22 with a urethrocele and and slight cycostele

First...take a deep breathe in!
Now, everything will be alright! It is very awful in the beginning, lots of thoughts of "why me? what did I do wrong during birth" but you did nothing wrong.
I am 21 with a rectocele, cystocele, and uterine prolapse. All stage 2s. Not sure if you now what that all means, but basically my rectum, bladder and uterus have faller more into my vagina.
I wouldn't be too quick to use a pessary. See what your body tells you. You might be able to live completely normally and not need to do anything.
Also, this site promotes a posture that I have found very helpful for my cystocele. My rectocele is controlled by keeping my constipation under control. And the uterine prolapse I honestly just pretend isn't there.
The more you dwell the worse you will feel.

I'm sorry I have so little time to post... so excuse my brevity.
Don't turn your anger towards your body, give your body frequent breaks and TLC. You are
still healing from birthing, and have new parameters to learn.
Don't do too many Kegels - it makes things worse when those muscles are over-exerted.
Don't despair when you have a bad day or even bad days... This is the most inconstant and
unpredictable of conditions. Think Ebb and Flow.

I too am new to this -since June '07, and have regular tantrums. There is much to grieve,
BUT there is also much to learn about and hope for. There are wise women here who still dance
and are shining light on the path ahead... you will quickly come to appreciate the incredible loving and
acceptance this community gives each other. I am glad you found us. There is so much information
available here.

We are all looking for ways to understand and negotiate our way through this, and we are looking
for what's working for others... but it's also been a safe place for me to rant and rave. For which
I'm grateful. This is hard for the un-afflicted to understand. Take care and be kind to yourself.
Zelda

I completely understand all your concerns. I am still relatively new to all this - I discovered my dropped uterus about 6 months ago but I didn't have any symptoms apart from a heavy sensation during my period. Within a couple of months that heavy sensation arrived with my period but did not go away and that is when I found this forum. I did not know that you could get prolapses until it happened to me and I am sure that is the same for everyone, it is not something we are told about. I now have a bulging front wall which I am guessing is a mild cystocele and rectocele but my symptoms feel anything but mild.

I also wondered what I had done to make it happen and I was terrified to move and spent a lot of time on my hands and knees crawling around. I am still very careful about how I move and I try to be more light footed and it is hard. Posture is still foreign to me and does not feel natural YET. I did eventually haul my butt off the sofa and get moving as I had to get on with my life and looking after two young children. I still worry everyday what will happen and if I am doing too much but I am trying to be careful.

You are still very early post partum and have lots of healing to do so take it easy and rest when you can and start using the posture.

I am sending you lots of healing vibes!

Take care,

A

Hi Mad,
congrats on your baby!!!
i just wanted to say that it is such early days. give your body time to heal. there is so much healing in that first year, you wouldn't believe it. i had a grade 3 cyst & rect and a bit of a uterine prolapse 4 weeks after my baby was born. it was horrible. now, one year on, i wouldn't even notice the cyst and the rectocele and i are learning to live together. the surgeon i saw said he wouldn't even see me again until at least 1 year post partum as there would be so much healing in that time. so, have faith!

things that i have found helpful...
**the posture! have a read of the FAQ's and start the posture, which every day will get more natural. give it time, it really helps!
**diet--the more natural, whole grain, healthy the diet, the more my body responded.
**resting--7 weeks is such early days. give your body a break, and yourself a chance to enjoy your baby. hard when you are going through this I know, but those early days are so precious.
**ask for help--if you don't feel right doing it, don't. when this first happened i could barely lift the water jug without bulging! now i carry a large one year old with (most of the time) no problem. but i never lift the stroller, i don't carry heavy bags, and let everyone else do my lifting. other people on here seem to lift a lot, but it just doesn't agree with me.
**i have found alternative therapies very helpful--if you want more info, i'm happy to post more
**kegels--a few. i slowly worked up to 10 - 15 3x a day. at first i went to a physio who had me doing 100's a day. wow did things get worse! the next physio had me working up to 20 good ones over the day, and then slowly adding more to when i'm at now.
**sex--don't be scared. lying down, it all goes back where it used to be, & a lot of people report a "lift" for a few days after sex.

i hope that helps. guessing you are going back to work in a few weeks...if you sit a lot i'd say really get comfortable with the sitting posture so that you are ready, take lots of breaks, walk around, lie down for a bit if you can.

but most of all know that things will improve!!!

