernia your son has. I did not even notice any bulging until my son was 2 years old. He never felt any pain before or after surgery. It was an outpatient procedure and he was home with me a few hours after. I hope this helps. There was a lot of good information on the internet to help you understand what you are facing. Good Luck to you and your son. I'm sure he will be fine and hopefully he will never have to have the surgery.

My son had a double Hernia surgery at 2 months old. It was a relatively minor surgery and he recovered by the next day (as far as I could tell anyway). That was 6 years ago and he has not had any trouble with that area since. Don't worry. He will be fine!

Hello Marisa,

If it is a hernia on his belly button both of my kids had one and it went away on its own when they reached the age of 4. I know their doctor told me not to worry and if it was still there when they reached the age of 5 that she would take acion and take care of it. I hope that this helps you some.
Take care! Good Luck

My son also had a hernia when he was 4 months old. He had surgery and everything is fine. (He's now 17) I'm now sure if they are preventable. I couldn't figure out if the hernia caused his crying or he cried becasue he had the hernia. I don't think this is too unusual in boys. My husband also had one when he was 4.

HI Marisa,
I don't know where your sons hernia is, howerer my daughter was born with an ambilical hernia. It was quite large. I took her to two pediatricians for advice. Both recommended I wait a least a year to see if it corrects itself. If not, then a surgical procedure would fix it. Fortunately, at six months the hernia went away!
Ask your doctor is his could go away without surgery.
Good luck!
C.

I had a hernia and surgery at 3 months old, although I don't remember it, and another one when I was 18. I just called my M. so I could respond to this from a parent point of view :) She told me there is nothing you could have done to prevent it, and not much you can do to prevent it from getting worse. The tear can be made worse by straining, like having a Bowel movement (bm). I remember when I was older my doctor also told me that if gone untreated it could be gangrenous (sp?) and that is NOT good.

I believe the only thing you can do at this point is wait to talk with the surgeon and try to keep him calm as best you can and keep an eye on his BM's. If they start getting hard, call your pediatritian about someway to soften them so he does not strain as much.

Good luck,

T.
www.chiarichamps.com
www.beautipage.com/sonomaspa

Marisa,
Our son had an inguinal hernia on the right side. Since my friend's brother is a pediatrician, we asked if it was serious and he said that it is very common. We opted for surgical repair so it wouldn't become a problem later. The surgeon says he repairs 2-3 a day and explained to us that their was a tear in the muscle around the intestines and a part of his intestines poked through. Our son went into the same-day surgery, was out of surgery in 45 minutes and was up and running later that night at home. He was 2 years old when this was done and he is now 2 1/2. He only has an inch scar and fully healed. I would recommend having the surgery or at least talk to a pediatric surgeon.
Hope this helps.
T.

My son also had a hernia that appeared after he started walking. He had surgery for it when he was 15 months old. It went just fine ,he had a small incision in his abdomon. It really helped that the medical team seemed to know how to deal with children and not be to scary. I've experienced a quite tramatic time for something else where the doctors were clueless how to approach a little one and it was awful.

My son was born with a hernia in his abdomen. One of his testicles had not descended and it left the hernia through which it should have descended and naturally closed. He had surgery to bring down the testicle and close the hernia when he was 1 1/2. He is now 29 and has had no problems at all with it reopening (and is extremely active - competitive swimmer, bicyclist, etc.)

He did not need any special activities when he was young to prevent it getting worse.

Hello Marisa

I found an epigastric hernia in my daughter's stomach at 2 years old. It was nothing that we could have prevented, it just happened as her stomach muscles grew. It was not painful to my daughter at all. The pediatrician and surgeon monitored it and we waited several months to have the surgery - she was 3. This type of hernia will not just go away, it had to be surgically repaired. We did have surgery which took only four hours from check in to check out. My daughter slept for the rest of that day. The day after surgery she was just like normal and no more "bump". It never phased her at all. She does have a little scar, but she loves to explain the hernia and surgery to all her friends.

The surgery was harder on M. than it was on her. But we have had no problems since. I hope this helps.
D. K

My son, who is now 19 y/o and at UCLA had a "hernia" when he was only 3 months old. For my situation, he was born by c-section and that his scrotum/balls did not drop which is suppose to be a natural process for baby boys. He did have an operation to allow them to drop. Of course, as a new M. back then, I was a mess, but all worked out well. It is an outpatient procedure, it doesnt hurt the baby but I understand just the thought of it, your mind thinks of every possible thing that can go wrong. Be strong!! Technology has advanced since my son was born so the procedure has been done many times over. If you are worried, get a second opinion! Not all kids are the same, but trust your gut and your ped. doctor. Have faith in your choice. I know I made the right decision. Hope this helps. If you have other questions or concerns, let me know. I'd be more than happy to help, from a M.'s point of view.

Hi Marisa, When you say hernia, I assume you mean of the teste? If so, my 14 year old son was born with a hernia. It was explained to me that the cause was just that the scrotum (the sack around the testes)didn't close off all the way in utero.

A lot of times these mend on their own, in our case it didn't, so when my son was 2 he had surgery. It was a very minor outpatient surgery. He has a tiny scar where they did a 1 inch incision right along the top of his groin. They went in and sewed the scrotum shut. Sounds bad, but it really wasn't. He was put under for the procedure, and had significant bruising following it, but that was it. Everything went well and he is completely healthy.

