The turtle in my belly; downside to lifting heavy with my body

The little knot right above my belly piercing is the turtle head.

What would you think if you saw a tiny knot poking from your belly, at the very top of your navel region?  Some would immediately think there's a problem and to rush to the emergency room.  Others would try nursing it or research what the issue may be then call their family doctor to schedule an appointment.  Me, I'd look at it and say, "I have a turtle head poking out of my belly!"  This strange yet proud exclamation shouldn't be taken lightly.  I was concerned for all of two minutes while I carried on a lengthy conversation with my friend on the phone.  At one point, I thought, hernia, but dismissed it because I didn't know enough about a hernia to lay claim to that notion.  So I continued yelling out "I have a turtle head poking out of my belly!" to my friend, who wasn't sure what to say at that moment.    

When the pain persisted I called the people I knew would have the answer to my problem, my parents.  Neither one have gone to medical school nor have had any formal training in the field of medicine, but they'd know what to do to make the pain go away, at least until I spoke to a medical professional.  I was told to eat something, take a hot shower, rub some alcohol on my belly and keep still.  A trained medical professional probably wouldn't agree with my parents methods but it worked for the time being.  I asked if they thought it might be a hernia and they said possibly but I should make an appointment to be on the safe side.  I knew they'd know what to do. 

The turtle head went in his shell and for the next few days I felt fine.  Until,  one night during one of my intense workouts (by intense I mean heavy lifting and lots of complaining) the turtle poked his little head out again.  This time, I was lucky enough to have a physician in the gym working out as well.  What are the odds of that happening?  She felt around and assessed it to be what I thought all along, a hernia.  I scheduled an appointment for the following week and was told it was a possible umbilical hernia due to physical strain.  I explained to my doctor that I was now in fitness modeling and my workouts consisted of heavy weight lifting.  I was told I needed to slow down.  My body couldn't handle that much strain and that if I continued I would eventually have to have surgery. Stop.  He had me at surgery.  I wasn't about to go through that.  Fitness modeling is cool and all but not worth having surgery over.   

My trainer decided to slow down on the workouts, giving me more reps with less weights.  Still intense but he gets a little more creative so that I don't lose all the muscle I gained.  I made an agreement with the turtle that I won't strain as long as he didn't bring on the pain.  He complied and has kept his little head back in his shell, for now.