A: It doesn't happen to everyone who's pregnant, but sometimes a growing fetus in the uterus puts so much pressure on your abdominal wall that your normally “innie” belly button becomes an “outie.” It typically happens in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, most commonly around 26 weeks.
Yes, as your stomach expands with the baby, you may notice that your belly button becomes flat and taut against your skin. This is normal and will usually revert back to your normal belly button once your baby is born. Sometimes you will see a flap of skin that lays flat with an indent. This is not a cause for concern.
A: Most moms-to-be go from innies to outies in the second or third trimester. It happens because your expanding uterus puts pressure on the rest of your abdomen, pushing your belly button outward. After you deliver, the pressure will be gone, and your belly button will go back to normal.
Umbilical hernias are common and typically harmless. Umbilical hernias are most common in infants, but they can affect adults as well. In an infant, an umbilical hernia may be especially evident when the infant cries, causing the bellybutton to protrude. This is a classic sign of an umbilical hernia.
Umbilical hernias are very common in infants and young children, particularly in babies born prematurely. An umbilical hernia appears as a painless lump in or near the belly button (navel). It may get bigger when laughing, coughing, crying or going to the toilet and may shrink when relaxing or lying down.
Your baby's umbilical stump: what to expect
A midwife will remove the clamp before you and your baby leave hospital or at your home soon after birth. During the first few days after birth, the stump gets darker, shrivels and eventually falls off to become your baby's belly button. Sometimes this takes 1-2 weeks.
Here's how it works: As your baby and belly grow, the muscles of your abdomen stretch. The belly button area (a remnant of your time as a baby!) doesn't have much muscle over it, so as when your uterus begins to push against it from the inside, it pretty easily gets pushed outward, says Kasper.
Yup, your baby on board can feel — and respond — when you stroke your tummy.
Depending on your stage of pregnancy, your body type, and even the time of day, sometimes your belly will feel soft and other times it will feel tight and hard. The reality is, there's no normal to compare yourself with. Pregnant bellies come in all shapes, sizes, and firmness.
The reason for this is simple: If you've been down this pregnancy road before, then your stomach muscles tend to not be as tight as they were the first time, so they'll naturally stretch out a little faster. Keep these pre-pregnancy factors in mind when you're carrying your baby, and don't judge a baby by its cover!
For most people, this happens around weeks 12 to 16, but everyone is unique. Certain factors may impact whether your pregnant belly shows earlier or later. Those who have had a previous pregnancy tend to develop a noticeable pregnant belly earlier, due to looser muscles and ligaments.
Just about every belly button pops at some point during pregnancy. Like so many other pregnancy symptoms, a popped-out belly button is harmless.
20 weeks pregnant belly
So from your pubic bone to the top of your bump, your belly should be measuring 20 cm (7.9 in) now. This is called the fundal height. At 20 weeks pregnant, your uterus is approximately the size of a cantaloupe or a melon.
Background. Many physicians advise pregnant women to sleep on their left side. Previous studies have linked back and right-side sleeping with a higher risk of stillbirth, reduced fetal growth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that affects the mother.
Researchers in Scotland compared fetal responses when pregnant women spoke to their babies or rubbed their bellies. "Overall results suggest that maternal touch of the abdomen was a powerful stimulus, producing a range of fetal behavioural responses," the researchers write.
And the bonus? Baby may start to know when their father is touching mom's belly. Babies can sense touch from anyone, but they can also sense when touch (and voice) is familiar. And by 24 weeks into pregnancy, dad can usually feel baby kick – but the exact time varies.
You can have diastasis recti during pregnancy, but it's hard to distinguish because your abdomen is stretched. Common signs of diastasis recti during the postpartum period are: A visible bulge or "pooch" that protrudes just above or below the belly button. Softness or jelly-like feeling around your belly button.
Linea nigra is a dark line that develops on your stomach during pregnancy. It usually extends from your bellybutton to your pubic area. The linea nigra is caused by an increase in hormones and fades once your baby is born.
There's really no way to know if baby will have an innie or an outie belly button—and neither has anything to do with how the umbilical cord was clamped or cared for after birth, Scott says.
Misconceptions about belly buttons
Others believe their belly button is somehow connected directly to their uterus or the placenta or even the baby's belly button. This isn't the case. As you can see in the picture below, the belly button normally isn't connected to anything in adults.
It's related to the presence of space between the skin and the abdominal wall, he says. If the soft tissue protrudes through, you've got an outie, which is much rarer in people than the more-desired innie.
Despite common folklore, you can't flatten an outie by strapping something across your baby's belly or by taping a quarter over it. In fact, there's nothing you can (or should) do to change an outie. Instead, as your child grows, help them understand that it's just another way a body can look.