Share
Home › Experts › Abdominal Swelling ›

Abdominal Swelling

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
I'm in my 12th week of pregnancy and have experienced severe heartburn and gas for the past 2-3 weeks. I have done some adjusting to my diet and it has been helping.

However, the last day or so, what was just a tender abdomen (my doctor told me that the gas and heart burn were to blame) has developed into a fairly solid and extremely tender and sore swollen, peach pit size bump directly underneath my breasts.

I'm hoping its just severe gas and have tried to get it moving with ginger ale and gas ex, but I'm still extremely concerned as to why it has become a hard bump. It's fairly centered, favoring the left side only slightly. It's making a full breath almost unachievable and is constantly extremely uncomfortable.

I have a doctors appointment in a few days, but was wondering if I could get some ideas/answers prior to that since I'm worried and this is my first pregnancy.

Hoping someone has an idea,
Andra

ANSWER

This does not sound like gas. It may be a hernia, it may be a gallstone, or it may be something else--I couldn't tell without seeing you. I'd have it seen sooner rather than later if it's that big and wasn't there before.

-- Cynthia, CNM. PhD.

Cynthia Flynn

Cynthia Flynn, CNM. PhD, is the General Director of the Family Health and Birth Center which provides prenatal, birth, postnatal, gynecological and primary health care to underserved women and their families in Washington, D.C. Recently Cynthia served as Associate Professor of Nursing at Seattle University. There she not only taught, but remained in full scope clinical midwifery practice at Valley Medical Center where she cared for pregnant and birthing women, and practices well-woman gynecology, family planning, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

Cynthia founded Columbia Women's Clinic and Birth Center, where she took care of pregnant women and infants up to two weeks of age and attended both birth center and hospital births. Before Cynthia earned her CNM, she worked as a registered nurse in labor and delivery and postpartum and is a certified Doula and Doula trainer.