Pregnant and scared

Submitted by lolloM on February 18, 2018 - 7:30am
Body: 

Hello everyone,I am a 26 year old SouthAfrican woman.This is my first time posting but I've been here for almost a year now.

Last year on Sunday the fifth of March we were moving from our old house to the new one,I was picking up a dust pan from floor when I felt fullness in my vagina.That was after a week of terrible lower belly pains and a bowel movement struggle.Before I went to bed that night I decided to check what was happening,I got the shock of my life when I felt a bulge in the back wall of my vagina.A few days later I had shooting pains from the rectum and the fullness was there.In April I went to see a gynae he told me everything was normal but my vagina and symptoms were saying something else.I decided to approach the internet,well I learnt what I have is prolapse.The stories and pictures I saw sent me straight to the arms of the mother of all depressions that I haven't completely recovered from even now,and I lost my job in that process.Okay this other day I decided to put a brave face on again and search about prolapse and I found this site and learnt that I had rectocele.A little smile on my face:) but it was quickly wiped off by the awful depression if not fear because I'd have panic attacks whenever I thought of my prolapse,I didn't see my self living a normal life again.I took some time off from the forum but I walked away with four things : Wholewoman posture,toileting posture,kneeling down on all fours and jiggling&firebreathing.I was scared of doing sex,we waited until December last year and we decided to try oh buoy!I did not feel any discomfort.On the following day I used an emergency pill unfortunately it did not prevent pregnancy.Today I am 11 weeks and 2days pregnant with my first child.Now I'm scared if the rectocele won't be symptomatic as the pregnancy advances or if childbirth won't make it worse.Currently I am almost asymptomatic because I only feel the shooting pain when I accidentally went off the posture,something I avoid very much and I used to feel the pain when I was on periods.There is no fullness or heaviness in my vagina anymore.The abdominal pains stopped immediately after I got into posture,I don't have any bowel movement problems now.Life is normal and on Thursday I went to a job interview :).

Apart from being scared because of the pregnancy I am grateful to Christine and all the wonderful and supportive women in this forum,and now that my mind is in the right space I'll start looking more into wholewoman work.

Forum:

Surviving60

February 19, 2018 - 6:02am

Hi lolloM - You don't need to be afraid - just keep trusting your body. Prolapse symptoms will go through different stages as you move throughout your pregnancy. Everything tends to move out of the way for birth. You want to aim for a gentle birth with minimal interventions if possible......of course we never can predict how things will go at that time. We have many moms here who have birthed several babies and prolapse has been no worse afterwards, and in many cases better because of the WW knowledge they applied to the important PP healing period. You will be fine. You are going into this already armed with the wisdom and experience of what "works". You have a lot going on in your life. Wishing you the best of everything, and I hope you will check back with us! - Surviving

Aussie Soul Sister

February 19, 2018 - 4:10pm

Hi pregnant,
congratulations and you are doing so well. So glad that you are feeling physically better! Getting your organs forward and giving the torso the inner space that it needs for them to have the space to work with ease, is what the posture will do for you, and your growing baby will bring the uterus forward as well.
As for the birth - I had two babies with rectocele, which developed during my second pregnancy, and they were born without any issues from it.

The only thing in hindsight that I would have done differently with my diet after the births, would have been to try out a starch based ( root vegetables like potato, sweet potato etc) diet and fruit as well and grain bread, rather than a lot of bran type foods to help with elimination. Everyone is different with their approach to diet so it is an individual experiment....
Learning to feel empowered which is what WWoman does for me on so many levels, helps with our bodies.
As you become stronger especially in the torso, you will find that WWP is energy efficient, tension free, (compared to the old way of pulling the stomach in and bottom and then trying to breath, lifting up the shoulders and tension increasing in them and the neck and head)... WWP is actually relaxing, with a sense of presence, and ease...
One of the most unique precious memories I have while pregnant is of my babies when they moved.
All the best,
Aussie Soul Sister

Lacy Ann

February 19, 2018 - 7:30pm

Hi! Congratulations! I am currently pregnant with my second and my prolapse disappeared for the first part of my pregnancy. I've been struggling with it for the past month or so; it's been coming and going. Avoid straining on the toilet as much as possible, that's what made mine come back last month. Stay hydrated, eat lots of fruits and veggies; high fibre. Also, be gentle with yourself, no heavy lifting. I am 28 weeks pregnant and foolishly did some heavy lifting last week and that made my prolapse "fall." I've since been resting a lot! Laying down as much as possible. I too am scared about birthing, but have been told (here and by my midwife) that prolapse generally doesn't affect your birthing ability.