Depression and prolapse

Hi Miss Monica

First of all, let me give you a big (((hug))). Being a young woman with two babies shouldn't be like this, should it? I can understand your feeling really down because these health professionals are not listening to your concerns and addressing them, even though what they are doing is probably helping your body. They are not able or willing to answer all your questions. I would feel very alone in this situation.

From what you have written it sounds like you don't quite understand the flatulence that is happening. You don't know what the clear wet discharge was. You don't know what is impinging on your vagina. Your urine flow is unpredictable, like it is sometimes blocked. Some of your sensations are not very clear either.

For your doctor to say that your vagina is "typical of someone having had 2 vaginal deliveries" might tell her a lot, but it doesn't tell you a lot. You have never been in this situation before!

I don't know if I can answer any of these questions, but I'll have a crack at what I can.

There are many women who come to these Forums with a five or six month old baby and prolapse, who cannot understand why their body is still not back to normal after the birth. The six week checkup is not an indication that your body has reverted to normal. It is for the obstetrician to sign off on the birth, check that you are OK, that you are feeding the baby and looking after her/him OK, and that you have got some contraception in place. It will take your body at least another 12 months, if not 18 months for the bulk of the reversion to take place. Many Mums report that 3 to 6 months is the worst time for postpartum prolapse. By the time baby is 9 months old you should see some improvement, but it is a long time to wait.

So the therapists are right in not being unduly concerned about your prolapse which will do a lot of healing by itself, given time. There is not a lot they can do about prolapse anyway. You can Kegel yourself until you are blue in the face and it will not make your prolapse any less. There is absolutely no research that shows that Kegels will heal prolapse.

What you can do at this stage is use your body in ways that support your pelvic organs better. Wholewoman posture has a raised chest, a significant lumbar curve and a lessened thoracic curve in the spine. The pelvis tilts itself forward slightly, and the bladder and uterus literally slide forward onto the pubic bones, instead of being on top of the vagina. Other features of WW posture are slightly flexed knees, feet facing forwards, chin slightly tucked and shoulders relaxed and allowed to roll forwards slightly into a relaxed state. The belly needs to be relaxed, but will be reasonably firm because lifting the chest stretches out the rectus abdominus muscles in a gentle curve from ribcage to pubis. Keeping the belly relaxed leaves a little spot on the lower abdominal wall for the uterus and bladder to rest on.

If you hold your tummy in it will push the bladder and uterus back again, and down they will go. If you tuck your butt it will have a similar effect.

It is a very proud and female posture with prominent butt and breasts. Show 'em off darlin'. They are your assets! Breathe deep into your belly, using your diaphragm, rather than your chest and shoulder muscles. This exercises your abdominal muscles and helps to keep your shoulders relaxed. Think tall, really tall!!!

Seated posture is exactly the same, simply hinged at the hip joints.

Moving the bladder and uterus forward is the first step towards normalising the position of all your intestines, the other organs that fit in that general area. It is all about allowing these organs to get back to where they belong. I think you will find that it will make a big difference to the way your body is behaving. It might take a while to get used to it, because your body has been arranged differently for a long time, but it will pay off in the end.

Breastfeeding, bending over and nurturing babies can hunch us over and close up the front of our bodies. It can also make the hamstring muscles tight, which can prevent the pelvis tilting forward far enough. There are various stretches you can do to open out and lift your chest, and increase the flexibility of your lower body.

(Actually, it is quite hard to adopt a proud, confident posture when you are feeling like s***, but if you can convince yourself to look confident and proud, you might start feeling more confident and proud.)

Other things you can do are to eat well and ensure that you don't get constipated (so drink lots while you are breastfeeding), don't *ever* strain on the toilet, wear clothing that doesn't compress your abdomen, break down big loads so you are not lifting more than you have to. Get down on the floor with your toddler instead of lifting her/him. Stick your butt out and bend from the hips when lifting. Use your leg muscles more. Generally have a look at your working environment and see if there are ways you can make it more POP friendly.

