New...6 months postpartum...scared...help!

Submitted by Pinetree on March 10, 2016 - 5:14pm
Body: 

Hi all,
I've been reading about prolapse for the past 10 days and am now writing because I am breaking down.
I have a 6 month old. I felt fine postpartum for the last several months so decided to start jogging a couple of weeks ago. I was about 5.5 months postpartum when I started.

I jogged about 5 days almost in a row with maybe one day off in between. The last 2 jogs I felt a pelvic "heaviness" like when I could feel my babies head pressing during pregnancy. I thought at first it was caused by my period (it also returned the week I started jogging). But my period has come and gone and although the pressure feeling has subsided, I have a feeling of both rectal pressure (like I'm constipated but I'm not), and a feeling like a tampon isn't sitting correctly. These feelings come and go.

I saw a gyno and he said I'm "still healing" and to use estrogen cream. He said maybe mild prolapse but didn't comment much further and was rather dismissive, which upsets me

I am so scared and wake up each morning feeling like I'm in a nightmare and hope it's all a bad dream. I want my body back.

It feels uncomfortable to drive. I love hiking and am depressed thinking I won't be able to do this with my son.

Sorry for the negativity. I'm just trying to deal with whatever is happening to my body.

Just extra info: I don't see any large bulges when I look with a mirror, just some fleshiness at the entry of my vagina which I'm not sure is from childbirth or something else. When I feel inside, sometimes my cervix is about 1.5-2inches other times I can barely reach it. As for ideas about rectocele or cystocele, i can't tell. I don't notice an obvious "ball", but maybe some concaveness/convex bulginess...if that makes sense.
Apologies if my descriptions are of not much help.

Anyways, part of me is hoping I have nothing and am just healing from some jogging trauma, the other part is scared of prolapse. Looking mainly for support and advice and hope.

Thank you.

Forum:

Christine

March 10, 2016 - 6:17pm

I so wish I could've taught you how to "jog" (it should be *flight*) before you felt your symptoms.

I'm weary now an cannot write more...I'm sure you will hear from our WW Angels soon.

All Love,

Christine

Aging gracefully

March 10, 2016 - 7:36pm

Hello pinetree and welcome,
Your Doctor is at least right about one thing, it does take time to heal after having a baby. At least two years, so many of your symptoms may resolve on their own. But, this is also a great opportunity to learn about the natural posture that we should all be holding all the time, and that is the whole woman posture. Once you have mastered this, you will be able to do anything you want to, including hiking and jogging.

Take a look around this site to get better familiarized with Christine's work, and then head on over to the store and check out all the great work available. There is much for the postpartum mothers out there to choose from.

Just take a deep breath, you will get through this as Christne herself has said above.

Pinetree

March 10, 2016 - 8:15pm

Thank you for your welcoming and support. It's nice knowing I'm not alone although I wouldn't wish for any of us to have this. I will work on my posture and continue researching here.

Pinetree

March 10, 2016 - 8:54pm

I do have one more question if anyone has experience:
I had trouble losing my baby weight while breastfeeding. It's odd but I think my hormones were a bit out of whack. I recently stopped and now the weight is starting to come off. I've lost 7 pounds in 10 days so far! Perhaps my thyroid is getting back on track after delivery. The thing is, I'm reading conflicting things about weight loss. Would it not be helpful for prolapse? Less pressure?

I'm not dieting either, just eating to hunger (no crash dieting to further harm my body).

Surviving60

March 11, 2016 - 3:40am

Hi Pinetree - No, weight is not a contributing factor with prolapse, and you will understand why as you get further into the WW postural work. You will learn how to hold the organs forward in the relaxed lower belly, away from the outlet at the back, and keep them pinned there through posture, gravity and proper breathing. These are the true dynamics of prolapse - the organs have fallen back, not down. In fact I would caution against such a fast weight loss - that might even make things worse. So eat healthy, exercise safely (the WW way!) but don't overdo trying to drop the weight. Let your body continue to heal naturally. What you are experiencing is very common. As you study this, you'll see that you can do pretty much any activity (including jogging) if you do it correctly. This seems like a crisis now, but it can actually be quite a blessing, at your stage of PP recovery, to find out what's really going on down there and how to manage it. Hormones are unsafe and a totally inappropriate suggestion for a young mom. You have come to the right place here - thank your lucky stars. - Surviving

Pinetree

March 11, 2016 - 9:06am

Thank you for the advice. I'll try not to lose the weight to fast. I do find its coming off naturally without dieting. Seems I'm one of those people who hold onto the baby weight while breastfeeding. I'm glad it's coming off naturally, I'll just make sure I'm eating enough so it's not too abrupt of a loss.