Cystocele pp / Lifting and breathing

Submitted by Marja on July 13, 2018 - 2:46pm
Body: 

I’m 29 with my first baby. I had natural birth, no tears and only 2,5kg baby. I thought I was all clear. 2 months pp I realized I was not ok. I had mild pelvic inflammatory disease (uterus infection) for 2 months. I was too tired to notice the symptoms. I ate lots of antibiotics with no help.

3 months pp infection was gone but I was left with burning, sharp pain in pelvic floor. I couldn’t walk or lift anything (not even my small baby). So I went to physiotherapist (best in Finland). She told me that my pelvic floor was definitely not weak but stressed and over active. She ordered light kegels 4 times a day. For a month I did my kegels. Soon I noticed that I had to choose between choirs or kegels. Just a little activity was too much. I could feel my stressed pelvic floor contract on its one. I continued lying on the couch, crying and being afraid. I had find a bulge from front of my vaginal wall but was told it was nothing.

4 months pp when I got no results from physio I tried doing kegels with tens (electricity). Huge mistake. After two times of tens things got worse. Bulge got bigger and I had constant feeling of something dropping out. I also had UTI symptoms but I knew it wasn’t UTI. It felt like the front vaginal wall was on fire. I went to gyno and she didn’t comment vaginal wall pain or that I couldn’t pee well. Just said mild cystocele is nothing and I probably have UTI. I had not.
Then I wound ww. After few days I noticed that the heaviness and dropping feeling was gone most of the time. And the miraculous thing: my pelvic floor pain was gone. I was amazed and certain ww is right. I do belief bad posture, sucking tummy in and sitting on my tailbone are the reason for my prolapse and those cursed kegels.

Now 7 months pp I am getting stronger every day. I can easily lift my baby. I’m doing normal things again. I can feel bulging if I’m lazy, so it reminds me to keep it up.

For all you ladies that have just found ww I would recommend to get ww material (it unwraps things faster) and read this forum. Believe Christine and other ladies to go softly with ww work. I was so happy when I noticed relief, that I really messed up my si joint by exaggerating lumbar curve and standing too much on my heels. Months of lying down, weight gain and being too afraid to move postpartum has left my body unbalanced. I’m going see osteopathic physician if she can open things up and I can start again.

This forum is full of words wisdom. Best one I have found is not to monitor your prolapse, if/when you get relief be happy and go on with your life. Body can only start healing it self when you relax.

Thank you Christine and her hometeam for the first aid upgrade.

One thing in lifting I haven’t figure out (might be language barrier). Pt teaches to take a in breath and in out breath lift (and do kegel ew). Is it the breathing order same in ww? I have found pictures about the lifting technique but no reference how to breath with it. https://www.wholewoman.com/forum/comment/28001#comment-28001

Forum:

Surviving60

July 14, 2018 - 5:12am

Welcome Marja and thanks for a wonderful post. Your words will be very encouraging to our many post partum newbies. I love when members just take this knowledge and run with it. In the end, everyone just has to do this work and discover the self-evident nature of Christine's teachings for themselves.

I think you just need to breathe naturally through lifting......I can't recall any special breathing sequence being discussed during the steps of lifting; it's body position that counts. That being said - if I've blanked out on something important here, I hope someone else will jump in and clarify things.

Thank you again for your story and please keep us posted on your progress. There is absolutely nothing more valuable on this forum, than the help that one member can give to another who is going through the same stage of this journey. - Surviving

UnCloudyDay

July 14, 2018 - 6:28am

https://www.wholewoman.com/forum/comment/58254#comment-58254

I do believe from what she says here that she teaches the opposite of the PT world. Body position seems to be vital, but with exertion she says you are stronger on the in breath. So, she exerts on the in breath. Surely if lifting a small and light object that isn’t necessary? I’m not sure. Someone else can clarify if I’m not reading it correctly.

Marja

July 14, 2018 - 10:06am

Thank you Surviving and your answer eases my mind. And thank you Uncloudyday, Christine explains it very well on that topic. Does feel more natural that way, other way around i feel tense downstairs. It is just something that I have been overthinking.

I can lift 10kg, so I’ll be all rigth. I’m construction painter and I have always known that my profession would someday ruin my health and wear me out (toxin, dust, heavy lifting and the fact that you have to work twice more than your male coworkers hehe) I love to paint and it has been hard to let go over the last years. Now I have to accept that carrying 40kg paint around is not for me.

Two years ago I broke my heelbone at work and after that I shifted to office. At that time I started to get pelvic spasms similar to labor pain. So I guess my body has been telling me something for a while.

I feel that after many months I can finally breathe. This was not the end. I been struggling with frequent bacterial vaginosis. Hemorrhoids nice. Progesterone birth control workt for me before, but no it makes me worse (constant bleeding). So got off those pills and feel better with all my intimate problems. Haven’t try honey/vinegar yet but that’s next. I will prefer natural remedies in future, rather than destroying all my own bacterial. Just cured ear infection with apple sider vinegar and olive oil, far more better option than taking antibiotics.

What Christine says in that topic reminds me discussion with my husband. I told him that I have pulled my stomach in every day since age 12 and pull it in exercising. He does weight lifting and never pull his cuts in. He explained something similar about having firm support in abdominal, lower belly relaxed and hold in upper belly and learning breathing techniques when he started at young age. He said to look at professional athletes, they don’t pull it in. it’s amusing all this time he’s been doing it right.