Pessary Questions

Ok, ok, I am commenting on my own question. haha Because I realized after reading it how silly it all is. What can I say I'm still in throws of newness with this and still laying down and still scared of every little thing.

I was thinking how funny that here I have not even SAT in two weeks and I am asking if I can dance with my pessary.

Which also gave me this vision: Me on this year's Halloween going to the Halloween Dance Party dressed up - as a pessary.

Can't you hear it now as I enter?

"What are you supposed to be?"

"A pessary."

"A whaaat?"

"A PESS-A-RY."

"A what? I can't hear you, the music's too loud."

"A PESSSSAAARRRY."

"Huh?"

"It's like a diaphragm, but it holds your uterus up."

"Oh."

I got one of my questions answered by finding a post from years ago by AnneH:

In case it helps anyone here it is:

Oceanblue, sometimes I can hook a finger and bring it lower, almost out, THEN squeeze it a little, as much as I can get fingers around just a part of it, but can never squeeze completely like when you insert.

I asked here because women who use pesaries know more about it than the doctors. : )

I am finally really catching on about all fours, leaning forward, etc. As I lose weight it's getting very beneficial to get forward.

Haven't been able to sit comforably yet, so have barely ever sat. Tired of lying down so today stood and watched tv, silly, I know, but leaned on the table, or chair back and dang if it didn't help eventually!

Whenever I FIRST start to lean forward it feels scary and not so comfy. Then after a few minutes it's an "ahhh" feeling.

Inversion helps A LOT but I often end up with some OTHER ache. lol

This site is such a Godsend. Thank you

The problem w/all fours is when my uterus is WAY down there. It just makes pressure and almost pushes it the wrong way. I'm still shy of pushing the uterus in. Trying, but I can't get over the weird-out factor yet, and feel like touching my own uterus is like touching an alien. I react like when you see a mouse so can't get myself to do it! (Soooooooooo sorry, Nicki, no offense! hee hee)

And sitting is like that too, you CAN'T find a good WW posture trying to sit when your uterus is RIGHT THERE. it's like you're going to sit on a baby. lol It feels AWFULl. I was sooo looking forward to Friday to FINALLY get my pessary put in after all of these delays! And now, my period is a long one, and hasn't let up. it's always 7 to 8 days. Friday will be the eight day. Today it's still strong enough that I am really hoping big for it to be ceased by Friday morning. That would be a miracle. lol But I haven't cancelled the appointment yet - just in case my period stops before the appointment. GOSH I hate to go ANOTHER weekend with this much discomfort and such low uterus right around the opening. Sigh. This is no way to live, with this anguish. :(

Hi, Fab!

Thanks so much for the response!! I also have wondered why Nicki is low so often (almost all the time these days). I did read recently it could be to unrealized, constant being full in the backyard if you know what I mean. lol I have been wondering if maybe I don't realize and what to do about that, if so. That, at least would be kind of a welcome thing as it would mean if I could figure that out, she'd go back upstairs to her apartment.

As for strength since I'm laying down a lot. I make sure to stand for like an hour at least during the day. I watch a TV show and make sure I'm in posture. And of course I get up a lot to go to the bathroom so it's not like I'm not actually up. I also have to prepare my own meals, of course, too. And do the daily things like laundry, etc. And have to get to the store. I guess what I mean by lying around is I don't sit. I lie down. Sitting 100 percent makes me worse. Sitting in the WW makes me WAY worse BUT I know it's because Nicki's right there. I'm sitting right smack on top of her and she's displacing other things, if you know what I mean. I feel pressure ON HER. Awful. So I don't sit.

I did in the past have luck pushing her back up. Part of the complication right now is my period. I can't see her clearly. And on gut feeling I felt I should not be pushing Nicki and a lot of blood UP back into me (to avoid prompting something like endometriosis). My period is always LOOOOONG. A GOOD seven or eight days. Then a bit of dribble after for a day or two, at times. It has been this way all my life. Not a hastle, normally. But with all this POP, um, yeah, it's a complication, but more along the lines of inconvenience. (I get it like every 33 or 34 days or so though, so it's not like I'm bleeding half my cycle. ha).

