very upset over this and I am so confused

Body: 

My daughter is 1-1/2 weeks old, I was told I now have a uterine prolapse. It doesn't seem too bad (meaning I can see it and it's a slight bulge, but not coming out of me totally). My dr told me to do kegals and come back in a month. In the meantime no heavy lifting. Now my dilema, can this correct on it's own? I am a waitress and go back to work in 5 weeks and on my feet alot. will this effect this? will my sex life be normal again? what else can I do? At the dr yesterday he had me try and do a kegal and said he couldn't feel anything. I don't even know if I am doing them right. Does anyone have history of this fixing itself?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Beefairy 1,

YES!!! I had a similar issue a week after delivering my baby 18 months ago and now no longer have a prolapsed uterus at all apparently! I think a post partum prolapsed uterus is most likely to heal completely from what I have read.

I don't have a lot of time right now but try to search my many (!!!!)
posts where I describe what happened. I did do kegels afterwards, (although some here don't find them to be of value), I rested, didn't lift much, and I did the posture described here several weeks after finding the prolapse. I had pushed it back when I found it and it had stayed up after the initial "sighting". I now have a small cystocele and rectocele as well but they are no problem in the slightest for me on a daily basis.

Don't panic or despair, I am sure you will see improvement with this.

Enjoy your little one!

Michelle.

In this post partum time you will find things willchange dramatically. Do not over do the Kegels - I do some but when you do tons of them it tires the muscle and makes things a helluva lot worse...

When you have sex - Things will be fine - If you are lying on your back - He won't even notice as it will fall back into place..

If you have been over doing the Kegels the muscle will be tired and he wont feel it - Do a few of them - Maybe ten a day hold 5 secs if you can or work up to it over time... In the end when you are having sex squeeeeeeeeeeeze and see if he can feel it - Forget the Dr - He is not whatis important in this - YOU ARE and how you feel is.

Over this next year your body will be healing and alot of things will change. I remember after having my first I felt like a brick was gonna fall outta me - That went away for a long time afterwards and after having my 2nd I didnt have the problems of my first. then many many years later (13yrs) I had my daughter and only had problems when she was 2 - But I had other problems that would have contributed to that :) And I didnt do posture back then...

It will never be 100% fixed - But it WILL be 100% better than it is now - Time will help you and in this healing phase alot of things will change for you. Your body just gave birth and you need to let your body sort itself out.

All WILL be well :)

Dont forget to get into posture tho....

Sue

Look into the eyes - They hold the key!
http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/img/maddy544x150Banner.jpg

Hi Beerfairy1

Michelle and Sue are absolutely right about waiting. It will certainly improve dramatically for a while as long as you help it along by not upsetting it. You can expect further improvements over the next year. I had nil pelvic floor movement after my second pregnancy, resulting from infertility treatment that blew my whole abdomen up like a balloon by 5 weeks pregnant. It was all fluid from cysts on my ovaries, which dissipated over the following 3 months, when I started the normal shape changing process. It was scary.

When I was a few weeks post partum I had some physiotherapy where electrodes were attached to particular spots outside my vagina and a vaginal probe. It sounds awful but the gentle currents (which I could barely feel as tingles) kind of woke up the nerves and got the muscles moving again. I only had to go a few times, and have never had the same problem again, even after a third pregnancy which was a surprise, and very straightforward. So if you get a few weeks down the track and really can't get any pelvic floor action at all, some physiotherapy might be just the ticket!

Good luck. Keep calling back to let us know about your progress.

Cheers

Louise

when would i be able to work out? what restrictions are there? dr said take it easy and no heavy lifting. But for how long? etc

Sorry to seem to be so evasive. When I said "look after it" I meant allowing your uterus to assume its normal position when you are doing stuff that might produce the kind of intraabdominal pressure that would make your uterus bulge out. See my post from a few minutes ago, under What If You Don't Stand Much?, and you might get an idea of what I am talking about. It is about getting your uterus up ^^^ before loading your body. You will feel the bulge when you go too far. Just stop, rethink what task you are trying to accomplish, and figure out how you can get it done by not stressing your body in its postpartum state. You will need to do this for the rest of your life anyway, even if you ultimately have surgery, so get used to it. Not being nasty, just realistic ;-) . It is big changes in your head, and will take a while to adjust, but it works. You will know when you are doing something that is too heavy for you right now. But, you will also need to realise that your body now is not the same body as it was pre-pregnancy, so try not to measure what is OK now by what you did before pregnancy. It will get better. It is an investment in your future body. As a 54 year old I now realise this!! LOL

The thing is that you have just had a baby, and you will be amazed in a few months how much better and stronger your body will feel, all by itself. All bodies are different, all births are different. You will need to judge for yourself, but just be very gentle for the first three months or so. Leave undone stuff you do not *need* to do now, and get others to help. You and your baby are the top priorities for now. I'll leave the working out hints to others. I'm not into that.

Oh, another thought. I did find that pulling a kitchen chair up to the folding change table and sitting to change baby's nappies was easier on my back, and presumably my prolapses, as long as I was sitting forwards on the chair with my legs well apart, astride the change table legs. Your baby will only get heavier, not lighter, over the next few months. Hey, I discovered Wholewoman sitting posture 25 years ago! I only just realised it. Other Mums will have other suggestions for you, I'm sure.

Cheers

Louise

EDIT: Use the next few weeks to work out how to get around waitressing tasks without damaging your body. It may be pertinent to let your your employer know in broad terms what has happened and ask what you can expect in the way of cooperation from other Staff. You may as well go back to work with your eyes open, but you might not want to take the risk of jeopardising your job. It may be a balancing act, and you might just have to deal with it at the time.

Re sex, most women seem to find that it makes no difference to their sex lives at all if their partner is considerate and flexible in thinking (which is what good lovers need to be). Men actually don't even seem to notice any changes. Yes, your organs may be more mobile for some time as a result of pregnancy, and until your pelvic floor muscles have regained their normal tone your vagina will not be identical to what it was, but that's life. There is a lot more to good sex than having the vagina of a virgin. Time to learn a bit more about good adult sex now you have a real woman's body. ;-) Cheers, L

You just had a baby! I do not care who you are, how in shape you are, how many Kegals you did before delivery....at 2 weeks PP those little muscles do not cooperate. And still the Dr. had to suggest that there was something wrong with you. give it a couple of months and the effect of normal walking and carrying your baby will strengthen your muscles. Also.....I think your uterine prolapse will get much better. I think waitressing would be pretty hard on your prolapse- If there is anyway you can get a little more time off to heal I think that would improve your quality of life for years to come- Maybe it is time to explore other employment options. Yes your sex life will be normal.
There are some things you can do- be sure not to strain with a bm. Lift very carefully. Try to use the posture as much as you can - but rest rest rest as well. Enjoy that baby. This PP period is a time for bonding with your infant- I hope you have help with all the heavy lifting- get on your knees and elbows a lot. try to gently strengthen your whole body- maybe you can find a PP yoga class-