still wondering about symptoms getting better...

Kay,

Have you tried a lubricant? If you have no such thing at home, try a little olive oil. See if the discomfort abates.

Judy

It might take a little longer before you feel improvement. I am 8 months post pard. and it is only in the last month or so that I have had more than one day at a time of not feeling awful. It was a VERY SLOW improvement for me. I guess each of us is different and I know that I felt really down when all these women were saying that they felt like before the baby around 3 months after. I did not feel better anywhere near that time. I was actually shocked at how long it took because I had the knowledge before hand and was already doing the posture and things that Christine suggests. I am still improving slowly. I know it is hard to be patient but for me the thing that helped was time. Also I was very uncomfortable with the cystocele for many months. The symptoms changed and the one thing that helped the most was using Christine's balm internally. I used to get this irritated, burning feeling I guess from it rubbing or something (I am not sure because after my first baby I had no problems from the cystocele after doing the posture). Anyway that is gone. I still feel the cystocele more than I did before the baby but it is slowly improving. I can't remember who it was that said it took a year before she started to feel better. I think I am part of that group. I don't know why some of us struggle to have improvement more than others but know that you aren't alone and I am sure you will feel better over time.

I actually had several people tell me that around 3 months pp things were at there worst and did not improve until 6 months pp. I am hoping for a miracle myself and that it improves drastically to the point that the doctor's cannot detect it or it is very slight.

Alemama:

I have improved greatly on the BM's, I don't have to manually do anything it come automatically. Also the presure has eased up some but I have days especially when my bowels start getting full. I start circling like a buzzard around the kill (toilet) in hope.

Also Alemama you said that you run and do cart wheels can you tell me what else you can do or anyone else. I yearn to know that in time I will be able to do just about everything that I used to do.

I keep hoping that if the Rectocele will go away on its own then maybe I can do the Ab-vaccum (later since I am having some pains.) That is another thing I found out on the site that at about 3 month pp your body starts to awaken from a deep slumber and begans screaming at you with cheap jab shots "What the hell have you done to me." Apparently you start getting new pains and about this time there is a deep depressive funk according to some of the post.

Got to go the baby is crying.

Shiloh

sorry you are feeling that pinching pain. have you already read the post about nerve damage posted by Louise? You may find the information useful. I felt painful pressure in a big dragging way- and yes it went away. Now when my colon is full I feel pressure but I have come to believe that it is normal and an indication that I should go and use the bathroom- and not something awful. It is so hard to remember the sensations of my body pre-children. I didn't pay that much attention.
Are there positions that you can put your body in to relieve the pinching? I remember feeling such intense relief from tailbone pain when I started lifting my tailbone all day- it was just amazing. You have time on your side for sure. Baby yourself if you can. There is much trial and error in the beginning to find the tools that will work for you- and just when you think you have it all puzzled out you get some crazy symptom right out of left field and you have to start over. But it does get so much better.
and Shiloh as far as what I can do. I am 6 years older now than I was pre-children and when I started having children I was still such a young woman. I was an athlete for years. I can not nor do I want to maintain that level of fitness. it was a commitment that I simply do not have time for now. However, I feel that I am in the best shape of my life right now. I am flexible and strong and I know my limits. So while I can still do a back flip- I am not doing them everyday. And it doesn't matter to me that I CAN lift the laundry basket full of clothing- I simply choose not to do it. I much prefer to respect my body and it's motherhood. When necessary I do what I must do- otherwise I take it easy.
We had such a nice time at the beach last week. In one day I threw the frisbee (running and jumping to catch it), helped dd catch waves on a board, rode bikes 4 miles to the pier and back, and ocean kyaked. All that plus got up early and made breakfast, lunch and dinner- lugged every thing down to the beach and back-carried children and babies- and didn't go to bed until 11 and never saw a change in my prolapse. At the end of such a busy day I was curious about how I my prolapse would manage-and it was fine. I was mindful all day about my posture- keeping my chest high and resting as much as I could- digging dirt on my knees with my bum in the air- etc. And all was well.
Last year we all went on the same beach trip and I felt fragile. I worried constantly about my prolapse and what I should or should not do. Most photos of me from last year are reading a book while in downward dog or on knees and elbows. It was fun to have a comparison from last year to this year.

This is such a beautiful story, Alemama. Thank you for first believing in this work and then making a difference in the lives of so many women who look to you for guidance. You are one of our shining stars!

3 mo pp I was at my absolute worst, prolapse-wise
I was doing great right after the birth, and even up to 6 weeks and then by 10 weeks pp it started getting really bad again. by 12 weeks it was worse than it had ever been.
now, at 14 mo, not only do I do whatever I want (ok, I'm nowhere near as athletic as alemama :::hats off to you, girl!:::), but I don't even pay attention to my posture unless I'm having a bad day (which is thankfully very rare)
though I never had the pinching pressure, just plain old annoying pressure and the 'isthisallgoingtofallout' feeling.

As I am now 13 months post partum, the symptoms do still appear but they are lessened as I get more sleep now. When I try to think I am a teen again and can live off 4 hours sleep...think again, my body agrees and the prolapses re-appear until I eat well and rest.

This may not work for all, but I think the more the baby sleeps and the mommy sleeps the prolapses seem to maintain their positions.

I started to feel super right around the time I started getting more sleep-among other things.

sleep is not a luxury.
we need sleep for cell repair and growth.
there is no reason to think prolapse is different than any other process in the body.
good food, good exercise, good sleep are all necessary for good healing. and for maintaining muscle tone, digestive function, mood stability, you name it.

though I have to say that even if you aren't getting enough sleep, that doesn't mean all is lost. I haven't slept through the night on a regular basis in close to 10 years. it just means you have to pay more attention to diet and the other things that promote health and healing to compensate for lack of sleep.