What I've been doing, btw, is pushing Nicki up with a tampon as I get freaked out just touching Nicki. But the last couple of attempts things went wrong, like sending the tampon up INSTEAD of Nicki and then o man, being stuck with the tampon BEHIND Nicki. So I've got a bit of fear going on.

As far as dieting, I am NOT going too full on, thanks for the concern though. I make sure I get all food groups and even had a teeny weeny slice of homemade chocolate cake with a delicious glass of skim milk, last night after a small amount of tuna and salad with no dressing.

I'm just making good choices and the weight is most likely pouring off me quickly because I gave up soda!!! A HUGE change for me!

Water instead. Wow, what a difference. Sucks, cause it was a habit for me, so you can imagine, as with any habit you WANT the item! lol But it took no effort to give it up mind wise, if you know what I mean. I WANT it and then I think ah, but do I want it more than I want this weight off Nicki?

So I cut back on portion size, (I always think hmmm how much do I really want next to Nicki? lol) and I cut soda out completely, and I cut out anything sugary ALMOST completely. Every few days I will have a small dessert and with it I'll have a little milk. Fresh veggies? Yup. Fresh fruits, yup? Protein? Yup. Whole wheat bread, oats, grains, but not too much! : ) I think I've got it all covered. And I take a general vitamin, glucosamine, Lysine and a few other things.

As for exercise, I figured can't hurt to do arm curls, etc. In posture. So my arms are ok. Compared to how much I exercised a month ago this is barely anything. But even the WW workout looks VERY easy to me compared to what I was doing. (I was a dancer/athlete, you name it). So yeah, the exercise is going to be a challenge, because what I CAN do is not exercise enough.

All that said, I do worry that right now I am not getting enough exercise but I really don't see any option until Nicki's righted.

I am figuring soon as I get the pessary I can get back to exercise. First Christine's work out, then hopefully other things in the posture. We'll see. Hey, I still have some hope, so not completely destroyed here, I guess. : )

LOL (dentures/pessary) LOl

Nicki is IN. But just right there. I am toying with giving her a nudge, despite the period. I am not sure what to do. I have to go to the store. So this, as everything lately, seems unnecessarily complicated. Managing a period that I sort of now think of as "on tap," (lol it's just so quick to um, flow, since it's right there. There's no lingering on the way down, it's quick like this, ya know?). So anyway, period on tap to figure out. Still only have tight underwear so kind-a cut the elastic to lighten it up but have to do laundry. So many steps just to go to the store. ha. Bank first. Which means a longer drive. Which means I best wear a skirt because my lovely new London pants (thanks for the post!!) haven't arrived yet! : ) I still only have clothes too tight around the waist, except for one skirt I've been living in and shorts I'd not let anyone see me in! hee hee

I don't know what a prolapse 8cm means, btw. The funny thing is the more I talk about all these ridiculous things the less shame I feel. hahaha. It's feeling more and more just like I'm getting a better grasp on life and women's bodies, specifically my own. And that it just is what it is. And allowing me to appreciate even more the good of what I do have.

Now that it's been almost a month, btw, I don't think 15 pounds in weight loss is soooo terribly over the top, especially when you consider I cut out the ton of soda I was drinking. (addicted all my life but only gained weight over the past few years, as job became sedentary and long hours and i was drinking even more so). No one has noticed the loss and I noticed and I haven't gotten flabby or loose skinned, my body's looking better. Despite all the mental anguish and lower discomfort I have an odd almost glowy feeling of good health. hahaha. True.

I am very, very glad you are off work, btw.

And, Sammy, I think it would be great if you could see about a pessary. Some women here feel life continues rather normally with a pessary. And one person here, Lucy, I think, said she sees it as a "minor inconvenience" to take it out at night and that's it. I have the kind though that doesn't come out every night (unless I want it to). So we shall see how it goes!

At this moment I am leaning toward waiting until my period's over to get it in. I think getting it in during my period may be a short sighted good decision and a long term mediocre-to-bad decision. So perhaps I shall wait. Or am I just being squeamish in thinking I should wait until after my period to put the pessary in? Have I become a total self-baby? hee hee. Maybe.

