What's with the obsession to check???

All the time when I first discovered it. I also went to a physical therapist for about 8 months. It was like my "mental therapy" instead of physical, it actually made me feel better to constantly ask someone about it. Anymore, I really don't check it because I kind of know if it's a bad day or a good day without checking. I've had my prolapses for 3 1/2 years since the birth of my second child.

Welcome Arunnergirl

There will be many members who relate to the things you raise, and the Forums are thick will posts on these subjects. I suggest that you use the Search box at the side to search these topics while you are waiting for other replies. We have a term here for obsessive checking. It is checkerama or checkarama. Try searching these terms too! ;-) We are a strange lot, we women with prolapse. nothing is TMI on this site, so you can feel free to discuss anything related.

I am so glad you are out of that room and wiping your tears. We have all been there. It is not all doom and gloom once you learn to manage it. You are still very early post partum and you can expect improvement for at least another 12 months as a result of your body reverting after the enormous effects of pregnancy.

Cheers

Louise

I used to do the constant checking thing too. very depressing, especially when I'd check on a good day only to find the bulge as big as ever. I'm feeling alot better mentally now that I no longer check regularly. I'm at the point where I really don't care what it looks like, just how it feels and how it impacts my life (right now, not at all).

as far as kegels go, any muscle will get stronger with exercise, and exercise with resistance will strengthen a muscle more quickly than without resistance. so. if you want to strengthen those muscles, kegels will do that and the kegelmaster or whatever its called will probably do it efficiently. however. kegels, while helpful to women with stress incontinence, do not lift the bladder back into place.

and anyway, you are so early PP. so much healing takes place now. sometimes the muscles are weak due to overstretching and sometimes there's a bit of nerve involvement (also due to traction and/or compression) and those things tend to heal on their own. you may notice improved strength down there as time goes on even without doing anything.
so my vote is to save the $100

Ah yes, the obsessive checking. Been there done that. Infact I checked so much in the early days I think that was the reason I ended up with a UTI! Eventually that need will settle and I have gotten to the point now where I don't want to check anymore and like the other ladies say I go by symptoms. If its a good day then leave it all alone and if its a really bad day I am far to freaked out to check anyway. The only thing I do still check from time to time is whether anything is peeking, and thank goodness it hasn't.

As for the Kegelmaster, I bought one but after reading some negative feedback on here about them I was too afraid to use it so that was my £60 wasted! I would say do a few sets of really good strong kegels in posture throughout the day and see how you go before spending more money.

I know its all really frightening and disheartening at the moment and I really do sympathise but hang in there, we have each other to lean on.

(((Hugs)))

Anita

Hi there. I'm 23, mum to a nearly 6yr old, a 3yr old and a baby girl who is 10 weeks old today. I am sadly in the same boat with trying to live with a prolapse. I first noticed it when my baby was nearly 3 weeks old, I was in the shower and just happened to notice things didn't feel 'right'. I contacted my midwife who came and did an internal exam, said it was a slight prolapse and would go away by 6 weeks postpartum. At 6 weeks it actually felt worse and also my mental health was indeed suffering too. I went back to a doctor who confirmed it is a cytocele and also prolapsed cervix, she also told me not to worry, do my kegels and all will be well. However things just kept feeling worse, and I'm so uncomfortable all the time, like the 'bulge' feels like I've constantly got a twisted tampon in. I find myself obsessing day and night about how it feels, I have moments where it doesn't feel too bad, then times where everything feels as though it may fall out. I'm so so depressed right now. I constantly check to make sure things aren't indeed falling out and then get overwhelmed with fear and depression when everything is 'bulging'. I have seen a hospital obstertrician who has suggested I'm not a candidate for any surgery because of my age, the fact I'm not very far postpartum and that I will be referred to a physiotherapist and am to try the kegel exercises for at least 6 mths before anything will be further looked at. Right now I feel as though I'm just exsisting, I feel so gutted this has happened as I'm only young with a young family and right now we're all missing out cos' I feel too uncomfortable to do much =( It's so hard because I've got noone to talk to

Hang in there. You are still early postpartum. The most important thing to do now is REST YOUR BODY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO ALLOW IT TO HEAL. This could get better. Be careful about over-kegeling, I did that and temporarily got worse(I was doing 90/day). Beyond those suggestions, we are all here to offer support. You have us to talk to. Try to enjoy your little ones. I know it is hard to focus all of that energy on them when you are feeling lousy.