I am fairly new to this whole pop thing myself. I discovered mine at 3 weeks pp. I have Christine's book and video. Get into the posture. That definitely helps. Also get in touch with a PT that specializes in women's health. I have been doing PT since week 4. A lot of core stablization, a few kegels (she suggested no more than 30 a day to begin) and now electric stim. I am 10 weeks pp and my stage 2 uterine and stage 2 cystocele have gone to a .5. I have been super diligent with the work my PT has given me as well as staying in the posture. You are young and your body will heal. Unfortunately it takes time! I went XC skiing the other day and felt great...I never. ever would have thought I would get back there. As for the pessary...I would wait until you are at least 6 months pp. Let your body heal naturally. Good luck and relax. Enjoy that new baby!!!

Hi Mad
congrats on the new baby and welcome to the site
I'm probably going to do no more than repeat the others, but take a deep breath. your body is recovering from a year long ordeal of pg, labor and delivery. much healing will take place in the next year.
I don't know why, but it seems common that no prolapse is evident immediately after birth, and tends to show up a few weeks later. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that you did anything wrong. but from here on in, there is much you can do right to help the healing process along. posture, avoid constipation, no straining on the toilet. try to get the book available on the homepage of this site, it explains everything.

and now, some unsolicited advice because I'm hoping someone can learn from my mistakes. the 6 week pp thing is a myth. it takes longer than that for a woman to 'bounce back'. you have another month to rest, take advantage of that! don't push yourself too hard and take this time to enjoy your sweet newborn. try to remind yourself not to worry too much, things will get better. not a promise that it will all go back to the way it was, it very well might not, but many of us are living quite well with prolapse.

I myself am now 8 mo pp. I am really surprised by the degree to which my prolapses have changed in the last few months. I thought, at 6 mo, when things were better that that was as good as it would get, and I would've been plenty happy with that. but now at 8 months its even better, meaning, fewer days with that bulgy feeling. other than that I have no symptoms. so there is good reason to remain positive and hopeful.

I have done so many things to improve my prolapse...I'm not sure what's working. My insurance picks up the PT. If I had to pay out of pocket would I do it??? I don't know. I do 35 minutes of PT exercises a day (not kegels). Core stablization, bridge work, resistance bands...I have this wedge thing and a roll for control ball..I could go on and on. I think I would invest in Christine's video. I'm much more of a visual person so the DVD was more helpful than the book. I do very similar exercises in PT.
As far as my pop.. it is much better. My PT checked me about a week ago and said it was coming down a very little bit. She said I gone from a stage 2 to a .5. I equate that to from a golf ball to a marble (if that makes any sense). She also said that I look like any other mother of 3 out there the difference is that I feel it.
Your body will heal a lot on it's own. I have read so many stories on this site. Find comfort in the postive ones. Take care! Good luck to you!

... we were all told that! You said "She also said that I look like any other mother of 3 out there the difference is that I feel it", if we were all told this and it was considered a more natural occurance after childbirth we would not feel so damn alone in all this. I just got the impression when speaking to the nurse who did my examination that this was not the norm and when asking about other women in general she shrugged her shoulders and did not want to go into it. That made me feel worse like I was the minority or something.

I was a member of a mother and baby forum for a long time many years ago and I have just recently logged back on and searched prolapse and I cannot believe that with the thousands of women who are members only 2 have complained of problems. I can only assume that the vast majority just accept the feelings down there as being a normal part of having given birth and don't go feeling around. Unless they have a bulge at the opening they just carry on as if nothing is wrong.

I guess until awareness is raised and women become more open we will never know.

A