That's probably enough for now. I think you will find that your body will start to normalise itself if you let it. Go to YouTube and check out excerpts of Christine Kent's DVD, which will help you to understand about posture. Christine's channel is Wholewomaninc. You might like to buy the DVD.

If you want to know all the theory behind why Wholewoman techniques work, and understand the anatomical terms, also buy the book Saving the Wholewoman, which has been my bible re managing POP.

There is a lot for you to do, but it will work, given time. It is a whole body thing. You kind of have to learn to do all of it, but it eventually becomes intuitive. You will get little temporary setbacks but you will overcome them in a few days. Call back when you need to know more.

Cheers

Louise

Hi, Monica. I'm feeling the same way......((big hug)). I'd learned to trust my body to do what it was designed to do--it didn't let me down during birth! And then the prolapse happened. I had postpartum depression this time around, and it went away with the help of a thyroid/adrenal supplement, but it's coming back now. I believe in my case it's caused partly by constipation. Because waste isn't exiting my body, its reabsorbed. Do you think this could be a cause for you as well? I'm having trouble taking care of my children as well. I keep saying to myself, "They deserve better than this. I want to do things with them. But I can't." Very frustrating.

hey Miss M
seems like I missed your first posts for some reason.
How is the depression? getting better yet?
I am surprised you feel bad in the morning- most of us feel pretty good when we have been resting a while.
I wonder, do you have a full colon in the morning and maybe are just feeling that pressure of needing to go to the bathroom?
I sleep all over the bed- tummy side and back- I am a pretty restless sleeper unless my back is flared up and then I sleep totally still with a pillow under my knees.
You know, I have one of those memory foam mattresses and I really like it
it's nice and firm but also soft. I bet if you have a saggy bed it might make you feel worse. Would you be willing to try the floor- maybe with an egg crate, for a few weeks just to see if it helps?
do you feel like your body is responding to the WW work?

I have found that a tempurpedic mattress plus a tempurpedic pillow placed strategically near the knees and between the legs gives the body good painfree rest.

Hi Miss M

I too missed your initial post.

I agree with Alemama. Try everything. I sleep all over the bed too. I sometimes change my pillow every few weeks too. You probably also have a full bladder first thing in the morning, as well as a full bowel, and you have been horizontal all night, so gravity can't do its work.

I would suggest when you get up, that you roll over and get up onto all fours and back off the bed, repositioning your organs before you get up, rather than sitting up from lying down. A couple of Kegels while on all fours will also help to get your PF muscles awake before getting up and letting your pelvic organs stretch them. Pull up into Wholewoman posture straight away when you stand.

I wouldn't worry too much about what the doctors are diagnosing. You know you have POP, and you are bound to have changes in what is trying to get out the door, just like all of us. hang in there Miss Monica.

Sorry to hear that you have PPD. I can see that you are not running away from it, which is good. It will pass, with care. Call back whenever you feel like it.

Good luck.

i never thought about putting a tempurpedic pillow under my knees. I have been putting an ordinary one. I want to be better so much!

If I've been up with the children several times (which is typical for me), my POP and back pain is much worse the next day.

I have discovered that I can sleep comfortably on my back IF (and only if) I have a little of the pillow shoved up under my tailbone. It straightens out my back and if I have something under my knees as well, the pain is relieved.

DH loves rock-hard mattresses and he won the argument (it's usually not worth it, in my mind, to fight about anything), so I sleep in pain on a rock-hard mattress. Can you get a memory-foam top and just have it on half the bed? Maybe I can trim it so it fits just on my side.

the memory foam twin size and put it under your sheets
it will be wonderful
I like to put a pillow behind my tailbone when I sleep on my side
really feels great!
but I have a couple of discs that are shot-

I do the same thing--I always have a pillow behind my back and tucked slightly under my rear when I'm on my side. It also allows me to totally relax my back when I'm nursing at night.