scared with prolapses = (

Submitted by SACounselor13 on October 6, 2013 - 7:30pm
Body: 

Hello! I am 29 years old with a 3 year old daughter. After I had her vaginally, I was told that my bladder fell and I would "eventually" need surgery. They made it sound not to be a very big deal so I just left it alone. In the past several months, I noticed things starting to become noticeable. I noticed at least 3 different bulges all the way to the end of my vaginal opening. In the past few weeks, I was unable to even keep a tampon in. I went to see my OBGYN and this is what they said:
I have 3 prolapses, all second degree..Cystocele (bladder) uterine prolapse, and rectocele. They said I could use a pessary to hold my uterus up, but that it would not help because of the other two prolapses. This would explain why I cant hold a tampon, all of those organs are dropped together. It is SO scary because my uterus comes to the very end of my vagina, and I can even see the opening of my cervix in plain view. Basically the doctor said the most important question is, do I want any more children. I said yes. He said I should hurry to have one more because then I will need a surgery to fix the bladder and rectal prolapse and a hysterectomy.
What I am very scared of is, it literally feels as though my uterus is about to just come out, and how can this be happening to me as I am young and only have had one birth? All my friends have around 4-5 children and they are all fine. I just dont get why this is happening to me. Also, I am terrified to get pregnant. How can I be pregnant or carry a child when my uterus is almost out of me?? It doesnt seem safe at all or even possible. My mind was fogged during my appointment and I feel like i wasnt offered much info from the doctors, and I was upset. I am getting a second opinion in a few weeks because I will be getting a good insurance plan. I just really want to know what I can expect with this.
Can I really carry a child with a prolapse?? Especially one that is almost completely out of me?? And, how much of this can people handle? I already can barely handle seeing my own uterus every time I use the bathroom. I feel like I dont even want to move anymore bc of this. I am getting pretty depressed and want to know about anyone elses experiences, especially with multiple prolapses.
They had about 5 doctors, one being a specialist, looking at me and from everything they were saying my case is more rare, all three pretty bad prolapses. I even wanted more than just one more child, but I suppose I can only have one more.
Thanks everyone for any advice about this. my main concerns are just, how long will this go out before my uterus just falls out? It literally got as bad as it is within weeks. And, can I really carry a child with a uterus the way it is? especially when I cant hold a pessary? How would the baby be protected ?

Forum:

fab

October 6, 2013 - 8:37pm

welcome to the site and your anxiety about your situation is very natural and the more information you can obtain, the more confident you will feel about making a decision about what to do. You can read around the forum if you type in ‘pregnancy and prolapse’ into the search box at the top of the page. You will be relieved to know other women have found themselves in a similar position and they describe how they felt and what they did. You may find some comfort here and some ideas. You probably realized from the nature of this site that we try as much as possible to avoid surgery to our pelvic organs preferring to manage our prolapse according to the methods suggested by Christine Kent. This requires assuming WW posture so that our movement throughout the day works at returning our pelvic organs to their correct positions and not performing awkward movements that may damage or push our organs downwards, improving our diet so that we do not strain our pelvic organs when urinating or defecating, and following exercise advice so that we strengthen our skeletal/muscular framework. In this way we find we can carry on with our normal pursuits. Giving birth is of course a normal activity, but it certainly is not an everyday one. Rather it is one with profound implications both physically and spiritually. The fact that friends can have 4 or 5 children seemingly effortlessly does not necessarily mean that it will be the same for you. Also, I certainly doubt the effortless tag, more like no complaints are expressed. Having more children is possible when prolapse has developed, but of course extra thought and consideration needs to be given to the whole process once you have developed prolapse. I certainly hope you find some valuable and practical advice here. Ultimately of course the decision is yours and your husbands and what suits best your particular situation. Have a good read.

