Pregnancy and urine leakage

Submitted by gemommy on October 17, 2009 - 1:36pm
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Hello, everyone!

I haven't posted in a while. As a reminder, I discovered my cystocele and rectocele around 22 months pp after kid #2. My little ones are 5.5 and 2.5. I am now 21 weeks along with #3. Things have been OK so far. My first trimester was not too bad, but I've been leaking urine since 12 weeks. I never had this problem before pregnancy, but I guess the pressure of my uterus is just too much for my bladder. The leaking just happens. It is not just after laughing or something similar. I don't even feel it happen. I go through a few small liners a day. It doesn't bother me too much because I figure it will get better after delivery. I have been doing posture whenever possible and hands & knees positions. I pretty much stopped doing kegels before pregnancy because I thought they were not good for my rectocele. Should I start again to control the leaking? Of course, I would do them while sitting in posture, not lying down.

Also, my rectocele gives me mild symptoms. I use liquid glycerin suppositories when I have trouble. They have been a lifesaver.

Overall, I have to say that being pregnant (leaking and all) beats the heck out of having the horrible prolapse-related pain and heaviness I experienced with my periods.

Christine

October 17, 2009 - 4:21pm

Glad to hear all is going well with your pregnancy, gemommy. The leakage is caused by that old dynamic between bladder and urethra. The organs are always tightly packed, but what makes the difference is whether there is enough kink in the hose. Kegels may help and you may also have to just bear it until things change postpartum. Chin up.

gemommy

October 18, 2009 - 8:12am

Thanks for the reply, Christine. I didn't really feel that my chin was down about this, but I guess you are trying to be helpful. I thought I'd been handling it fine, but just wanted to see if there was anything else I could do about it. I don't expect a quick fix. I have no one to talk to about this embarrassing problem, so I reached out here. Perhaps I shouldn't have. I'll wait until I have a more serious problem before posting. Sorry for being so sensitive. I guess it's the pregnancy hormones.

granolamom

October 18, 2009 - 9:49am

I was going to say the same thing about the angle between urethra/bladder

and I *think* all christine meant by 'chin up' was 'hang in there, it'll get better'. not as a comment regarding your post, which by the way, is completely appropriate for this forum. I'm sure that you are not the only woman experiencing this, and you know how it goes, if one person asks a question, chances are at least a dozen are wondering the same thing.
so on behalf of the invisible lurkers or silent members, thank you for your question. its serious enough, and even 'trivial questions' are important because like you said, most of us don't have people irl to speak to about this.

please do keep reaching out.

also, congrats on the pg! I didn't realize you were expecting another baby.

gemommy

October 18, 2009 - 1:07pm

Thanks, granolamom. I appreciate your kind words and clarification.

louiseds

October 20, 2009 - 1:46am

I'll add my support word for word to what Granolamom said. I too am sure that Christine did not mean that it was an inappropriate alarm call. If women like you do not post queries like this, Members or people who are lurking cannot read the responses you get, then nobody learns anything.

There are no questions too basic or stupid. All questions are smart, because you are thinking about how you can improve it, rather than just sitting around feeling selfconscious about it and not brave enough to ask.

Keep asking!

Louise

alemama

October 21, 2009 - 11:09pm

Hmm. do I have this right? You have known about your prolapse for about 8 months now and you have been pregnant for about 5 months? Hey congratulations on your baby and glad to hear you are not having pain. That must be a great relief (kinda makes you want to be pregnant forever). I wonder why the leaking started at about 12 weeks? I know that at about 18-20 weeks many pregnant women feel a relief of prolapse symptoms- but what is significant about 12? 3 months, coming toward the end of first trimester- baby is about 3 inches and your uterus is the size of a softball. You can palpate the top of your fundus right above your pubic bone. Well maybe that is big enough to change the angle of your urethra.
How would you rate the strength of your kegal muscles? Can you start and stop the flow of urine voluntarily? Can you put your fingers in and feel the squeeze when you kegal? I know I like to do kegals a few times a day when I am pregnant- I find it is very helpful to be in touch with these muscles and helps prepare me for the birth. When you were kegaling was it bothering your rectocele? As long as it doesn't bother you to do them then I think you could and it may help if there is in fact a weakness.

Happy gestating to you and give us updates if you will- I loved reading about pregnancy and prolapse when I was pregnant- and there really isn't that much information out there.

gemommy

October 22, 2009 - 9:45am

Thanks for your interest. Not that it matters much, but I've known of my prolapses for 11 months, and been pregnant for 5. My 2.5 yr old is actually 2 yrs, 8 months.

