Newbie - advice please

hi sunshine,

i'm sure others will chime in shortly, but i recommend you visit the success stories forum for encouragement and reassurance.

regarding the article, i'll email you a copy shortly. hang in there and realize the medical system has nothing good to offer you for this condition, which is very manageable. your body is still going through major changes, but i'll let the women who've been there help you with that.

you've come to the right place...you're going to be fine. we've had many new mommies go on to have multiple successful vaginal births after prolapse.

all the best,

lanny (christine's DH)

Hi Sunshine - I'm in the uk too and could have written your post. Search on my name for posts by me to read what I wrote at 13 weeks pp.
I was told at 8 weeks pp that I had slack walls, that it was normal after two babies and that I'd have to do kegels every day for the rest of my life! I almost wanted to laugh when my consultant told me this having researched around here first.
Anyway - there is no reason that this has to be 'the start of something' or at least not the start of something bad! The whole pop after having a baby thing is so scary - I've been upset more times this last four months than I'd care to count - but you can take control and stop things progressing! I'm now 18 weeks pp and although I still have a cystocele and rectocle I know what will make me feel worse and what will make me feel better. I don't kegel. I walk for at least an hour a day in posture. I drink loads of fluid and avoid constipation. I don't slouch and try to stay out of the car or other slouch inducing seats. No lifting (other than your baby). I have bad days. And good. And I hope that within a year there will be far more good than bad.
There are other far more experienced members here who will join the conversation but as a fellow uk gal I couldn't read without posting. I had a forceps delivery with zero aftercare or advice that this might happen. I'm furious that women in a wealthy nation such as ours are allowed to have babies without proper education on the likelihood of pop. Having become more open about my issues ive met so many young mums who've been through the same thing.
Sending you a virtual hug. You are in the right place!

Hi Sunshine - yes I was referred to a physio who was lovely but no help whatsoever. She examined me and then gaily ticked the 'no prolapse' box on her check sheet even though I was telling her I felt something bulging out of me when I was pushing my kids uphill in a buggy or going to the toilet. I do believe that many pts may be good but mine started to discuss surgery almost immediately, examined me lying down and recommended kegels.
I have truly gotten the most useful advice on here and I would say that trusting your instincts will also help. Before I even found my prolapse I was crawling around on all fours to pick up toys etc and sitting up tall on a firm surface just because both things made me feel better. Amazing what your body knows before your head does.
My friend who works in gynaecology also reassured me in saying (when my gp couldn't find my prolapses either) that they must be mild. She sees dozens every week that are visible even in a lying position so yours can't be so bad. Positive thoughts! (It's not easy I know!!!).
Oh and you'll see from my post at 13 weeks pp I was in a pretty bad place at the time. It was a bad few weeks and touch wood has not been so bad again since. There's a lot on here about a worsening of symptoms at around the 3 month mark. Best to be aware that's all xxxx

My mother in law is not an educated woman from a rural area in Asia and she suffers with a bladder prolapse. With no access to the Internet she knew how to manage it. She told my husband to tell me to carry weight high on my chest, wear flat shoes and lose clothing and sit on firm surfaces. Maybe we modern women do too much googling when we should be trusting our own bodies a bit more.
Which reminds me sunshine - ditch your heels and skinny jeans! I'm going to invest in some expensive barefoot walking shoes. Never could get the hang of heels anyway....missing my skinny jeans tho...

Camper Peu.... They are pricey but so nice.... Inspired by barefoot without being too out there?

Hi Sunshine, I just wanted to add my welcome to this very interesting thread! I myself had a couple of very large babies, with long labors and big episiotomies, in my late 30's-early 40's. With my first, I was so banged up they didn't even let us go home from the hospital for a week. I recall feeling like I was walking around with rocks in my vagina for quite awhile, but I was NEVER one to pull out the mirror, and honestly I just figured that either this would improve, or it would be my new normal. I didn't know any better, the internet wasn't invented yet, the doc said nothing; I assumed that's what childbirth does.

