Mum of one - we would love to have another child. Can my body cope with another pregnancy ?

Submitted by peony on December 10, 2007 - 3:30pm
Body: 

Hi

I am a mum of a toddler in my early thirties and have been working my way through
the posts to use the information to adjust my lifestyle - and occasionally posting. I have to my knowledge had a prolapse for approx 10 months - initially a big ballooning cystocele now 2cm inside, but the last few weeks I have felt my back wall balloon out and have been having trouble going to the toilet. Urine also has started to 'spray' when I go to the toilet. I cannot feel my cervix but would suppose with the recent developments this will start moving down now ?
My last birth was a induction and consequently a emergency c-section - Not what I wished for.
I am so very grateful to the whole woman forum for providing practical information on this - it has been a lifeline for me really. I would desperatly love to have another child but are afraid of the consequences of another pregnancy on these prolapses - and therefore quality of life after the birth. This weighs very heavily on me as we love our child dearly and I always anticipated having a larger family. Having another child has been a decision which I have been putting off as I had hoped in my heart that the prolapse would not develop any further. The appearance of the rectocele has shaken my resolve to have another child and I am now finding I need to consume a dozen prunes every two days to get my bowels moving.
I have been so careful in all aspects of its management and to have it progress is really sad. I guess in my heart the question is - if it is progressing further now, how much further will it go if I were to become pregnant ?.
I know its a question that cannot be answered - I am just feeling so sad at the moment.

granolamom

December 10, 2007 - 5:00pm

it is impossible to predict
all I can say is that my prolapse is no worse after pg than it was before I got pg. that is not to say it didn't get worse after I initially discovered it. I, too, felt afraid to have another baby knowing I had a POP. if I never found the prolapse I probably would've had our fourth a year sooner, as my older ones are 2 - 2.5 years apart and that worked well for us. but I waited a bit longer until I felt secure in the knowlege that I COULD stabilize the prolapse. I was at a place where I could honestly say the prolapse was not affecting my quality of life at all, and even if it got a bit worse it would be worth it to have the fourth baby I felt I was meant to have.
we all know that my experiences mean nothing in terms of what will happen if YOU have another baby, but know that I was once where you are, feeling so sad that the prolapse was robbing me of my baby.
lately I've been noticing that the decisions I am faced with as I get older seem to come with higher stakes. maybe its just the perception, I don't know.

In any case, I'm sending some thoughts and prayers your way, for peace of mind and clarity of vision. and throwing in some {{hugs}} for good measure

fullofgrace

December 10, 2007 - 8:43pm

My first child was a c/s birth (3/2000), my second was a homebirth (5/2002) after 5 hours of labor which is when I discovered all three organs had prolapsed. Nothing was outside of my body, but I know that the rectocele is the one that protrudes and makes me take notice of it. I believe my bladder and my cervix were higher about a year after my second birth than they were immediately after. The rectocele has never changed and I actually think that I might have had a rectocele even before my first pregnancy. I'm having trouble figuring out how to word this without being gross...but I have always known when I need to have a bm because I could feel it in my vagina. Oddly, since this is the most extreme of the prolapses for me, it is the one I can deal with the most. I would rather have it than a protruding cervix because I can manage it. Diet. Must eat high fiber and high water content and then it is not even an issue. If I neglect to eat well and get stopped up, then I have to assisted with pressure on the back wall of the vagina. I know that after my second birth, which was so victorious after the "assault" I went through with my first birth, discovering prolapse was devastating. I, too, found that my obsession and fear of it was robbing me of the joy of my baby. It was about a year before I emotionally felt better.

I found this site when I got pregnant with my third and was scared that I would worsen the prolapse. I didn't know if I should schedule a c/s or go ahead with another homebirth. I discovered that a c/s doesn't guarantee no more prolapse. I came to believe that it is not a one time event that sets us up for this change in our pelvic region, but that it is a lifetime or incorrect posture, poor diet, etc. and that the nine months of pregnancy can contribute. I determined during this pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum period that I was going to take extra good care of my body. I went ahead with another homebirth (10/2004) and had a glorious experience.

Now I am pregnant with my fourth child (1/2008). A big surprise to us. A blessing too though unplanned. I have no fear about the prolapse getting worse, but I have decided since I am about 5 weeks until my due date that I am going to go back through this site and read my posts from my third pregnancy because I had such a strong sense of how to care for my body. I want to make sure that I allow my body health and healing during the end of this pregnancy and during labor, birth, and post-partum.

I have to say something I have found to be a miracle for me during this pregnancy-- calcium, magnesium, and vitamin C. I was having some serious ligament pain, heartburn, and constipation issues (despite a fairly good diet) and when I started taking 1000 mg of calcium (magnesium is in this and I think it would be 500 mg) and 1000 mg of vitamin C the ligament pain disappeared, heartburn disappeared, constipation disappeared, and unlike my last 3 pregnancies-- NO LEG CRAMPS! I am amazed. I was never very good at remembering to take my vitamins during the other pregnancies, but because I have had such relieve with these I rarely forget. When I do, heartburn is immediately back.

(btw, has anyone noticed that maternity clothes are made so tight, pants cut so low that they end up rolling down, and shirts so short that the belly could stick out?! I don't know who they are making these clothes for, but I am very frustrated that I still have 5 weeks to go and NOTHING fits! I told my principal to please excuse my attire these next few weeks because I am going to look like the gym teacher (sweat pants and sweat shirts stolen from my husband) instead of the English teacher. )

Jane

mumwithone

December 10, 2007 - 9:57pm

Hi there,

I just wanted to let you know that I went through a very similar thing to you. I have a now 2 and a half year old daughter. After having her I got POP, though now I know I had a slight uterine POP before my pregnancy (I just didn't know what it was and it went undiagnosed). It took me a long time to decide whether to have another baby but ultimately I decided I would regret not having another child more than I would getting a worse POP.

I am now 15 weeks pregnant. My symptoms are so far no worse than when I first had my daughter. I wear a prenatal cradle so I can remain active and I'm very careful about my diet. I'm still experiencing some issues with constipation that I never had before but it's usually because I haven't been vigilant enough with good diet and I'm right again a couple of days later. My uterus has moved back up now but was low for a while (until last week). My cystocele and rectocele are still a little lower, but I'm not feeling too badly.

I accepted the fact that I may get a little worse after the next baby, but for me I just weighed up what was most important. I think either decision is the right one, and don't worry if it takes time for you to decide. I took over two years and had to wait until I was in a place where I felt my body could cope and that I'd manage okay with another pregnancy.

I hope that helps. Feel free to ask me more if you want to.