Anyway, as for why my leaking started at 12 weeks, the only thing I can think of is that my very retroverted uterus moved forward at that time creating this angle problem you guys talk about. Would this explain it? If it does, then was my retroverted uterus somehow protecting me from urine leakage before?

Also, my 'kegel' muscles are fairly strong. I can control urine flow very well. I can squeeze my finger just fine. When I went to the urogyn for a diagnosis a few months after my own discovery, she did the finger test and said that they were in good shape. Anyway, I guess this is really not the problem. Thanks for drawing this to my attention.

Something else I remembered recently regarding my prolapses is that around 12 weeks postpartum after kid #1, I felt a strange bulgy sensation in my vagina. I now know it was my cystocele. I went to my OB and asked if something was amiss down there. She looked briefly and said that the only new things there were hymenal tags. I asked her if it could possibly be my bladder. She asked if I was leaking urine, I said no, so she said it couldn't be my bladder. I took her word for it, and went about my life as usual. The sensation went away by 6 months pp and I never felt it again until my recent prolapse relapse. That was 5 years ago. If I had believed it was prolapse (and not known of WW) I might not have had my second child. Thank goodness for Whole Woman!

louiseds

October 23, 2009 - 1:16am

Hi Gemommy

Yes, I think your doctor was wrong about no leakage = no cystocele. If only it was that simple! When doctors make very definitive statements like that it undermines my faith in them, or rather reminds me that perhaps they don't have enough experience to know that POP is not black and white, or else they had a bad teacher at some point, or else they don't actually understand what is happening in my body (they are not thinking). In any case it just reminds me to remember that they don't know everything, and I have to be my own auditor of what they tell me, which is fine by me.

L

gemommy

October 23, 2009 - 2:16pm

Hi Louise,
I know that my OB did not know what she was talking about 5 years ago. That's one of the many reasons I don't see her anymore. I was so afraid that I had prolapse at that time. I thought that it would mean no more children and a life of misery. If I had had it confirmed then, I don't know that I would have been able to handle it the way I have now. I actually think it was a blessing in disguise. I now know that it can get better, especially if we believe it can.
Thanks,
gemommy

sunset82

November 2, 2009 - 1:42pm

POP since July 2000. Expecting baby #3 January 2010!

I leak urine also, unfortunately. Not a fun thing. It is the worst at night when my bladder fills up and I have to get up to pee. It just comes streaming out of me like Niagara Falls!! I wear heavy pads in order to not have to change the bedding, my clothes, wash the floor, etc... This happened to me my last pregnancy also. But not with my first. It just keeps getting worse each pregnancy. However, light at the end of the tunnel...it goes away after pregnancy. I think there's just so much pressure down there that it just pushes the urine down and out. I am 28 weeks along and I believe it started for me around 12 weeks, too. I don't think you'll get as severe as I am, though, because I have a condition which has taken urethral muscle control from me altogether. I can't do kegels and such, and I have to self-catheterize each time I use the restroom. Even after a lot of the urine just spills out of me, it doesn't completely empty my bladder so I have to catheterize to get the rest out. So, hope this doesn't scare you, just wanted to share my experience with you and let you know you're not alone, and it will get better!! Congrats on your pregnancy!

louiseds

November 3, 2009 - 11:02pm

Hi Sunset

I think your telling us about how you cope with bladder problems in every day life, and manage to be pretty straightforward about it, is really great, because it shows the rest of us that losing a little, or a lot, of urine at times, is not the end of the world, just an inconvenience that can be managed.

Urine is not the stuff of the devil, which it is illegal or earth-shattering to spill. I think a lot of our black and white attitudes about urine come from the way bladder continence is learned by us in a disciplinary way, and wetting yourself is quite a negative thing, ie you haven't grown up yet. The old voices come back and self-scold us for spilling a bit.

My lemon tree cries out to me for more every morning when I wake! All I have to do is to make the decision as to whether the temperature outside is suitable for a naked dash to the garden or not! Thankfully, the warmer westher is here!

Thanks for keeping us real, Sunset.

Louise

kiki

November 4, 2009 - 12:45am

You bring such joyous images to this forum. I live in a city, so such naked dashes will never happen...but i do love knowing that halfway across the world you are able to run naked through your land ;-)

gemommy

November 4, 2009 - 4:20pm

Sunset, thank you for sharing your experience. It really puts things in perspective. Also, congrats on your 3rd pregnancy!

Your condition sounds very difficult. I hope it improves a lot for you after delivery.