belly buttons - do they go back in afterwards?

[glacierchick]

Sorry for the random question but I have a suspicion my navel is about to pop out. I'm 22 weeks just now and rather big for the date (as I have been all the way through)

I've always liked having a little "innie" belly button and I'm not at all sure I'd like to have an "outie", so will it go back to being an innie after the baby belly is reduced?

Is there anything I can do to encourage it?

Mine did after the first pregnancy, but after the third - it didn't even try!

I feel pretty sure yours will go back to normal - and I think a bit of post natal pilates to work on those core muscles'll probably do the trick.

I keep meaning to do pilates, just never quite manage to get round to it.

your innie will return, however will most likely be double or triple the size it was pre pregnancy!
Alas a neat small innie often becomes like a huge well !

It will go back in, but will never look the same again. My DSis says that she can tell if a woman has had children by the state of her belly button. It gets crows' feet, but more like the sun's rays all round, IYSWIM.

Sorry.

Poledra - how is your sister such an expert on belly buttons?!! In my case, it's the stretch marks up to my belly button in a flame like pattern (which I got in the very last few days sniff) that I think give the game away.

After it popping out in 2 pregnancies mine is still an 'innie', but poledra is quite right about it not looking the same. My actual stomach is quite toned and I didn't get stretch marks (sorry ), but that little belly button is now a mummys belly button.

Mine didn't change too much even after 5. Stretch marks are another matter though.

Yes it went back in but it wasn't the same as before, much more stretched out - like big well.

Anyway, I can't really remember what it was like before babies, as I can't really remember what my life was like before babies, though, no doubt, I did spend my time worrying about things like my belly button, then. The things I used to do to fill my day...

I'm pg with DD2 and my innie is now definitely an outie. DD1 is 6 now and I must say although I put on 4 stone with her and it took me 2 years to lose it (in fairness I never actually did anything to try to lose it), when I did eventually get back to prebirth weight my belly button was just like it had been before dd. Maybe slow weight loss is the key to getting things back to normal, as I didn't get any stretchmarks either and you really couldn't tell I'd ever had a baby. Well that's my excuse for not going to the gym and I'm sticking to it!

Mine looks exactly the same as it did before I had dd1, at least I think so.

Mine did and it looks a lot better than it did pre-pg - flatter and smoother somehow!

(It's about the only bit of me that does look better tho! )

Slight thread hijack but... I am 36+2 and still have an innie. Is this a record????

emsyj - we're not going to talk to you .

I think my innie must have been a foot-long tunnel before I got pregnant - there's just no end to it! Every time I think it's going to pop, another fold seems to unfurl from underneath the last.

See, mine never popped out - it just sort of spread, till it resembled a dartboard (thanks for that, DH).

With ds1 my innie, stayed an innie. But with this pregnancy it popped out at about 30 weeks. But everyone tells me I'm much bigger than last time.

Thanks for your responses!
So it seems it will probably go back in, but then it'll still look a bit weird.

Actually Poledra mine seems to be more sort of spreading than popping out too at the moment.

I haven't developed any stretchmarks yet, but given the family history, they're probably in the post...