Please help me enjoy activities again!

Body: 

After the birth of my daughter, nothing seemed to work properly. I had a natural childbirth, but it was very long and hard because dd was turned upside-down and stuck on my tailbone for all but the last hour. I did end up having an episiotomy that I was trying to avoid because her heart rate dropped and didn't come back up. I never lost a single drop of urine the entire pregnancy even when laughing or coughing (thought I made it through without that experience..shucks!). After she was born, I had absolutely no urinary control at all. As soon as my bladder filled up, it would automatically start emptying itself. It hurt to sit down for about 7-8 months..doctor told me it was just extreme bruising and everything looked fine. Even now if I'm on my feet for too long in one day I have a heavy, sore sensation down there. I used to love to exercise and run but can't even imagine doing that now because I am still incontinent to some degree (not like it was after my daughter was born, but not "normal" either). I thought that things were supposed to feel more "streched out" for sexual purposes after having children...it feels so tight down there the times that I have had sex that it hurts and I'm sore for days. I do kegels, but honestly don't see much improvement, if at all. During menstuation, I feel so sore and heavy in my vaginal area. I have to push on my perineum in order to have a bowel movement most times.

What are my options for treatment since I want to have more children in the future? I need to get an appointment set up but want to go in informed so that I will know waht to expect and which options are acceptable to me. I do know I would like avoid hormonal supplements. I also want to have more children but can't even imagine how bad the incontinence would be if I was pregnant again since I already have it now. I thought the memories of the pain would be what made me question having more kids...not at all! I am so scared that I would be embarrassing myself all the time by wetting my pants that I'm scared to get pregnant again. :( Waht are the disadvantages to surgery? Is it just not effective? If it did work, it seems like it would be ideal because you wouldn't have to wear something, take medication, etc. I am very careful to avoid unnecessary medical intervention though, which is why I wanted to come here first! :)

Thank you soooooooooooooo much for your help!

Hi Coloradomommy

Welcome to Wholewoman and the start of your journey to recovery. Nah, it's not really like AA. ;-)

The first thing for you to do is go to www.wholewoman.com and read the FAQ's, right down to the bottom, then you will find lots of info and see that there are lots of things you can do for yourself to get this thing sorted. There is also one FAQ right near the bottom about surgical approaches. Surgical 'fixes' only (temporarily?) address the symptoms and cause further disruption to the way our bodies can deal with their prolapsed pelvic organs. Many of us have decided not to have surgery at all, and live pretty normal lives, and do all the normal things, so there is hope for you.

Out of curiosity, how old is your baby? A woman's body does sometimes take over twelve months to do its own healing after giving birth. Then we can give it a helping hand to heal further. Having said that, the sooner you start the better, to prevent further damage.

Happy reading, and call back to the Forum when you have some more questions.

Cheers

Louise

Thanks so much for your response! I really appreciate you taking the time to write. My daughter will be 3 years old in November. I know I should've taken action on it sooner...I guess I just kept thinking that it would get better, especially if I did my kegels. Now that she is getting so active, it makes me more sad that I can't do all the things I would like to. I will definitely take a look at the FAQ and the other info on the site. Thanks!