Thank you, HockeyMom!!

Keeping the panic at bay is a big part of this, I am learning! Thanks so much!

Actually, tonight I'm pretty miserable over Nicki's position. I thought about what you said, Sammy, and figured eventually yeah, why am I not putting Nicki back, as Louise had a while back and told me to be brave and do. (Worked fine then, I think).

But after trying, and trying and Nicki always slipping away to this side, that side, then almost going sideways and scaring the wits out of me I realized yeah, this is why I'm walking around with Nicki soooo low, and unable to sit. I just can't get her back into position anymore. And maybe even when I thought I did, I didn't. I don't know anymore. I find it funny that I can lie down at home, try, try, try to get her up but have no success in any position, yet climb onto the table ant the gyno office and poof the gyno says no sign of Nicki whatsoever, must be way up there. Go figure.

I feel so frickin' annoyed and at the end of my rope right now with this stuck tampon feeling. I keep over and over thinking Princess and the Bulge.

My postponed date man was saying, come on, come on let's just go to a dinner or something tomorrow. Ug. So there I was again saying, o I know it's been a couple of weeks but really "don't feel up to it." lol How long can I go on with these excuses but I really can't be sitting anywhere. He said o well let's walk around. Um, no. "What CAN you do?" Um, just not up for ANYTHING for a couple of weeks, hard to explain. lol ARg.

So I'm trying to review y'all's advice to not panic about the panic about the panic. : ) Nicki will eventually go back, I hope, and this period will end, and the pessary will go in and I will have a life again. I think, I think, I think.

Dear Kiwi, Louise, Alemama and Sammy,

This message to you direct from NASA's highly esteemed POP center. : ) Where I am now set up with the official POP breakfast snack try to prop my official POP laptop. At this very moment, I happen to hear aircraft overhead. [Insert jet engine aircraft noise here]. How timely. Anyway....as I get ready to write u, I am doing my usual pre-flight check.

Uplifting music? Check.

Computer battery charged? Check.

Pad? Check.

Fluid levels empty. Check.

So, all systems go? All except for that frickin' stuck tampon feeling so I guess I have a lift off. Why o why isn't NASA ringing us up? We'd be PERFECT astronauts. We're flexible, accustomed to being upside down, remain calm while viewing shocking things, handle emergencies with great creativity...etc etc. NASA call me. hahaha. I'd even be grateful for the suit - looks roomy. hahaha.

Earth to CSF.

Thanks to all three of you for your posts. Much appreciated. They helped. The loneliness of this "affliction.' um, "challenge," um....whatever it is....could really do a person in! What a head trip.

Which gives me an idea for an amusement park ride. Ever get into one of those little carts, they strap you in...then u pull up slowly to where the door is going to open and then suddenly whoooosh...your little cart is being pulled along a ride in a darkened room and you're seeing scary things on the wall, etc??

That's what I'm envisioning. The POP House. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you've never seen scarier things in your life..take a trip into the POP House....if you dare..."

And there from your little cart, you see cast on the wall right smack in front of you a close up, very, very large, throbbing female productive organs. Mwwwahhahahaha.

Turn a darkened corner, and ah!! It's a real life, giant, partial bulge of a BLADDER! The aroma of urine. Your cart turns the next corner and oh, what's this? A lovely tea-party with women in yellow, blue and pink frilly dresses having tea, it all seems so nice! Then suddenly - on the wall is projected a giant rectocile. Muahahahaah and everyone runs screaming from the party. Then an array of Ladies Room signs, tampon advertisements, pessaries come at you like those giant rubber strips in car washes that beat against your car. Then suddenly you're back in the sunshine, the ride is over.

That's what my life feels like now. The Fun House that's not so fun.

Anyway, so yeah, Cassanova IS quite the persistent one! And yeah, y'all may have guessed right about maybe Nicki not wanting to go on the date or knowing deep down there's ANOTHER Cassanova who I like better. : ) Cassanova 1 is the one who asked me on teh bike ride along the river. Sigh. Then lunch. Before Nicki came into my life, I would have been thrilled for a date like that.

