New baby, new body, new...prolapse?!?!

Hi OSM and welcome. I can tell just from your post that you will be fine!

Prolapse is extremely common, and 5 weeks pp is barely the tip of the iceberg of your recovery. So with a few minor tweaks to your routine, your symptoms will improve greatly and maybe go away altogether. I felt very bulgy and puffy after each of my kids was born. I was never a looker or a poke-around type, but rather, I assumed this feeling was normal after passing a large watermelon! Had I seen this pink bulge at the time, I still would not have thought anything of it.

In the intervening decades, I did my share of kegeling, only because it was the conventional wisdom that you do this for your sex life. Wish I had not. If kegels were good for prolapse, I wouldn't have had my prolapse "return" with a vengeance shortly after menopause. Soooo ... trust Christine on this point. She is so right, and I'm the proof.

I have found walking in very mindful WW posture to be great for my symptoms. A couple of years ago, I did a hike of several hours duration, and I couldn't even feel my 'celes for awhile after that. If you're in correct posture, walking just works everything the right way.

We've had many moms go on to give birth after a discovery of prolapse. Everything basically just gets out of the way. A good birthing position helps.....hands and knees creates the perfect path for the babe, lying on your back makes for a lot of twists and turns and more need for intervention, which is what potentially compromises the organs much more than the birth itself.

What you need for driving is support for the small of your back. Car seats are notorious for lack of this type of support, and you really end up flattening and rounding the very part of your spine where you need curvature. I find a sweatshirt or towel is plenty, especially for longer trips, but you can get fancy if you want.

Keep the belly as relaxed as possible. When you lift, hinge from the hips (not the waist, which flattens lumbar curvature) and keep the load close to your body and evenly distributed. In good WW posture, the extra weight-loading is actually GOOD for keeping the vagina closed and flattened against the invasion of wayward organs.

You'll be great. - Surviving

Hi oldschoolmama,
By not straining on the toilet seat, Christine means that you need to lift yourself forward on the seat with your thighs off until they are just touching the seat, each time you need to increase pressure to do a bowel movement.
Make sure you are in WWP with the lower belly relaxed keeping the abdominal organs safe from pressure.
Recently Christine stated in a thread that I cannot find that all animals push out bowel movements. Sometimes of course we don't need to. I am strong enough now to semi - stand, though I alternate the two positions.

With birthing in the all fours & or in water, sometimes it is possible I have read that the babe can be "breathed " out. I know I had only 2 very strong and productive pushes with each of my last two births, however I will never know now whether it was because I was on my back which negates the help of some gravity.

I'm sure that if your body "tells" you to push when you listen to it, then that could be quite safe in the right circumstances and as Surviving 60 says, the pops get out of the way - mine did for the two subsequent births.
I so hope for every woman that changes can be made so that you all can be fully informed and make your own intuitive choices in order to have a much safer, happier and spiritual experience with birth and womanhood. Whole Woman is doing just that....so
welcome to WW and congratulations on your new babe,
Best wishes,
Aussie Soul sister

HI OSM,
I just really want to offer some reassurance, that things can improve so much! what you describe is so common for pp women here. No idea why they don't discuss it. It's more common as women get older, but i'm amazed at how many women talk about symptoms PP that are clearly POP--only they are never diagnosed. things resolve, and life goes on, and then often will return later.
what i can say is that 5 months, whilst seems a long time, is very early days. I wouldn't expect your doctors to know anything about postural effects, but then there's a lot of learning to do in that field! I was just lucky that the specialist I saw said avoid surgery at all costs unless you really can't live with it, but that you were better off learning to live with it.

What I can say is that with WW posture, my body transformed. At six months I was improved, but at a year much better--and much better again by 2 years pp…so it continued. walking in posture is so valuable, as are the exercises. do you have any of Christine's DVDs?

I have also found diet so helpful with my bladder. I'm off all sugar again at the moment, and am amazed at how much better my bladder is, again. i remember this from no sugar a few years ago. Christine talks about PoP and inflammation, and this definitely resonates. I need to pee less often on a no sugar diet!

take care, and keep listening to your body. re car seat, i keep mine very upright and as high as possible (our seats are unfortunately low). a wedged cushion would help elevate as well, so keep you upright.

take care,
Kiki

Hi oldschoolmama, thanks for your post & the replies - all very helpful. I discovered prolapse after 1st baby & am so grateful for WW and the resources available. I'm due to have my second baby any day now (well actual due date is a week and a half away but always felt I'd go early). I'll just have a quick go at responding to your questions. 1. I know! I was very annoyed & a bit bitter that I didn't know & especially because my first labour/birth was a risk factor for prolapse (e.g. very long, long pushing stage, forceps etc). I didn't realise I had POP until about 6 months PP & once I discovered this site I looked back in horror at all the things I would have changed had I known (mainly the reclining position). 2. With a mirror, I see fleshy tongue-like thing in there but haven't looked for ages! Not sure about the lying down change. 3. I'm very pleased to say mine hasn't worsened! It's now almost 2.5 years since first baby and while there's been many ups and downs (literally) with my POP & I was always so sure it would eventually come out, it hasn't yet, even with this pregnancy. I also aim to stay mindful of WW principles. 4. I think so. I used to be right into strengthening abs before learning about WW but now I focus on biceps to lift and keeping back strong and avoiding rounding lower back. 5. I think with the flow of your breath combined with correct posture and a bit of movement, it helps pelvic organs sit forward where they're meant to but you have to really focus on the posture which I do when I start out but then have to keep reminding myself! 6. Yes same - but early on I scouted around on the forum and got some ideas and read reassuring posts e.g birth on all fours & everything gets out of the way. I also feel much more confident 2nd time around after working on the posture and learning about how we are meant to be naturally. 7. I did buy a cheap lumber/back support for the car which I use all the time.
With the DVD I found it helpful to write/draw the movements as I was more likely to do them when I didn't have to start up DVD each time.
Anyway take care!

Thanks! Any day now now I think! And yes, I'm definitely heavier down there before a bowel movement. When not pregnant i also had pain/heaviness there during period and ovulation. Good luck with everything & enjoy your gorgeous & precious little baby.