New here..

Submitted by puttycat on June 22, 2010 - 9:09am
Body: 

New here.. I am hoping you can help me?
After giving birth to my baby boy Kian Adley (my 11th baby! ) at home UC I wasn't able to hold my urine very well. It would only be an issue when I was right near the toilet and then try as I might to close off the flow of urine it would come out anyway so I would quickly sit down on the toilet. Over time those muscles have gotten stronger and now its no longer a problem.

Well, recently I have felt something at my vaginal opening when using the restroom that felt like muscle; like the inside of the vaginal wall feels so tonight I looked and was shocked to see what looks like the vaginal wall or muscle at the opening of my vagina.. I showed my dh who said it looked a little different. but not alot as he thinks I have had it to some degree since after childbirth in Oct. 2007. I don't make a habit of looking down below too often etc..so maybe it was there to some degree before but it is enough that I noticed it this time.

I believe it to be a weakening of the vaginal wall letting some of the vaginal muscles protrude out of the opening or right at it. I can have sex without pain and I can manually push it back in without pain. My cervix is not protruding from my vagina and I don't believe it to be my uterus. It's about a month now postpartum. (After researching I am sure it's cystocele)

I have noticed differences since giving birth to Kian from his size..11lbs 3oz. And I can tell my vaginal muscles are very weak. My dh can also as the only time we have been together since the birth recently I asked and he said he can barely feel when I am doing kegals and tightening as hard as I can. The Kegals are much easier when we're not having sex though..

Anyway, I did read that doing lots of kegals can strengthen my vagina and help heal this and I suppose time will also. I am still healing and after having such a big baby I know it will take more time, etc..

I know that some of you have dealt with prolapses and wondered if you had any help you could offer me such as what I can do and if kegals will help and does it get better with time and when I am done with nursing my baby?

I do not want to get surgery and don't want to go in if I can help it...hoping I can deal with this naturally..

Thank you for your help!!

louiseds

June 22, 2010 - 9:51am

Hi Puttycat

Congratulations on the birth of your 11th baby. That's some achievement.

It is distressing when you find a bit of your body has changed, as if overnight, but fear not, I am sure that your body will revert once again in a few months. A woman's body really does take about two years to fully revert after a pregnancy and a birth, though we often have another pregnancy earlier than that.

for the next few months I suggest that you only look at your vulva and vagina once a week, if at all. No amount of looking is going to make it get better any quicker. It is just upsetting for you. It will recover by itself.

You can help it along by holding your body really tall, with your lumbar curve in place and your chest raised, belly relaxed and shoulders relaxed. Think 'royalty'. This will tilt your pelvis forward slightly, and slide your bladder and uterus forwards until they are resting out of harm's way on your pubic bones, rather than on top of your vagina. Then you can relax!.

I suggest that you don't lift anything heavier than the baby for a few more weeks, and keep him close to your body when you do lift him. I am sure that asking family to help would be second nature to you.

If you do have to lift anything, bend from the hip joints, stick your butt out the back and bend your knees. Use your thigh muscles to go up and down. This will keep your bladder and vagina against your lower abdominal wall, where they are less likely to be dislodged by intraabdominal forces that are generated with breathing and general movement.

Keep plenty of fibre and water in your diet so you can pass bowel motions without straining. If you feel the need to strain, stop and wait until the urge comes again.

You will possibly find that the sagging of, presumably, your bladder may worsen over the next 3 to 6 months, but it will start to improve later in the first year, and this improvement will continue for many months. Getting worse before you get better is very normal. We don't know why. It just is that way. Don't get freaked out if it happens to you. We can help you through it. Many of our Members have had babies after discovering their POP's. the initial worsening is still upsetting, even if you know it will get better eventually.

Hopefully these ideas will get you started.

Louise

puttycat

June 22, 2010 - 10:03am

Thank you so much Louise for your reply and info..I will definitely be doing what you suggested...
I am reading alot and learning so much..
I am tying not to feel that my life is over and sinking down into a place of depression. I want to be proactive in working towards healing..
I am thankful the prolapse also is causing me little problems...I know its there and that in and of itself causes me distress but otherwise it's not causing me much trouble..
Again thank you so much!

aza

June 23, 2010 - 1:56am

Wowee mama, 11 babies, what an awesome clan you've got there! Can I ask what the age range is? How long do you breastfeed for? I have worked with a handful of women who have had 8+ babies, and one who has had 12, and the sheer numbers of years spent either pregnant or breastfeeding denotes a body with high levels of progesterone, which affects muscle tone and function, to a degree.

And just to throw this out there (but not meaning to minimalise the work your body has done or the healing that it is needing to do now): I find it very interesting that the general mode of thinking in the medical community is that the more babies a woman has, the more worn out and stretched and ineffective the body becomes (i.e. more likely to hemorrhage after birth from a 'tired' uterus). Now, not only have I seen this to be entirely untrue in years of attending births, I also find it fascinating that for some reason the reproductive system is seen to get worse with use, rather than better and more effective. It makes no sense to me. The female body was designed to gestate, give birth, and breastfeed, just like the gluts were designed to propel us forwards and particularly uphill. Who in their right mind would watch someone hiking and say, oh no, you are wearing out your muscle, you better not use that bum for hiking or it will wither and mystically cease to function. So why does modern medicine have such a thwarted view of the capacity - and inherent strength in function - of the female body? It gets more efficient, not more worn out (. And don't even get me started about how they doubt their surgical repair skills by being so petrified of a uterus scarred by c-section getting put to work again in subsequent births.

Ahem. Sorry to ramble on but women who have birthed double digit number of times are incredibly inspiring ;) You will be just fine and your capacity for healing is great, promise!

kiki

June 27, 2010 - 1:42am

Welcome to the forum...and huge congrats on your gorgeous new baby! how wonderful. you say you are a month postpartum. it is such early days. as Louise says, it may get worse so be patient, remembering your body is still in birth / baby mode...i definitely didn't start to feel a huge improvement till about 6 months. then it massively improved. WW posture is great, realigns our boides and gives our organs the chance to find their natural home again.
There are lovely gentle excercises on the DVD that can help as well if later you find you have time (i'm not sure time for ourselves and children ever go hand in hand), but right now time and the posture will do wonders.
too many kegels can make things worse. Christine had a great blog on kegels the right way that you might find useful...if you search on kegel you should find it.
take care and do keep us updated!