I always thought guys ask women on such dull dates. Dinner, lunch, "wanna get a drink?" How many gimtes has a guy said "How about a cup of coffee?" Ug. Not only is it unimginative, but I don't drink coffee. hee hee So this guy keeps coming up with all kinds of ideas. Very nice. Plus in my old life I was sooo active and always wondered, hey, wait I am like the only woman I know who does all the adventurous outdoorsy stuff so how come I don't know anyone who also does that stuff as aren't they typical guy things?

But Cassanova 2 is the one I like. : ) I am giving them both a chance.

Well, right now from my personal NASA space center from home by phone. hahaha And, please, Dear Lord,tell me people looking up NASA are NOT coming across this post!! hahaha

CAssanova 2's the one. Hey is it mathematically impossible for my two to be the one? lol I have to see. Both are a the beginning stage though I have known of two for a few years and have talked to him a lot.

Before Nicki "popped" onto the scene, Cassanova would'a been my heart throb. Sigh. Now it would be like, sure I'd love to go to dinner, but along with our reservation can you ask for a high chair for Nicki? She likes to be high up. No, no, she NEEDS to be high up or she's a pain the every organ. Who's Nicki, you ask? Um...um....

I can't tell you who she is, but I can tell you she wants us to have lots of sex. hahaha.

Think that's too forward for a first date? hee hee

Kiwi, as for lubricant for the ever stuck Nicki, it's hard to believe I'd need more liquid in there as it's fluid city in there. Naturally and also with all this period stuff going on. But then I suppose maybe even inside bloods sticky rather than fluidy so maybe despite all the fluids I still need a lubricant? Hard to believe but what the heck do I know tehse days? Nothin' that's what. : ) and Kiwi, my o my o my do I ever miss dancing!!!

Sammy, I look forward to the day you write about how great the pessary is!! : ) Maybe we'll both be pros soon, egh? Can you hear it now? "What do you do for a living?" Answer: "Me? I'm a professional pessary wearer." lol lol

And, lol, Alemama, never thought that either she's shy or is onto my doctor! The doctor DID say right in front of Nicki waht the doctor thinks should be done with the Nicki's of this world who don't misbehave!! Maybe my other organs are behaving beacuse they heard what the doctor said would happen to Nicki if she misbehaves. ha Or Nicki's like "get the hekc away from me!" lol

LOL Louise, yeah, "the date that Nicki didn't go on." haha Another nice title. hee hee. Grounded, yeah. wanted more than just a date? lol Now that I think about it, heck yeah, I bet she does!!! lol Maybe I should start speaking nicely to her, like when they recommend you start talking to your plants for them to thrive. : )

I am trying to get myself to accept the fact that it will be Monday. Or even Wednessday (sniff, sniff) until I finally get the pessary in. It's the wondering factor that gets me, really. Will it work? Can I get it in by myself? Will I be ok getting it out? Is it realy an ok thing? Can I heal like this? Those questions are so on my mind and the hope of it is like a horse champing at the starting gate of a big race.....That is when I am not begging God for this to work out! AND for my miracle of everything going back to normal on its own! Hey, an astronaut can ask, can't she?? : )

Thanks everyone.

Lots of love from Me...and from Nicki.....

Oh, gosh, Kiwi, I am so sorry to hear!!

Scoliosis, you say? Me too. I have noticed quite a few of us have it. Hmmm.

BTW, wow, that your chiro is reading the book. I had back pain ages ago, not to infrequently. And so I had a whole bag of tricks I used back then, so I'll name a few things in case they give you an idea. Sometimes the simplest thing can send the pain away.

Christine would probably be horrified at this (sorry if so! :), but I have gone to a little local drugstore and gotten ben gay and put an ample amount right on the area and whoosh - pain gone. Ends it. I don't know how or why but it works perfectly for me.

Prior to knowing about that simple remedy I used to try cold, then a warm shower, cold then a warm shower. I did not like that!!! But it worked. It was a last resort and I found better remedies. JUST WARMTH like a warm shower works better for me.