It means alot just to know there are others out there who know where I'm at right now. I don't know where abouts in the world everyone is, but I'm in New Zealand and have yet to find any kind of support groups etc. my relationship with my partner is also suffering as I'm so depressed and cry at night, it's hard not to drift away from each other especially as right now I don't feel very desirable/attractive. I'm trying to ease the pressure on me by resting in the afternoons, and my mum has started picking my son up from school, as by the afternoon there is so much pressure downstairs I feel as though I can hardly stand. I used to be this fun mum who played soccor and things outside with her kids and was looking forward to having my third baby, but my how things change in such a small amount of time...now all I look forward to is going to bed each night cos' I'm so physically and emotionally drained

just have a min here but wanted to let you know that postpartum my cystocele was small, then got worse at around 10 -12 weeks or so, and then got much better a few months later. don't rememeber exactly the time frames but if you track my posts, my baby was born in late april of last year, so read the ones from may I guess. that your prolapse is worse does NOT mean it wont get better

I rarely notice my 'celes most days, aside from just before I ovulate and again just before my period.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I am so sorry you have had a need to find this forum but know that now you have we are all here to help one another get through this. You are very early post partum and have lots of healing to do yet so like Stella says take it easy on yourself. I know how overwhelming this is especially with little ones to look after. I found my prolapse when my daughter was about 14 months old last summer and I have done lots of grieving for my old body. I still have bad days where the tears just flow and I think they will never stop but they do.

If you read up on the FAQ's section on the homepage you will find lots of good information there as well as in the posts here. Start with the posture to help support your organs and protect them whilst moving around.

As you have gathered you are certainly not alone and if you need someone to talk to you know where to come. All the ladies here are wonderful and so friendly and there's lots of advice and support.

(((Hugs))) to you.

Anita

P.S. I know this makes you feel terribly depressed and I have cried ALOT but do make sure you get some help if you need it as you are post partum that could be part of the problem. Take care.

I'm coming in a bit late here but...
As others have said, we know the emotional roller coaster of all this and the need to check, only to feel devastated again. it's awful! i finally told myself that checking would make it worse, and that if i didn't check i would feel better. and actually, it was true-because if i didn't check i didn't go through that horrible emotional roller coaster of seeing the bulge.
but it's so hard. now i'm there all over again with this flare up of lichen sclerosis, which i'm convinced is doing all sorts of damage so i check, only to get depressed, or i think it's better, only to check and get depressed. not good!
so, i'm right there with you on this one, even though i'm looking at something different!

but do know, things get so much better...at 4 week PP i could barely walk. 1 year later really, i barely notice them as long as i eat well and posture myself, and when i do notice them it's just part of noticing me...

others used to say that, and i could never understand how they got there from feeling so awful. but now i know it is possible, so keep faith.

kiki
(who hasn't been very active as i've been in misery with my LS, but i am thinking of you all!!!)

Well I had a bit of a challenge yesterday, my son had a water fun day at school. I left my baby and 3 yr old with my partner who was home from work and I went to school to spend the afternoon with my boy. Anyway all the 5yr olds were playing 'duck duck goose' and wanted the mums to join in.
I sat down hoping like hell noone would pick me to run (since finding the prolapse, running or any other physical activity has scared me) Anyway of course my boy chose me to chase him, I started to panic and thought 'what if I do damage?' but thought well I can't let mr 5 down, so I got up and ran.
Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but man it sucked just having that fear of doing something so simple as chasing my son in a game.