Depending upon when/if they do surgery on your son, my major advise would be don't start potty training him until the surgery is over. I didn't know this, but they lose bladder control following the surgery. So my son was almost potty trained, then the surgery put him back at square one. It was a real self esteem problem for him, he was very upset. Had I known this would happen, I would have waited till after the surgery to start potty training. As it turned out, he was quickly potty trained after the surgery, but we felt bad that he was so upset when he couldn't control himself after the surgery.

So the problem is quite common, and the surgery is not very serious. Good luck!
M.

My son was 8 months old when he had surgery to repair an inguinal hernia. These are surprisingly common in boys. He was admitted and released on the same day and has had no residual problems because of it. (The surgery was performed in 1974). Trust your doctor. The only thing that prevents a hernia from getting worse is surgery. Your son will be fine. Be in the waiting room so you can go to him as soon as he wakes up. He'll want his Mommy & Daddy.
L.

Hi Marisa. My daughter also had one - I think she was a little older than your son...but it's still an odd thing to go through. It really is not your fault, and she got over it fine with nothing since (she's 10 now). Good luck!!!

C.

If the baby needs a hernia repair, then the baby needs a hernia repair. But, I'd get a second opinion.

Both of my cousins had hernia's when they were babies - one of them severe. I can't tell you exactly what they did to take care of it, but the bottom line is that they are both completely fine now. Hope this helps ease your mind a bit.

My daughter had an umbilical hernia that was pretty big (size of half my thumb.) We saw a surgeon at Children's hospital in Oakland and they said that it would most likely close on it's own because it was less than 1 cm in diameter. Sure enough it did close at about 6 months. She has quite an outie but it's no big deal. It was scary b/c it would bulge if she cried and would gurgle, but it turned out okay in the end. If your son's hernia in an inguine(sp?) hernia, then surgery is the only option. Good luck!

I have not personally experienced it, but I will tell you that my husband is a healthy 34 year old man who had two hernia surgeries before he was 1 year old. It is nothing you did and it just happens. Your little one will be fine but do meet with the surgeon as you do not want your little guy to suffer when they can take care of the hernia and the pain surgically. Good luck!

My second son had a hernia operation at 4 months and again for the other side at 5 months, and my older son had double hernia operations at 3 years old. I was told they can be hereditary, but there is nothing you did wrong or could have done to prevent them. The operation went very fast and amazingly, neither son seemed to even notice they'd been operated on once they got home (total time gone was about 4 hours). The scars are invisible now (they are 6 and 8) and they've had no problems. It's scary to have your baby operated on, for sure, but you need to close that hole in his abdominal wall so he doesn't get twisted intestines (bad!). My cousin's son has gone through the same thing and is fine as well. Good luck!

I have adult children now but when my daughter was a year old she had a hernia and we had the surgery. It was difficult for her because she was older but it was the right decision. This is more common than you know and it is better to do it now while they are young as the recovery will be easier for them. I hope this helps.

When I was an infant (48 years ago), my twin sister had double hernia. The doctors recommended surgery to my parents and they had it done. My sister has never, ever had any problem as a result. Four pregnancies and four deliveries.

Hello Marisa, Do not worry about your sons hernina, I know that this is hard to do. My son had one at 14 mons and he is now 17 years old and has been healthly and active as can be. We were told that this is quite common in babys and it was nothing that we did. Good luck, T.

There is nothing you can do to prevent it. My son had the surgery at 7 months, and even though we were so nervous about it, he did just fine. He was back to his normal self by the next day! These kinds of hernias are not caused by anything that you did or didn't do - they just happen.
Good luck. I know it is very scary to have your baby go through surgery, but this is a very routine procedure, and he will be just fine.

Hi Marisa,

First of all, your doctor is right. This wasn't your fault and you couldn't have prevented it, so give yourself a break. My son had a hernia and we didn't find it until he was 4 years old.

I don't know the procedure for 4 months old vs. 4 years old, but I'm pretty sure it's the same. My son had outpatient surgery to repair the hernia and was told to take it slow for a day or two. Of course, with a 4 year old boy, that's easier said than done.

The surgery is fairly short - a couple hours at most, including recovery time afterwards. I know that you and your husband will probably be nervous about it, no matter what anyone says, and that is completely normal.

Just follow your doctor's advice and know that your baby will come out of it just fine.

God Bless,

L.

Weakness in muscle causes bowel to pop through, which can be a problem if it gets caught in that area and loses blood supply (stangulation) or becomes painful. THere is NOTHING you could do, and they may monitor it or may want to operate now. I have no idea how they do it in infants, but in adults, they use mesh to help keep it in place. Again, you did NOTHING wrong..it will be OK...
Good Luck

Hi!

My oldest daughter had a hernia at 18 months (which the doctor considered old). We were told that hernia's are very common and that the pediatric surgeon does about 10-15 a day. We had the surgery done early one morning at 7:00 am and were home by about noon after she came out of anesthesia and was monitored for a bit. By about dinner time she was up and about and acting like her usual self once again. We wouldn't have believed how quickly she would recover if we hadn't experienced it for ourselves. Hang in there and good luck! I'm sure everything will turn out fine. By the way, she is now almost seven with two other sisters. :)