Getting a very warm cup of tea, slightly lower temp than I would drink and then putting THE MUG against the part of my back that hurts seems to be very effective. More than a heating pad of whatever.

Prior to POP I would have said take aspirin as it is a muscle relaxer! BUT by just commmon sense I'd say aspirin is probably the LAST thing any of us with POP want!

Let's see, a massage from anyone you can find. Well, if you're driving home the toll booth man might say 'no' but anyone else you can ask just about, egh? "Listen, I know you're just delivering my mail, but I REAllllLLy need a back rub here. What do you say, huh?" LOL

Trying to think of what else....Hopefully someone comes on here soon for a brillian idea for you! Soooo sorry and can't wait to hear you feel suddenly better!!
csf

I think this has GOT to be the funniest Web site and we could def win an award for our humor as well as the insights here! lol It can be a real delight to read - and very comforting.

I peeked at other sites. YIKES! Sooooo frickin' depressing! lol I'll take our site over those anyday. I looked at a hysterectomy board type of thing. HUNDREDS of complaints about no sex, no desire, no this, no that, this going wrong, that going wrong. And the only comfort was in the form of co-misery.

We are leagues above that in the happiness level! And the commeradery level! AND we do an awful lot of sex talk! lol That is pretty positive sex talk. : )

Even when we're discussing our most down moments, there's never a doomsday approach, it's always a can't wait to get better kind of a thing. And always an underlying theme of gratitude and community. : )

I am sooooooo glad to hear you went dancing!!!! Phew!

It's also uplifting for me to hear because I was dancing up a storm before all of this happened. Ballroom. Sigh. And of course haven't been back since. Havent' answered anyone as to why I have not been around in a month. : (

So you gave me hope. Gosh, that would be so wonderful and would really get me through this if truly I knew that one day I could go back to dancing! Sigh....I wish!

Hi!

Well, when I put the laptop in my lap before I realized I had prolapse, I was doing some really dumb things. On gut level I KNEW it was dumb. It was so convenient and comfy that I did it anyway. I would lie in bed, flat, with a big pillow under just my head/neck. And I would bend my knees and have my laptop resting right on top of my belly. The perfect slant came from bending my knees and resting the laptop on my thighs, angled down, toward my belly. It was the day I realized all the heat still on my belly from the laptop after hours of using the computer like that, that I realized WHOOA, this can't be good.

Tried to get myself to stop but it was always so comfy and convenient. I had a big project to work on at home and hours of being at a desk was made less annoying by coming home and lying down and doing more until late in the night. I noticed younger people do it a lot.

Lying down at work? Sounds great! We can only hope one day we go to work, and we have private lounge areas in which to lie down, thumb through our work, listen to music, stretch out...lol

Today's the big day. Tic-toc-tic-toc until 3 pm ET, when I get my pessary! I am scared and looking forward to it at the same time. Terrified I won't be able to get it in since I could never reach to get my diaphram when I was in my twenties and super skinny! lol The doctor said, yes, depends on angle and some people just CAN'T do it themselves. GULP. I'll feel trapped if I have to rely on the doctor to always get it in. Means I'll feel married to my doctor. lol I am really hoping I can somehow do this. The whole squeezing that seriously not so easily squeezable thing, maintaining that squeeze (u have to fold it in half and keep it folded to get it in and up there) seems daunting!

Maybe I should have been practicing squeezing it this week and a half. ha. I hope I remember to bring it to the appointment. ha. Boy would that be aggravating if I forgot! hee hee. It's a long drive to the dr and even that I don't look forward to. I imagine organs taking a trip to China while I'm on the road. :)

I have an overall heavy, lousy feelign in my abdomen today. Nicki's not super low today, so I am glad about that. Aches and pains around my abdomen though and that pre-period feeling too, but today is day TEN of my period dribbling blood still a little bit. Sheeze, Nicki, give me a break! lol I am sooooo tempted to take an all natural water pill because I know it will stop my period. I've done that at the end, kinda dries u out, I think. But trying to go the most natural route and await. But chances are I'll still be dribbling a little blood when i go to the appointment today. But gee willakers I feel I can't wait anymore. Partly cause I'm uncomfortable, partly to rid myself of the mental anguish of free floating Nicki who kept sneaking peeks around, and partly because God forbid the dr has deliveries then can't get me an appointment because I start my new job Monday, I think. So want to make sure I have a couple of days of getting used to this, so my body adjusts before going to the new job. Good news is I think they are starting me a few hours rather than bang eight hours.

