cut tissue and uterine prolapse

hi new mamma
your story gives me the chills, honestly. I have no idea what that band of tissue might have been but I suspect that it very well might be related to your prolapse. although a large baby with a difficult and prolonged pushing stage could've done it too.
can you get a hold of your medical record? I wonder how this was documented.
can you poke around and see if you feel scarring or torn tissue and then try to figure out what it is?
have you ever had any surgery or anything that would've left a band of scar tissue? I really can't imagine what happened over there.
maybe aza's got some insight??

I am with granolamom...your post just took my breath away.

Some thoughts - "Thick band like tissue" can only be muscle, perineum of steel, or hymen (or labial adhesions which you would most likely know about before birthing). How long were you pushing for, in what positions, with what meds, under what guidance (or lack thereof)? Did you feel your baby moving down and your tissues stretching? What was your experience of all this (you were, after all, the most important part of this all as the woman birthing ;) ) ?

I shudder at the concept of cutting tissue of which you don't know the origin, insertion, and action in the pelvis (not to mention the psyche). How far out was your baby when the cut was made? Was your baby in distress? I would like to think that your doctor knew how to differentiate between tissues, but the fact you were not given a clear explanation makes me wonder.

A residual hymenal ring in an adult woman is pretty rare, though certainly possible. Most often this is not the sheer hymen that most of us break as kids...it is more of a band of tissue (like you say) that just will not give. Most often women realise this exists prior to having kids since sex is extremely uncomfortable, among other things. Please feel free to share whatever you would like, there is no such thing as TMI here, but don't feel pressure either.

Also, if the hymen is cut, it generally bleeds like crazy, much more than other parts of the perineum. So when you say that you were not repaired, it makes me wonder, as an uncontrolled bleed is a clear indication for suturing.

So sorry for what you have experienced. I hope we can support you through this!

I so apologize, New_mamma, but I just deleted your last post! The one before your last was posted twice (happens sometimes) and I was going to erase one of those for easier reading.

Will you please post again the same information?? So so so sorry for the inconvenience.

Christine

Hi again, new_mama.
Thanks for posting more info.
That's great that you obtained what you set out for....100% natural and drug free. No doubt, this saved you from further complications and interventions. Having said that, when you said that you pushed for two hours yet never really felt the urge to push, I worry. The mind bogles at the coaching to push when the body is simply not int the physiological state to do so. It is like looking at someone who is nauseous and saying, "ok, now...get ready....ok now! Vomit!!" In some cases it may work but in most it will not, simply because there are actions in the body that cannot be controlled, such as pushing out a baby (apologies for the comparison to vomiting, but the analogy is a true one...).
It sounds like you had a doc who is probably a bit more progressive...warm compresses on the perineum is pretty revolutionary in some circles ;)
You say 'when i was ready to push' your doc determined your baby to be in a certain place, but really, this has nothing to do with being ready to push (nor is dilation and effacement an indication of when you will go into labour, as you also discovered). A woman is ready to push when and if she gets the unmistakable urge, especially a woman like you who was not drugged and could therefor feel the pushing urge. Everyone feels it eventually, I promise ;) Failure to wait on the part of care-providers does not mean failure of the woman to be able to push her baby out.
From what you say, it sounds to me like you have a mightily spacious pelvis. A shallow pelvis refers to the female shape which is different to the male (this is a good thing).
So did you push for 2 hrs, or 'after the first 15 minutes of pushing I made little progress til she cut that tissue' was this before or after the episiotomy or are they one and the same? Sorry, I am a little confused.
Your words 'I screamed n screamed cuz something felt wrong to me' I am so, so sorry this was your experience. This is not ok, nor normal, nor anything a woman birthing her baby should experience.
Re delivering your uterus while birthing your baby post-prolapse...not going to happen if you birth according to your body's messages and pace. I often tell the story of an ob nurse very fearfully grabbing the hand of a gorgeous woman who was doing gentle traction on her own cord to help the placenta birth. "Don't do that love, you might pull out your uterus!! I know how to do it to not pull anything out I shouldn't!" The woman looked at her in the post-birth high and laughed gaily and said "Really, who do you think is more likely to pull my organ out, me - feeling it every step of the way - or you, having no idea how what you are doing feels on the inside?!" She then birthed a placenta and taught that nurse a hell of a lesson.
One more thing....so the episiotomy was stitched but this band of tissue was not? As mentioned before, it would be great to get your records and have a read for yourself what was documented. In the meantime, keep chatting with us:)

HI New_Mama
First of all, congrats on the birth of your gorgeous baby!
I too am so sorry you had this experience. i can part sympathise, as with my first birth i was instructed to start pushing because i was dilated, but had noooo urge at all. so the midwife said look at the machine, when it says whatever number, push. stop when it says some other number.
that went on for about 2 hours before I got any urge to push. then i really wanted to push, but was so exhausted by then. so two episiotomies later... really, i should have been resting and preparing for when i was ready. but we just don't know and trust others to guide us through this. it's disapointing when they let us down on this path.
the good news is that your prolapse(s?) will heal so much over the coming months / years... i had third degree prolapses post birth, and (just to be prepared) it did get worse for a few months which is really common. but around 4 months it started reversing, and then kept on getting better. i had major changes till about 1 year PP, and then continued changes that were noticeable (but less major) till about 2 years PP. then it plateaued till i started an anti inflammatory diet, and it really got better again. i'm now 3 1/2 years on, and continuing to improve. I just spent a week working with Christine, and feel even better this week than i have.

so know it can and will improve massively. it's so great you found WW, and this forum. If you are able do order the book and the DVD. if you are able to get the WW membership, there are great videos on the site that are so informative as well.

start the excercises after about 6 weeks PP, even just a few (ie nauli, firebreathing, some lovely plies) and work your way through them. work on the posture. be careful what you eat, avoid constipation at all costs, don't strain on the toilet, wear clothes that let your belly relax....it all helps the healing as your organs find their natural place.

and use the forum to ask away.

