No one ever told me it might hurt!

My belly button....hurts!

Especially at the end of the day when, well, everything else hurts. But especially my belly button.

So last week at the doctor, I asked her why this is...with a smile and a furrowed brow, Dr. K told me my lucky news....1 in 10 of us pregnant girls have painful belly buttons.

She examined me make sure it wasn't an umbilical hernia, which if that were the case, I think the irony might kill me...I made a living selling hernia repair surgical mesh for a lot of my career, and the idea of hitting up one of the surgeons that I formerly called on to help me out with my umbilical hernia is just a downright awful thought! She deduced that I was hernia free---thank the baby Jesus---and had some sort of bundle of nerves left behind inside my belly button from birth...as in, when my belly button closed itself up, it left a nerve bundle in there...come to find out, a very sensitive nerve bundle now that I have my little girl pressing up against it night and day. In fact, I think she might actually be aiming at the sore spot sometimes...trying to figure out if she can press her big toe or elbow into the little area that the nerve bundle lives. But probably not...that wouldn't be so nice, would it?

And did I mention...my "innie" is an "outie" now? This isn't that new...it happened weeks ago, but I thought since we were on the highly fascinating topic of my belly button, I'd throw that little detail in there too. Dr. K didn't give me a percentage of women that this happens to, but I suspect it is a larger percentage than the little nerve bundle thing. I just hope that the whole thing goes back to the way it was...I never knew my belly button could be such a point of interest in my life.

And while we're on the subject...one of these days I may actually post a picture of what my former belly button piercing looks like now that I'm pregnant...the old skit from Saturday Night Live of the mom's with lower back tattoos that have grown and stretched and faded comes to mind. Anyway, if I ever feel particularly exhibitionist, I'll post an image of this lovely pierce-hole...maybe it can be a deterrent for teenagers everywhere!