It did subside, but of course, I was doing all the wrong things posture-wise throughout the next couple of decades; and also kegeled plenty. So when the prolapse returned right after menopause, it returned with a vengeance.

So......hard as it may seem, I do want you to consider yourself lucky to be finding this knowledge at a young age and a stage of life when your body is just begging you to help it mold itself back into its natural shape. It is something of a mixed blessing that doctors don't tell you about this. If they did, they'd be giving you all the wrong information for how to manage it. Kegels, pessaries, surgery, no, no and no!!

So welcome to WW and enjoy the ride. - Surviving

Welcome to this amazing web site and all the wonderful people who r here to help you. There is so much good info here and I am so glad others who have experienced your symptoms and can give you practical help and real empathy. I am in UK too but in my sixties wishing I knew about prolapse years ago but had never heard the word although I am an avid reader! I am totally astonished at the lack of info or even discussion of this subject in the UK. To say this site has helped me is a huge understatement . It is practical,educational,supportive but best of all uses natural solutions which will benefit your health all round. Enjoy your beautiful baby . I wish you all the very best and send a big virtual hug.

I felt I would also chime in, lol, nothing much to add that hasn't been said, but if we are here we all know what you are experiencing, the fear you are feeling will change once you gain the knowledge of how to help your self, I know this for certain. It will all become clear , it will become routine. The posture, so important, the exercises for first aide, all of it will click and you will feel in control, I just this moment sat down after having my shower, I then do some pelvic rockings, some fire breathing, and some jiggling, lol, its just a nighttime routine now, one year in and I have come so far, you will as well, keep heart sunshine, all is not lost, there is hope, and you will solve this with help.Its early days for you, you are young, I wish I had had this knowledge when I was having my babies,

hi sunshine,

it is wonderful to see the outpouring of support for you. if christine is the head of whole woman, this forum is its heart.

two thoughts that may be of value.

one is i would encourage you to download an article i wrote a few years ago, called the husband's guide to prolapse.

the birth of a child is a huge upheaval in every couple's life and i can tell you from a man's point of view, it is very disorienting. one day you are a an equal partner with your wife and the next, a distant third, displaced by this amazing newborn. add all the hormonal ups and downs and then top it off with prolapse and it is likely your husband is feeling like a stranger in a strange land.

print out and hand him the husband's guide. if and when you purchase whole woman materials, have him watch the videos with you and read christine's book, saving the whole woman so he understands what you are going through, how and why it is impacting your intimacy when you are ready to reengage with him. prolapse management should be a team effort in my view and it will bring you closer together. link to the husband's guide

second, we have a wonderful whole woman practitioner in the UK, trained and certified by christine. lindy roy is in wellington, somerset and is a warm, wonderful and loving woman who can be of assistance if you feel you need for some personal support. click here for her contact information.

i hope this is helpful.

all the best,
lanny

Hi,
What lovely posts on this thread.

I'm two years PP and nearly two years PP but only 9 months on here and 10 months since my pop got worse. Sunshine123 although it might be impossible to know now you are so in the right place and it sounds like you have caught this early. I am sure had I got online when mine was mild just a rectocele then I would have no symptoms but I didn't and that's life but either way this work really does offer a brand new womenly, natural relationship with our bodies that the modern world (and skinny jeans) has robbed us of.

I'm still learning how to change my body with my posture and I re-read my books, do my DVD (when I can or bits as I can) and read on here. There is no WW practicioner where I live but if you do have one local then that would beat any PT any day. I did go to a PT, she was lovely, she was useless too - said I did not know how to push well but I knew I was not going to push/bear down when that had caused this issue (in part).

All the best, it's a hard road but there is wonderful support on here and lots of women who had had more babies with prolapse with no issues or worsening (birthing the right way that is).

I've found I can still wear the pants with the narrow leg but mine have more leeway around the waist and abdominal area (stretchy).