It's amazing how much the prolapse has an impact on the tiny things in life, I feel good for getting up and running ~ was only a short run round a circle of children ~ and the prolapse felt no worse for doing so.

On another note, I started my first period yesterday since having baby 10 wks ago and my goodness the cramping and flooding is awful, I don't recall it being so bad after the births of baby 1 and 2, but maybe it was and I forgot? Anyhow does a prolapse have any effect on periods, and what about tampon use? This is something I forgot to ask the doctors about. Since getting up at 6.30 this morning, in 2 hours I have soaked through a maternity pad and am sore! Hope it's normal as before I had my last baby my periods had settled, were 3-5 days and little pain. I haven't had painfull periods like this since before having kids (I started periods around 11 and they were bad)

I actually forgot myself for a moment the other weekend when crossing the road with my son walking home from school. A car appeared from round the corner so we ran and I though "oh god" when I got the other side. I always worry I will be asked to do something I feel I cannot manage. I watch all the other mums at school and feel sure I am the only one with this problem. I just move much more carefully than they do. I duck out of a lot also.

Heavy periods - ick! Mine got rather heavy after having children and they were not light to start with! You can still use tampons even with prolapse, some ladies find they slip right back out again but you won't know until you try. I find I get a soreness in my pelvic floor especially around the time of my period as I think we release a hormone to relax everything. Its like I have been kicked! Hopefully the worst will be over in a day or two.

Take care, Anita

you know, mummytothree, you have a pretty powerful statement in your post:

"It's amazing how much the prolapse has an impact on the tiny things in life, I feel good for getting up and running ~ was only a short run round a circle of children ~ and the prolapse felt no worse for doing so."

slowly you will realize that most things you are fearful of doing will have minimal or no adverse effect on your prolapse. and then you will no longer be fearful. at the very worst, your prolapse will call attention to itself, you will stop, be good to yourself for a few days and return to your baseline.

I happy for you that you were able to choose to run around with your son, and double happy that you're no worse off for it.

Hi Mum-to-three

You're right in the thick of the difficult stage with very little kids and the physical work they entail. It will pass, eventually. All you need to do is mindfully survive it, as we all do, and work out ways with your brain to take the pressure off your pelvic floor.

Keep in mind that the body has been designed to exert itself in the extreme for very short periods of time, like running away from marauding tigers, and playing duck duck goose. I think it is the chronic abuse of the body from bad physical techniques, bad posture, bad diet and bad birth management that cause the main problems, not the occasional bit of exertion. My body does recover well from short exertions, eg a couple of days max, maybe even only a few minutes, depending on what I was doing, and for how long.

I am slowly learning to trust it to do this, so the fear and anxiety does dissipate once you put enough responses together to realise that the fear has little basis. All that is needed is mindful living; living in the moment so we are always aware of what is happening. Sounds a bit Buddhist to me. I think we could all do with more of it.

Re the tampons, I think if I inserted a tampon it would have to go so high in the vagina that it would miss my cervix completely. Even when I was young with a retroverted uterus (pointing backwards instead of forwards) I had to use a pad as well as a tampon to avoid blood on my knickers on day 2. I eventually just ditched the tampon, as it wasn't collecting much.

Remember too that your prolapses are probably more pronounced now than they were after 1 & 2, and the uterus is probably not sitting in its optimum position anymore because some of the fascial supports are damaged, so there is probably uneven structural pressure on it. The uterus is often sensitive to pressure and just gets annoyed. Also this is your first cycle so the hormones could be a little erratic, so I would just diary it all for next month, wrap yourself in cottonwool for a couple of days and see what happens. Also breastfeeding will stimulate contraction of the uterus, alarmingly so at times, and sometimes you don't get that warm, flooding feeling until you stand up again. Whoooo! We can also suffer from selective memory loss from those early days too!

I have found that as I have moved through my reproductive life all sorts of changes happen with menstruation. Menstruation is not static, and just keeps changing with the years. Let's hope yours settles down quickly.

cheers

Louise