Two months after my appendectomy, my incision scars still hurt. The largest — a 1.5″ cut about 4″ above my belly button — is the most painful and remains an angry red.

My doctor tells me that this is what I should expect with a surgical scar on a growing, pregnant belly. He says that while the skin and muscle on my stomach will continue to expand with the pregnancy, the scar tissue will resist stretching. And as a result, the incision scars will take longer to fully heal.

Additionally, because the rest of my belly continues to grow with no regard to the scars, there now exists indentations where the scar tissues lie.

When I am sitting/crouching, and the skin and fat on my stomach contract, the largest scar seems to indent even further, creating a funny-looking cave that looks like a large, second belly button.

I would take a picture, but it’s kinda gross. So here’s something I found online to tide you over:

I couldn’t believe this is a real children’s book!
It actually looks pretty interesting…

Now that BebeDeux’s due date grows near, I have been wondering how the scars will look after giving birth. Not right afterwards — because I still looked like I was 4 months pregnant for at least a month after my last delivery — but when my tummy finally shrinks.

In other words, I was 25 weeks pregnant when I had my appendectomy. My belly was already full and round when the scar tissue formed…so will the scars remain stretched and raised after I give birth?

I guess only time will tell. But one thing is for certain: despite my use of silicone scar patches, vitamin E, and shea butter, the appearance of the scars has not improved any…and so I think it’s safe to say that my bikini-wearing days are over.

I just had an additional thought: if I end up getting a c-section with BebeDeux, I will have four surgical scars on my stomach!