Kiki

HI New_Mama
First of all, congrats on the birth of your gorgeous baby!
I too am so sorry you had this experience. i can part sympathise, as with my first birth i was instructed to start pushing because i was dilated, but had noooo urge at all. so the midwife said look at the machine, when it says whatever number, push. stop when it says some other number.
that went on for about 2 hours before I got any urge to push. then i really wanted to push, but was so exhausted by then. so two episiotomies later... really, i should have been resting and preparing for when i was ready. but we just don't know and trust others to guide us through this. it's disapointing when they let us down on this path.
the good news is that your prolapse(s?) will heal so much over the coming months / years... i had third degree prolapses post birth, and (just to be prepared) it did get worse for a few months which is really common. but around 4 months it started reversing, and then kept on getting better. i had major changes till about 1 year PP, and then continued changes that were noticeable (but less major) till about 2 years PP. then it plateaued till i started an anti inflammatory diet, and it really got better again. i'm now 3 1/2 years on, and continuing to improve. I just spent a week working with Christine, and feel even better this week than i have.

so know it can and will improve massively. it's so great you found WW, and this forum. If you are able do order the book and the DVD. if you are able to get the WW membership, there are great videos on the site that are so informative as well.

start the excercises after about 6 weeks PP, even just a few (ie nauli, firebreathing, some lovely plies) and work your way through them. work on the posture. be careful what you eat, avoid constipation at all costs, don't strain on the toilet, wear clothes that let your belly relax....it all helps the healing as your organs find their natural place.

and use the forum to ask away.

Kiki

Oh new_mama, I am so sorry for what you have experienced. There are many, many women who can relate to what you are going through with regards to birth trauma. Do you have people in your life that you can lean on for support with both the POP and working through your feelings about your birth?
How old is your baby now? Even if you are freshly postpartum there is still a lot of WW practices that you can apply to your life, starting now, starting with posture and diet to name a few.

You are in a hormone driven emotional state right now. You are very sad, because you are so young and can't understand what has happened and why. Older women are more likely to accept what life is dealing them, as they feel with everything they have survived in life already, this too shall pass.
Sit ups are not good as they put the wrong abdominal pressures in the wrong places. Try to limit what you pick up to less than twenty pounds until you are sure you are lifting in protective posture. (Please no more heaving lawn furniture around). Use the search box in the upper left hand corner to find great advice about posture, diet, and exercise. Most of all rest when you need it and give this time. Try to trust your own healing powers. Go to your health food store and talk to someone to help you find something to sooth your body and mind. Take care and continue to ask questions. The answers are here
Melly

Hi New Mama,
I can absolutely understand not trusting people to give birth again. I was so upset. I found writing about it so helpful. And time heals. I also recently discovered something called TAT that i think would be so helpful for post birth trauma. info on it is here
http://www.tatlife.com/

i found it so relaxing and helpful for other stuff.

most important for my second birth was having a great team of midwives. we planned another home birth, but with a homebirth only team, and i explained my fears. I also had bad symphesis pubis pain second time, which made me very anxious about going to hospital and ending up in stirrups. i considered a doula, but decided with the midwives we didn't need it as we'd have two dedicated midwives at home...it was a healing birth, and helped me to regain trust in my body and the people who help to positively bring babies into the world.

Kiki

Hi New Mamma

I really cannot add any more specific information to that given by the other Members. However, it sounds to me as if you are suffering alone in real life, except for your DH; that you don't have much contact with other Mums in your community who can walk with you on this journey, as you can walk with them? Do you have a mothers' group or something similar, nearby?

Louise

New Mamma

I wasn't fobbing you off at all. This website is a wonderful community, and you are so welcome to be a part of it. I was just checking that you had somebody in real life that you could share this with. I am sure that will come in time if you let it. In the meantime, hang out here.We'll look after you and teach you.

I can hear that you feel quite weak and vulnerable at the moment. This is absolutely normal. It will take quite a while for you to get your head around all the techniques you can use to help your body to adapt to it. You are in a state of grief and helplessness, which will take some working through, but work it through you will, I can assure you. You will be turning around and helping other women in no time at all.

You have a positive attitude, I can see that. It is hard to keep a good woman down.

POP certainly feels like the end of the world when you discover it, or have a diagnosis, but it really isn't. I have been using WW techniques for about 6 years now, and I have found new ways to use my body to do all the stuff I used to do before. I no longer have any fear of it taking over my life. I now put it in the category of falling boobs, a bit different to how I was, but quite manageable.

I am sure that you will find your way to where I am eventually.

Louise

Hey guys,

I'm in Ontario, Canada too! I'm 19 months pp with a urethrocele - it developed in the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy. It WILL get so much better, really! I felt better at 1 year, and then much better 6 months after that! You can learn tonnes by tracking a few members progress - granolamom, badmirror, alemama, clavicula, myselt - and many more. Read these stories, they will give you hope

Hey NewmAMMA AND mARIE mARIE

dAMN THIS NEW keyboard!

Save yourselves the Facebook hassle and just pm each other through this site. Go to the other person's profile by clicking on their username, which takes you to their profile. Click on the Contact Tab, and it brings up an email form. The only thing you have to do is set your *own* profile to accept emails. It is much more private to keep your emailing through this site.

Hey New Mamma, how did this 'friend' of yours find out about your POP on Facebook? Hope he doesn't give you any more grief. He is sick.

Hope you Canadian Mammas get together OK.

Is there anyone in Western Australia?

Louise