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spu
10-16-2002, 02:56 PM
Hi ladies,
My 12 wk old Else has been diagnosed with a hernia. We took her to the dr. on call and he said we could elect to have it surgically fixed now, in 2 years, or never. We're going back to see our regular pedi. for his advice.

Does anyone have a girl with a hernia? Did you have it fixed or not? I can't tell if it's causing her any discomfort or not. She seems like her normal self, but is definitely fussy in the late afternoons/evenings. She's sleeping really well and eats well too - albeit sometimes pretty frequently.

Could the hernia cause pain or discomfort? How would I know? Should I be giving her infant tylenol at all? Any info would be great.

thanks!
susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

nywifey
10-16-2002, 03:08 PM
I'm going back 27 years ago, but my brother was born with a hernia. My mom didn't know it until my grandfather was changing him and saw that his "male area" was bright red. This was mom's first boy so she thought they were all red at that age. They decided to operate on my brother at the time and he's been fine ever since. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if he knows about this ever happening....

I'd get a second opinion and try to resolve it as soon as possible. Why wait?

twins r fun
10-16-2002, 07:22 PM
Is it an inguinal hernia or an umbilical hernia (groin or belly button)?

I don't have any girl hernia experience, but we found out one of my twins had a hernia (inguinal) the day after he came home from the NICU. We did the ER, on call ped, regular ped. They all said it was not causing any pain, but would never repair itself and would have to be fixed. We did not believe them about the pain at the time, but in retrospect they were probably right! The danger of leaving it was that the intestinal loop that was hanging out could get stuck, blood supply would get cut off to it, and it would die-obviously causing big problems. We had it fixed at 3 months and found out that he actually had a double hernia. Now this is all inguinal, I think umbilical is different-it clears up on its own often and does not have the same risks.

Nicole

sntm
10-17-2002, 07:24 AM
Umbilical (belly button) hernias rarely cause complications (like incarcerated bowel) and usually resolve by age 2. They occasionally cause symptoms, but if they are mild, I would let it resolve.

Groin hernias do not resolve and can cause symptoms of pain/fussiness and can lead to bowel obstructions. The worrisome signs are hernias that don't go back in when the baby is relaxed and you apply a little gentle pressure, tenderness, redness or blueness of the skin overlying it, excessive vomiting, failure to have bowel movements, swollen tummies, etc.

If it's a groin hernia, I would get evaluated by a pediatric surgeon. Babies tolerate this surgey really well (no hospital stay, usually), even at that age. She won't have any stitches to take out or anything. And let me know where you are -- I know a lot of ped surgeons (still thinking about doing that) and might be able to recommend someone.

Unless the surgeon thought she could wait, I wouldn't put it off too long. That said, this isn't urgent -- don't avoid a vacation or something to get this done.

shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03

sntm
10-17-2002, 07:26 AM
p.s. was reading Nicole's message -- right-sided hernias are more common, so frequently if a baby has a left-sided hernia, they also have a right-sided one that has not been detected.

shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03

spu
10-21-2002, 08:15 AM
It's an inguinal hernia. She has it on her right side, but I noticed yesterday that I think she might have one on the left too. We'll have to have it looked at. We're in Massachusetts, so we're thinking of going to Children's in boston. She's sleeping really well and eating, peeing, pooping, etc. normally. Her usuall evening fussiness is still there, but I think it's because she doesn't nap during the day due to mama's ambition to keep the babies stimulated (maybe too much?!)

There's no redness and when I press on it or clean her diaper area, she doesn't flinch at all, but I'm afraid of what could happen. I'm also concerned about putting her through surgery this young (she's 13 weeks) but it sounds like the procedure is relatively simple. Is there an ideal time to have it fixed? What are the complications or risks of the procedure? Could it affect her reproductive organs at all? It's amazing how much we worry about these little babies!

Shannon - congratulations on your baby-2-be!!! you must be thrilled! I'm so happy for you! How are you feeling?

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

twins r fun
10-21-2002, 09:57 AM
Hi Susan,

If she has an inguinal hernia and your doctor is saying that you can elect to never get it fixed, I would definitely get a second opinion. Like I said, my information is that they don't repair themselves and do have significant risk if left unchecked. As for damaging reproductive organs, in a boy it can put pressure on the testicles and cause damage. I don't know what the situation would be for a girl.

From what I remember from our surgery, they would have preferred to wait until my son was a little older (over 6 months), but his hernia was pretty big and we were worried so they thought it best to do it as soon as possible (which was some calculation based on his gestational age and ended up being 2 1/2 months). We got it done at 3 months exactly. He did stay overnight in the hospital, but this was because he had just recently been taken off oxygen (due to prematurity) and was still very young. They did the procedure under general anesthesia and (in our case) have to intubate as a precaution. The recovery was easy-the first 12-20 hours he was very uncomfortable and I just held him pretty much the whole night in the hospital. He was only given tylenol as a pain killer and that did help. He slept but wanted to be held. Once we got him home, it was like nothing had happened. We continued the tylenol, but he really didn't even seem to need it. We were out at a playgroup 3 days after the surgery and no one guessed he had just had surgery.

Good luck with everything, keep us updated, and let me know if you have any other questions.

Nicole

Oh, another thought about the age issue, had they discovered the hernia a few days earlier while my son was still in the NICU, they would have operated before we took him home. That would have been when he was 5 weeks old, gestational age negative 1 week. So I guess they're never too young as long as their relatively healthy!

sntm
10-22-2002, 01:31 PM
For pediatric surgery, there ain't much better than Boston Childrens! She should do fine there. Be sure to mention that there may be a hernia on the left side too. And I've seen repairs done on 13-wk babes --plus it will prob take at least 2-3 weeks to get her on the schedule to be seen.

There should not be any risk to her fertility. For boys, the spermatic cord runs through the area, and is carefully identified during the surgery. All girls have is a ligament that goes through there.

Pregnancy is treating me okay, lots of heartburn, tiredness, sore breasts, but (knock wood) fairly minimal nausea and only one episode of vomiting (think it was the prenatal vitamin on empty stomach). I've become a tyrant at work about eating, though, which will hopefully become more understandable when people know!

shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03

spu
10-25-2002, 10:19 AM
thanks everyone for your info. I spoke to our regular pediatrician, and he gave me better advice than the dr. on call the night we took her in. He was also much more compasionate. He said it should be fixed sooner rather than later - like before Thanksgiving. And it should be done electively, not emergently, which makes alot of sense.

I'm on the list to meet with a pediatric urology surgeon at Children's in boston. They're supposed to call me back this afternoon to schedule a date to meet with the dr.

thanks for all your warm wishes! It's amazing how nervous I get! esp. with the anesthesia, but like you've mentioned, they put brand new babies under so I'm sure it's safe.

I'll keep you posted once we talk to the surgeon.

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else