laughLOVElive

October 7, 2013 - 6:13am

Hi!
I'm in a similar situation. I've been a member of this forum for at least 6 months now and I'm so grateful for it and the resources I've used (first aid for prolapse DVD, saving the whole woman book & the WW yoga DVDs. I'm hoping I'm pregnant with second child at the moment. I was diagnosed with prolapse about a year ago by doc but ive never had it looked at by a specialist so not sure what or what degree mine is. It's worse at the moment but its always worse around ovulation & menstruation. I try to refrain from doing this, but with a mirror I see what looks like a tongue of flesh at the top of vagina and smaller bulges at bottom of vagina all sitting at entrance but in over a year, they've never progressed much. I always feel the bulge in the perineum area. What has helped me is: the WW exercises, getting an understanding of where organs are meant to sit (i.e forward in stomach), when at worst I bend forward (downward dog like pose and jiggle my legs which a forum member advised and I often use this strategy when I can during the day, no toilet straining, avoid heavy lifting (but I often skip this advice,but the regret it later!), knowing that you can improve it. Just over a week ago, I felt symptom free, but now it's all very bulgy down there but I know it'll feel better again - part of the cycle. For being pregnant, my information is: some people's prolapses improve as uterus gets into position for baby, the prolapsed organs get out of the way during birth as body works its wonders, prolapse can worsen after another pregnancy but then plateaus after more pregnancies, my doctor said there are no extra complications during labour (although she hasn't checked my prolapse so I'm still not certain).
Also I posted this on this post rather than the duplicate post.

SACounselor13

October 7, 2013 - 11:41am

thank you so much for the comments so far. I do the same thing, sit in a mirror to see what I can see. I just feel so much there, its impossible not to do it. Not only do I see the two bulges from my bladder and rectum, but i also can see my uterus/cervix and the opening of my uterus (cervix). That is the most bothersome/gross part for me. I literally just cant believe in my head that something that is supposed to be situated in my gut is basically hanging out of me. My top worry right now is with pregnancy because I have read most women use a pessary for the first 24 weeks. But, I cannot use one because of my other two prolapses.. it would not stay in (I can no longer use tampons either, and that is pretty devestating as I have horribly heavy periods that are going to put me home-bound without being able to use a tampon!). I had very very mild prolapses after my daughter was born, but within the last several months they have gotten very very bad. The only change in my life I had the past several months was, having my Mirena (IUD) removed because we wanted to get pregnant. Could this have had anything to do with this?? I had a pap smear on Jan 14 (where there was no mention of the severity of my prolapses) and also the Mirena out several months ago, again, with no mentioned of my prolapses. But, only the past two months or so have I noticed them become very bad.

Surviving60

October 7, 2013 - 2:18pm

This posture correction is something that takes time, patience and a very concerted effort until it starts to become second nature. You have youth on your side, so you should be able to maintain and even improve things. But I wouldn't wait to get started. I'm post-menopause and I've been doing this for 3-1/2 years. I will never know how much better my results might have been if I'd come to this awareness at your age. - Surviving

louiseds

October 7, 2013 - 10:18pm

SACounsellor, one of the main skills you will need to learn is to allow your belly to relax on inhalation and come back in with exhalation. The relaxed belly allows more room for your uterus, bladder and rectum, further forward in your pelvis, so they are not pressing back and down. They are in fact better supported by your pubic bones when they are further forward.

Your period concerns are valid. It is like the devil or the deep blue sea. The removal of the Mirena might or might not have caused the worsening of your symptoms. I suggest that you look to your diet to reduce inflammation generally. This might mean major dietary changes. Have you tried naturopathic care to help reduce the bleeding and discomfort of menstruation? There is a DVD about reducing inflammation at the WW store. I don't mean this as a hard sell. It is a damned good resource to help you to get started on getting your body ready for pregnancy. It really is about your whole body and your whole self.

Louise

louiseds

October 7, 2013 - 10:40pm

SACounsellor, I deleted your duplicate topic. Your last comment under it was:-
"so...if i were to get pregnant, can it be dangerous to the baby? From what I have read, women who get pregnant with a prolapsed uterus have a pessary put there until they are 24 weeks and then they can remove it because their uterus will hold in place because it is larger. But, i was told I cannot use a pessary because of the other two prolapses, it would just fall out as tampons do. does this mean there would be no option for a safe pregnancy for me? "

It is an important question that you ask. You sound quite distressed. Yes, you can have a safe pregnancy. Just get your prolapse symptoms under your own control a bit more before you get pregnant again, using your posture and the other factors that I and others have detailed under this post and the other post that is left.

Calm yourself and use the resources that are available.

Louise :-)