I'm super nervous about today's appointment. And have a slight headachy, foggy feeling too. And of course, my regular stuck tampon feeling, but it is much less than usual. Way higher up and only very slight. .00009 on the pain scale.

Oh that reminds me, I have to post the WW Pain Scale I developed!!! Maybe tonight or tomorrow....hahaha

Peace!
csf

An hour until my appointment and I'm still bleeding a little. My gut tells me to cancel again and wait until tomorrow. I keep thinking about the fact this blood is uncomfortable on the outside. A little sticky. No one ever mentions that but you know what I mean? And I keep picturing, uh oh, is this going to be kind of goopy or sticky on the top side of the pessary where the blood of course will be a little bit coating the pessary on that side (and both sides a little bit, I guess).

Dr had said that I should take it out and wash if I have my period, but why am I getting a three month pessary only to take it out again tomorrow, ya know? Oy. Such a simple decision and yet i can't decide. Maybe I'll drop an email to them and see if they respond. Gosh, to wait another day. And then suppose it's STILL there? This is like day nine. Sigh.

To cancel or not to cancel. What would Hamlet say? What would Christine say? What do I think? lol I don't know.

HI, all....

So here's my update.

1 Cancelled appointment, as my period's STILL there. Day ELEVEN. Go figure.
2 Felt grea, felt headachey, then felt almost ok, then aches and pains, then felt so good almost a glow. lol Now throughout this the tampon stuck feeling came a little bit and GUESS WHAT? The stuck tampon feeling instead of being "right there," was about three, maybe even FOUR INCHES up!!! Whooohooo. BIG movement upward! That rocking!!! All fours, after inversion and ouila!
3 Then I realized o wait, maybe this vague feeling is because I'm not supposed to be doing inversion, rocking things either, while having a period. Whoopsie. But it sure does give hope of everything being able to go back. Trick is to get it to stay there. But i had such a sense today that FINALLY it was all back where it was suppose to be for a while! Huge step for me. And proof things do reverse. Still taking my suplements. Eating great, little weight and there off. About 18 pounds off now in one month by eliminating soda, desserts and cutting down on cheese and butter. And adding fruits and veggies instead of bready things I'd normally want. Desire's gone for food since I realized that gaining so fast probably wasn't such a good thing!
I'd been at the height of my weight only for a few days when this happened and had gained very fast. My husband had died, if u remember, so wasn't feeling so great and allowed myself to eat when I normally would not have
4 The pants from England came, thank you very much for the tip! They fit ok but not amazing for my particular body shape. I've got an athletic but curvy shape so they aren't quite as loose as I think they would be on someone with a straight up down shape. I am loving the Gap maternity shirts I got though. I got some wrap around blouses and they're working out great along with skirts that have elestic waste that no one would notice.
5 Trying to conquer a massive allergy headache.
6 Feeling much more hopeful that this can all right itself enough for me to live life normally again. My doctor's being a real trooper, too.
7 For the first time ever, I have been able to lie down and feel NOTHING WRONG ever since I got myself upside down on an ironing board type thing and then went right to all fours and then rocked a little forward on all fours. I could FEEL it was all going back to normal. The tenseness, the heaviness, disappeard as I rocked and I had a sense of well being. I can see lifting ANYTHING makes it out of order again. But I go right back to that position and whooa relief again. So lying down feels great. Going to take a little nap. Trying to get everything in order before I go back to work! yay!

