Belly button issues

What's actually going on inside the belly button? Everything that travels through the umbilical cord while the baby is still in the womb... where does it all go? Into a vein? Straight into the digestive tract?

Is hurting your navel more dangerous than hitting some other part of your stomach?

(I didn't hurt my belly button or anything, I just want an answer to that first question. 😁)

hahaha you really do love getting into every little detail. That tiny scrap of umbilical cord left in your gut just turns into something resembling a ligament. Nothing's going to happen, and you aren't going to hurt it—you'd be more likely to rupture your liver from a blow first...

Kimberly Davis52 said:So, what’s actually going on inside the belly button?
Like, everything that travels through the umbilical cord while the baby is still in the womb... where does it all go? Does it just flow into some vein? Or straight into the digestive tract?

And is it more dangerous to hurt your belly button than, say, another part of your stomach area?

(I didn't actually hurt my navel or anything, I'm just genuinely curious about the first part. 😁)

Alright, let's break this down step by step.😬 Basically, the fetus gets oxygenated blood from the mother's placenta through the umbilical vein, which enters right through the belly button. (Do you really want the super deep medical details? 😲I'll keep it brief for you. 😁) Where does it go next? It flows through the entire fetal body and then heads back to the placenta via the umbilical arteries.
Once the baby is born, those arteries turn into fibrous cords, and the vein tightens up and becomes a ligament. Since a newborn's circulatory system works differently than a fetus's, those specific arteries and veins aren't needed anymore.

If I totally missed the mark on any of that, someone please set me straight!😬

Since we're already talking about belly buttons... why do some people have a little dimple while others have a bulge sticking out?
What actually determines that?🤔

Michelle King said:The fetus gets oxygenated blood from the mother's placenta through the umbilical vein which enters through the navel. (You really want the deep dive?😲I'll keep it brief😁)From there, it travels through the whole fetal body and heads back to the placenta via the umbilical arteries.

So where does the meconium in the gut come from then? What is the fetus supposed to digest? If it's not going into the digestive system but straight into the bloodstream, fine. Do babies just get born with full bladders too?

mellowraven32 said:Nothing is going to happen and you can't hurt it; your liver will probably burst from the impact before you manage that...

Look, I was mostly wondering if a cut or a shallow puncture to the navel is more dangerous than one to the rest of the abdomen—like, if there's a major vessel right behind it or if the inside of the navel connects to, say, the aorta.

If I were to peel the skin off my stomach right now (I won't, I'm not a psycho 😁)—what would I actually find inside? That's what I'm trying to figure out. And what does "obliterates" even mean?

The fetus essentially breathes through amniotic fluid—meaning they aren't using empty lungs—and this fluid cycles out roughly every three hours via the placenta. All those metabolic byproducts the baby generates get filtered out through the mother; for instance, gases from the baby's bloodstream pass directly into the mother's system
.
It obliterates—or rather, let's say it withers away since it’s no longer needed. In the case of the blood vessels that nourish the fetus, all that remains is a small trace, essentially becoming a ligament
.
Michelle King, you hit the nail on the head there 😁
.
As for meconium, here is the deal: while the fetus is in the womb swimming in that amniotic fluid, they are constantly swallowing it. That’s where the meconium comes from. On top of that, the digestive tract is constantly shedding and regenerating cells
.
And regarding the appearance of the umbilical cord, if my memory serves me right, it really just comes down to how the cord is tied off after birth
.

Kimberly Davis52, you're a legend. I don't know how old you are, but you should seriously consider medical school! :-)
1. Meconium has nothing to do with the umbilical cord. The baby just swallows amniotic fluid, which is totally normal in the womb. Some goes through the digestive tract and some gets peed out. It's basically a tiny human eating and going to the bathroom... Nothing happens because amniotic fluid is sterile.
2. It isn't more dangerous; there aren't even blood vessels there, just one thin little ligament. Nothing would happen.
Obliterated means it's basically gone, no function left.
Under the skin, you've got abdominal organs like the liver, intestines, stomach, spleen... before those, you have fat, muscle... the abdominal wall.

Didn't I just say exactly that?

You beat me by ten minutes. I’m working an ER shift, so I got pulled away mid-sentence for an exam and didn't realize you'd already replied.
Sorry if you're pissed...😉

No hard feelings 😁
I suppose I am destined to be your future colleague after all 😁

Enjoy yourself 🙂))

Ugh, I seriously get goosebumps just reading the word belly button......

I don't even know how to start this... just kind of staring at the screen, thinking about how everything feels so heavy lately. It’s like, you wake up and there's just this weight on your chest, you know? Like that feeling when you realize you forgot something huge, but you can't quite remember what it is. Just a constant, low-level hum of anxiety. I was sitting here with my coffee—burnt, obviously, because I'm a disaster in the kitchen—just wondering if anyone else feels this weirdly disconnected from everything. Like we're all just playing parts in some movie we didn't audition for. Anyway, sorry. I'm rambling. Just one of those days where my brain won't shut up. I can't even begin to explain this... honestly. It’s just one of those things where you look back and realize how much you missed. Like, really missed. I was thinking about it earlier—just sitting there, staring at the wall, you know? And it hit me. Everything feels different now. It's weird. A little overwhelming, maybe? But yeah. Anyway, what was I saying? Right. Just... wow.
So, since we’re already talking about belly buttons... why is it that some people have one that looks like a little little pit, while others have one that's basically just a weird, protruding knot?
What does that even depend on? Like, what's the actual deciding factor here?🤔

It really just depends on what kind of mood Grandma was in that day.🤣

Jesse Sullivan2 said:It all depends on what kind of mood Grandma was in.🤣

It's almost like an artistic impulse from her; she might just run into someone on the street tomorrow and act on it... 😂

Thanks a ton for all the answers. 🙂 Curiosity satisfied. For now. 😁

🙏 😂
It’s rare to stumble upon threads that manage to be both entertaining and actually worth a damn. 😁

So how does that even work?! Is the oxygen getting to them through the blood or what?? I mean, once you're near the end of the pregnancy and the baby is already "big"...

Jeffrey Martin46 said:But then how on earth does the baby breathe?! Is it getting oxygen through the blood or something?? I mean, once you get toward the end of the pregnancy and the baby is already pretty big?

Yeah, basically, the baby doesn't actually start breathing until they're born.

At the fetal stage, the lungs have essentially collapsed—they aren't functional yet, as Michelle King pointed out. Oxygen is delivered through the mother's bloodstream instead; in a biological sense, the fetus is acting like a parasite 😁

Karen Gonzalez70 said:A fetus's lungs are collapsed and basically non-functional... just like Michelle King said, oxygen comes through the mother's blood. A fetus is essentially a parasite. 😁

Calling it a parasite?! Well, that certainly makes me feel a bit worse knowing I used to be one too... haha... 🤣 😁

Best, 👍

I suppose you could put it that way 😁

It’s all happening inside her—he gets everything handed to him on a silver platter without lifting a finger, while the woman is stuck in a phase where she can't exactly put that effort to any practical use

A total parasite 😬