PSA - Quit blaming your Mother's doctor

I've decided to do a series of public service announcements. I feel it's a contribution I can make as a good citizen to share some of the knowledge I've gleaned from my years in the medical profession. Don't worry, it won't be anything too boring or technical. There are some common misconceptions that need to be corrected and some common mistakes that need to be prevented.

So here's my lesson for today:

The shape of your belly button has nothing to do with how the doctor cut your umbilical cord. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. If it did, do you really think they would be letting brand new Daddies do the honors these days? I think not. The same guy cut both my kids' cords (Daddy B). One has an outie, one has an innie. Did he learn how to do it better after the first attempt? Nope. He did a fine job both times.

Whether you have an innie or outie depends on whether your umbilical ring (the hole in your abdominal wall where the blood vessels from the umbilical cord went though) closes up. It doesn't matter how that cord was trimmed. It still turns into a nasty little shriveled up brown stump however it's cut.

And while we're on the subject, there really aren't "innies" and "outies." There are people who have umbilical hernias and people who don't. J's got about 6 more months to close his ring before he's past the age where it's likely to happen on its own. I've been reducing it for four and a half years now trying to encourage it to close. Now he's old enough that I usually get told, "Mommy, quit pushing on my belly button!" It's just a hard habit to break now.