Thanks again everyone for the encouragement. The difference between now and my frantic situation a month ago is truly amazing. To anyone new, do what you see posted here!!! It works!! Everything from exercise to what to eat (and not), and how to sit (I never did sit this entire time though!). It works. The one thing I'd amend about the advice here is that if you are like me and have your u somewhere IN your vagina, I highly recommend getting your u back up somehow (inverting yourself, meaning lying down with your legs/but up until you get that sensation that your uterus has gone back UP in your body) BEFORE doing any of the exercises. I always felt it made things worse if I did any of the exercises, stretching, or even sitting without having first been upside down (on an incline I mean with my pelvis at an angle that would send my u back high inside me). Otherwise I think you are stretching or even pushing your organs away from where you want to go with pressure on them. Just my advice! I am not an expert. But I STRONGLY suspect one must first make sure the organs are where you inside you or at least high up in your u before doing the exercises. Conquering the fear and believing I could get my u up high by tilting myself or whatever was the first goal achieved that I think led to the other goals being achieved. (Keeping it up for a while and getting relief and being able to FINALLY get a comfortable position, and being able to sleep, etc).

Thank you!
csf

Thanks! I'm not worried about the length as all my life if I take aspirin or tylenol or cold meds my periods go on forever. But I somehow thought it would end by now. lol My headache was just so bad that I weakened. So interesting about the anti inflamtories maybe helping pop. In that case I keep thinking so what is so inflamed that if we get rid of the inflamation the pop goes back??

i have the feeling it is all almost completely back to where it is supposed to be. thank u for letting me know not to dispair if i feel it lowering. and thanks for mentioning sleeping on the side as i did not realize the point is to let your belly flop over. i was kind of propping my abdomen against a pillow but now i can see why sleeping on the side is fine even good. it's fantastic not to feel like i'm squishing nicki anymore! halleluijah or however you spell that! : )

I will update you later, I guess, on the pessary first try.

Not feeling well. It hurts. Had to try a bunch of times to get it in and so the in and out of it so many times hurt. For those of u who pray, pls pray I feel good before morning, ok? It was a tough start. Tomorrow is my first day of a new job!! I need this to feel comfortable, supportive, secure, pain free now! : ) Thanks!
cf

Since I've gotten 100 percent over my POP - and feel totally healthy - some people have asked me questions about what I did to get better. I can't say exactly what got the POP to go away completely. But I can tell you the things I did. Although I can't cite which one thing was the clincher to send me on my way to health, I can say that none of the things listed below HURT me nor STOPPED me from getting over my pop 100 percent.

1 I did 5 to 10 kegels (once in a day only) for maybe one or two weeks. As soon as it started to feel weird to me (perhaps a bit irritating to my u or something) I would stop - I did not care what number of kegels I reached. And as for the question about how to know which muscles people mean when they refer to doing kegels, I didn't know either. So I tried to imagine the muscles you would use to grip around your husband's you know what in he middle of sex. And I just tried to squeeze like that. THE IMPORTANT THING, I feel is that you have to take CHROMIUM PICCOLINATE during this. Chromium builds muscle "where u need it." (KEGELS WITHOUT CHROMIUM DID NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING FOR ME). If u arent' exercising u don't notice anything. If u ARE exercising THAT specific muscle gets stronger. I know this to be true because when I was taking chromium and driving a long way I got a small but BULGING muscle on my CALF that was used to simply push the gas pedal down all day!!! it's THAT effective. So be careful what muscles u r using chromim DOES make that specific muscle stronger. Recently I was taking chromium and realized I got a small but BULGING muscle on my LEFT leg - and realized that's where I was BRACING myself to keep pressure off my bum when driving!!! Pop felt bad so I was relieving the downward pressure by bracing my left foot as I drove! I got a muscle there on my one calf! hahaha THAT'S how effective chromium is! So be careful. : ) I can't help but wonder if it was key in my getting better. But of course I don't know. I just know I can't even feel my u on a check. It's THAT high up (or forward) and back in place.

2 I lost weight IMMEDIATELY. Everyone said o not so fast, yada yada. Well I lost 23 pounds in six weeks and I did it by totally illiminating soda, cheese and desserts. And I cut down butter to no more than one small pat a day. And I had way smaller portions. Instead of having any prepared meals I'd have something like an open faced sandwich (so I didn't have two pieces of bread, I'd have one) and I didn't put anything like mayo or mustard on it. And for a side I'd have something like a few slices of fresh cucumber. I had way less bread than I normally would. I had water instead of juice. And I did this all by really thinking about how much I wanted to be healthy again.

