Hope for newly postpartum prolapsed!

Hello Everyone!

This is the first time I've posted but I'm not exactly new here. I wanted to post my story to say a really big thank you to everyone involved in this site - and to hopefully provide some hope for newly prolapsed mummies.

I was diagnosed with cystocele in January 2007 - three months after my second son was born. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I was absolutely petrified, shocked, angry and incredibly sad. My world was turned upside down. I thought I would never be able to walk to the shops again without my prolapse "falling down", let alone chase my boys around the park, go running, do aerobics, go hiking, go skiing. Suddenly I couldn't lift my eldest son into his cot anymore, couldn't pick him up and give him piggy-backs and I wondered how I was ever going to get through the crawling to walking phase of my new baby.

I saw my doctor. She confirmed I had a cystocele, told me that while it was not unheard of it is uncommon amongst women of my age (35 then), told me that most people have surgery eventually but she wouldn't recommend it as "she sees what can go wrong...." She then referred me to a pelvic physio.

Thankfully, my physio was fantastic. With plenty of experience with pregnant and post-partum women, she was very reassuing. She taught me how to do kegals properly and gradually I worked with her over a number of months to build the strength back up in those muscles. I still practise the exercises every day ( but not to excess) and I always kegal before I lift anything even remotely heavy (including a full kettle or a 6 pint carton of milk from the fridge)

Meanwhile - I found the whole woman forum and what a fabulous site! I visited often in the middle of the night or the early hours of the morning looking for advice, ideas and support and found the very presence of so many supportive women my main source of reassurance. I bought Christine's book and quickly decided never to have surgery!!

It has been a long and slow process - and my youngest is now nearly two years old. But I want to say that while I still have prolapse - it is much much much better than it was. In the early days I was "down" by the end of every day. (My definition of "down" is when I can feel the bulge outside my vaginal opening - I don't go rummaging up there to find out exact locations!! :-) ) But now - I hardly notice it at all. Maybe at certain times in the month - just before my period - it comes down a little more. But the rest of the time - everything stays tucked up inside. (Incidently - I had a problem keeping tampons in but found that Lil-lets applicator are fine - they only expand widthways so don't head south with your bulge!)

I have been mindful of practising Christine's posture since finding this site. And as I mentioned - I find that the kegals help me. I am also very careful of what I lift - and if I do lift & carry - I always pull everything in first.

The hardest thing for me was giving up my aerobics. I know alot of women on this site still do high-impact exercise - but for me - I'd rather not take the risk of all that jumping up and down (and my knees are creaky anyhow!) So I stick with swimming and walking. And I've recently joined a fun dance class which doesn't involve too much leaping around. I also used to adore yoga - but found that post-partum - yoga seemed to make my prolapse worse. I'm really pleased that recently I've found I can do many postures again - and I just leave the ones which seem to put pressure on my pelvic area. My husband and I went on an eight mile hike in the hills just a few weeks ago. I thought I'd never do that again. I didn't even feel my prolapse! (But he did carry all the gear for me...!)

I just wanted to post to say that I have come an incredibly long way since those early dark, tear-filled days of desperation and despair. And if you're newly prolapsed and post-partum - you really do need to give it plenty of time. For me it felt like it took a very long time before things got better. They stabilised first and then bit by bit I realised that I wasn't even thinking about the prolapse anymore - it wasn't dominating my life anymore. (When I think of time-lines... it may be since my youngest has been walking more and more and I have been lifting and carrying him less and less....)

Well - I will stop rambling now. I hope this message helps some of you new and terrified mummies out there - and also special thanks to Christine and all the regular posters who have provided me with so much support over these past 18 months.

Bye for now,

Florence