spotting, pain & prolapse

spotting at 7 weeks is not abnormal for me. usually it means I am doing too much. I don't think its prolapse related.

the pain, I'm not sure about. I have lots of twinges and such postpartum, and sometimes also after sex, I just ignore it. not saying thats what you should do, only thats what I've done.

I don't know how high a 'normal' cervix is supposed to be, or at what point exactly it qualifies as 'prolapsed'. but mine is lower than the tip of my middle finger and I personally don't call mine prolapsed. mostly because I just don't want to, and I don't think it matters. I treat all of my pelvic organs as 'prolapsed or prone to prolapse' so as long as there are no symptoms I don't really care how they *should* be classified.

also, 7 weeks is still very soon after childbirth. I think its very possible your cervix might still move up as your uterus continues to shrink back to prepg size.

second time i bled on and off for ages, like gmom when i did too much it started again, but if you are worried i'd get it checked out.
re pain, i had lots of that on and off for the first few months, but again--if you have a history that is making you worried, get it checked out.

re cervix height, you can google average cervix height and get all sorts of measurements. i go for what's normal for you. mine is definately lower than yours, and like gmom, i don't call it prolapsed. it was much lower for a while, so i'm happy, and when it was much lower i was told i had a bit of uterine prolapse, totally normal for two kids. so it's all relative...

glad to hear sex was all good! hurray! i always think prolapses add a bit of extra friction, so are a bonus as far as our male partners are concerned... ;-)
(how's that for optimism so early in the morning!)

Hi Mamato2boys

You raise interesting questions and Gmom and Kiki have given your interesting answers, which I concur with. As you have had ovary tumours before (if they were indeed tumours and not simply cysts), I would not immediately ignore these symptoms.

Equally, women begin their menstrual cycle at different times, largely depending on the degree and timing of breastfeeding. Also hormonal contraception is a factor. Sex may have caused the spotting, both Kiki's doing too much (boo-hoo, but it will pass!) and also the effect of penetrative sex on a vagina that is dry as a result of low oestrogen levels caused by lactation.

Once you get a period, it means that the menstrual cycle is almost back to regular again, but it is a gradual process happening over weeks and months, with hormone levels building up gradually, and in waves, to levels that trigger ovulation and menstruation.

If you put all those factors together you could very easily trip off spotting and ovary pain, but I would check with the doctor as you have history.

Re defining what prolapse is, it is only a different positioning of organs; and is only problematic when we are vertical, or exerting ourselves and unable to modify what we are doing or how we are doing it, or are unable to have complete control of bladder or bowel. Dolphins probably wouldn't even have POP listed in their medical texts because gravity works differently in water. Incontinence would not be a problem if we were chimps because we could just take a pee whenever and wherever we wanted to. It is a societal thing. Perhaps birds would describe people as being wing deficient, even if it doesn't bother most of us to only have legs?

It is not like broken leg, which is either broken or not broken. All the organs are working just fine. They simply find themselves in places which are not optimum, and this triggers unpleasant sensations or pain, changes in continence and negative feelings.

I know that I have significant prolapses. I manage them so that my symptoms are minimal. Do they limit my activities? No, not really, except for doing tasks by myself that the rest of the world's population would do with another person or leave for somebody with bigger muscles. I probably sook it up a bit these days and get male help for heavy tasks that I probably should have been getting help with all along! That is the privilege of the older woman.

So, do I have prolapsed pelvic organs? Well, yes, I will always have POP, but it doesn't affect my life often. In fact, now I have stopped having periods POP affects me less than having a menstrual cycle affected me every month or so for the last 40 years. I think the answer lies in your attitude to it. It is a glass half full/half empty thing. The only people who need to know whether to tick the POP box or not are medical people, and I think that *usually* POP is a condition that it is inappropriate to treat medically/surgically anyway, so it is largely irrelevant. It is more like the dicky knee or amputated toe which has healed as far as it ever will heal, that requires some physical adjustments to how you do things and what aids you need to help you do things. The degree to which you 'suffer' determines the degree of adjustment you need to make. Ticking the box may also be relevant when applying for jobs that involve physical handling tasks, and extreme adventure holidays, but that is really about physical performance, rather than the worry of a medical condition.

Having said all that, your POP recovery at 7 weeks postpartum is not indicative of anything as far as long term outcome. You just need to use your body properly for the next couple of years so you don't do any more damage, and can allow your body to do its own healing. Don't even look! Oh yes, and love your baby and your other family, and get yourself some Bliss Balm. ;-)

Cheers

Louise

:-)

EDIT: Wimping out of heavy tasks *should* also be the privilege of young mothers. I think this is one of the downsides of Girl Power and Women's Liberation. It is no longer valid for a strong young woman to wimp out of heavy tasks, even though she may have a newborn in a sling, a toddler in the shopping trolley, an active pre-schooler throwing a tanty on the tarmac in the shopping centre carpark when she has a trolley load of shopping to get into the car, and get them all home, so she can hang out that load of washing still in the machine, put on another load, put away all the shopping and get dinner underway while she feeds the baby. No, it is not fair that we expect so much of ourselves, and it is not fair that many able-bodied people will stand back and let this women do it all herself. We cannot do it all and stay sane and of sound body. Yes, I have pushed myself and done all this insane stuff when my kids were little. Now I just look out for Mums with kids who need a hand to get their shopping in the car. L