3 I did not wear any even remotely tight clothes again - ever. I have stopped. I wear a lot of dresses now. I only wear pants if I KNOW when I sit the waist is not going to be tight whatsoever. I notice it's not really the waist that's the problem it's the lower part - so i sit o test out the clothes to make sure I won't get to work and later realize that the hips are too tight even though the waist is fine.

4 I dashed tumeric onto food like eggs, every couple of days, maybe even once a day on whatever I figure I wouldn't notice tumeric on! : )

5 I watched a lot of comedy. If stress is bad for this, and I think it is, then I figured laughter, happiness, fun must be good for it. I was joking all the time. I laughed at myself. I saw the funny side of POP and I really went with the laughter and lighter side of things.

6 I wouldn't let myself cry TOO much. I am guessing chemicals are released that aren't helpful if you CRY TOO much and too long, on and on. And I certainly felt I could cry forever in the discovery of POP.

7 I lied on an ironing board that I put the pointed end onto a chair. I threw a thick blanket over it and would lie on it with feet up. To let gravity help my u get back into the upper stratosphere of my body. : ) At times I would roll over onto all fours afterwards for just a second. But most of the time it was just the ironing board. Then I'd get up by rolling over onto my knees and hoisting my self up to standing.

8 I needed help emptying out. And I noticed that if I wasnt' emptied out I could not do Christine's exercises and felt like it was doing damage. The feeling was as if (I am speaking of feeling not what it actually was)...the feeling was as if the pressure of sitting on my knees/feet was stretching whatever was attached to my u - and like I was separating and stretching TOO MUCH whatever was supporting my u. Like I was disconnecting it. Awful, awful, awful feeling. So I highly recommend if getting into those positions of on knees on floor leaning chest o knees - has you feeling uncomfortable - that you try to find a way to empty out first. I felt I could do damage if I didn't. It was THAT bad of a sensation. Now I could do anything, but not when i was in that condition. I wish we'd add an adendum to ww that says if the exercises seem uncomfy to a new person u might want to try emptying about...a ridicuolous statement perhaps? hahah : )

9 I made sure my bras weren' too tight, nor too loose. I bought maternity clothes that were cute and that no one would know are materinity clothes! I bought a pair of pants suggested here, by the way! So thanks! bought from a UK store and LOVE them!

10 I made certain to not come in contact with anything I am allergic to (dust and mold or certain foods) and made sure to stop coughing. I coughed a lot before without even thinking about it. Instead if I now feel the urge, I swallow or take a sip of water instead and I all but stopped sneezing. I noticed a deep breath in or the opposite, not breathing for just a second - makes the urge go away. OR I'D sit if I had to sneeze. BUT now - doesn't matter what I do. Sneezing no longer affects me.

11 I took glucosamine, lysine, and for about two or three weeks I took sharks carilidge. I really do think they all helped.

12 Swimming THE moment that I got the final "click" that everything had snapped back into place was the moment I was walking up stairs after swimming about six weeks after I'd first discovered the pop. CLICK. I walked down those steps into the pool feeling pretty good. But when I walked OUT of the pool - I was a new, whole woman. I knew it. Everything had fallen right back into place during that swim. I felt almost good going in - I felt complete going out. So there was something about that gentle, twenty minute swim of doggie paddle, paddle board (swimiing with just legs kicking and chin resting on a paddle board which probably stretched the front of me A L OT like in standing in posture) and the crawl and sidestrokes that got things back in place for the final nudge.

Thanks everyone for the support. I will try to remember to check in with y'all from time to time. I know how hard it is. Keep your chins up! I prayed A LOT during all this. And I highly recommend it to y'all. I prayed BELIEVING and seeing myself WHOLE again. Oh, and any insults -let them go. I would not let ANYTHING get to me during this time. : ) Keep the faith. I got over POP 100 percent. And y'all can too!

Peace, love and everything back in its place,
CSF