improved prolapse after pregnancy

First off, thank you so much for all of the updates. I think it is so valuable for women to have a well chronicled record of what may be expected to happen with pop in pregnancy and beyond. I have been especially enjoying them, as I am now 14 weeks pregnant myself (yeah!). I'm not going to be much help scientifically speaking, but have also been mulling over the idea that pregnancy is a way to improve pop. In my fledging nursing career, I am constantly amazed by the human body's ability to compensate and adapt to deficits even to the point of not noticing a really big "problem." This is the body's job -- to maintain a state of functionality no matter what. This is the greatest aspect of WW, IMHO. Our bodies *can* fix themselves, are designed to do so. Thinking about human evolution -- well, we were made to birth vaginally. Over and over again. I doubt our kind would have made it so far if one less than perfect birthing/recovery outcome resulted in permanent disability. I think it is quite possible that more pregnancies and births are the body's way of resetting itself in the way it would most like to be. To me, that would be very smart evolutionary design, indeed! I hope I can be one who proves this little theory correct! May your recovery continue in this fantastic pathway!

OOOOOOOOOOOOH!! Another WW baby!! I am so happy for you and will take yet another wonderful opportunity to thank you, dear Bad_mirror, for all the grounded wisdom and support you give to the women here. You are wonderful! I cannot wait for all of us to take this journey with you. Ah..I see a beautiful home birth in the future! ♥

I, too, thank you for this update and am thrilled to hear everything is anteverting as it should. It is no surprise to me, given the seriousness to which you took the WW work. Bless you, dear mama!

Oh...and losing posts is very annoying. Try writing them into a document and then pasting them here. The system will time you out if you take too long to write, although I don't know exactly how much time that is. :)

BadMirror, congratulations. I do hope the pregnancy goes smoothly and you have a beautiful and joy filled birth.

Cararosesmum, I was thinking something similar to BadMirror. Pregnancy and birth are regular female human activities, and they do involve a lot of stretching and reversion.
I cannot remember if you were a part of WW Forums before your last pregnancy. I wouldn't mind guessing that you went into this last pregnancy with your body correctly configured and you have kept it configured postpartum, so it is reverting 'correctly' as well. I doubt that it is coincidence.

A canavas tent that has been erected on even ground and pegged out tight always comes down and folds up neatly. If it has been up for a while, and has stretched in one direction and been floppy in another direction it will come down OK, but fold up lop-sided.

Louise

Hey! I have a lovely 7 month old baby - I developed a prolapse after my first baby (now 4). Like you, my uterine prolapse completely disappeared for the last 2 trimesters (had a ring for some of the first trimester). After the (very good) homebirth, I was very excited to find my prolapse was nowhere to be found, but alas, as the days progressed, my old mate the cervix appeared again. Like last time, I started out with a more pronounced cystocele, which has not much improved, but the UP has got worse.

Now, I think it is roughly the same as where it was before. Maybe better, but I am not as freaked out by it this time (and I avoid the mirror!), so it could just be my perception. I really hope your improvement is maintained though!

thank you for sharing! You have worked so hard on this, and your body clearly listened to the messages you have been giving it. It's such great inspiration for other women--thank you for sharing!

So, I doubt the uterus went 'up' during pregnancy and then just stayed that way. The uterus works pretty darn hard to get back into the pelvis and behind the pubic bone after a birth, that's one of the reasons women have strong uterine cramping in the days following a birth.
But is it possible that a second pregnancy would improve a previous prolapse? and if yes, then why? Those are some interesting questions to ponder. And wouldn't it be awesome if that were true? It would sure shed an unfavorable light on obgyns who advise that following pregnancies will make an existing prolapse worse.
Cynical. I doubt it's your perception. When prolapse is annoying it's annoying- when it is less so you know it. Sure the 'freak out' factor should be accounted for but if you are a few years into this thing you can probably remember exactly how it felt when it felt worse.
That said, perception is everything! I can remember feeling the sensation of prolapse every minute of every day for a good long time and then one night I went out, had some drinks and danced and for a good 3 or 4 hours did not think of the prolapse one time! That was pretty eye opening for me. I had to choose at some point to stop thinking about the sensations in my crotch.
But still. I bet your prolapse is *actually* improved and not just your attitude about it. And, have you been working on Nauli? It will suck your cervix way the heck up inside your body!

Cynical, just remember that you had no POP before you became pregnant the first time, but you did have POP, and your insides had been pre-stretched when you became pregnant the second time, ie it was two different body states when you became pregnant.

If you have another baby later I think it will be more like this last time. I doubt that it will get worse again as a result of a third pregnancy.

Having said that, I did have some POP symptoms after my first baby, when I had a big episiotomy and forceps delivery on my back with my feet in stirrups. I recovered well from that. Second pregnancy caused further POP symptoms for other reasons, and I finally recovered well from that. The third pregnancy and birth were great, with little POP. I only became concerned again a couple of years after that, when I was getting a lot of discomfort during periods and was fitted for a pessary, which was somewhat useful during the first couple of days of menstruation for a year or so, but ended up being more trouble than it was worth. I managed without the pessary then, until a very stressful time in my marriage when my youngest was 16, and constipation made the rectocele become a worry. Shortly after that I found this site, and have been recovering for the last 6 years. It just keeps getting better.

What I am saying is that my postpartum POPs got better, but surfaced again when I was in the middle of perimenopause and stress.

It's been so long since I logged on here, I had to track my own account to look up my last posts and realised I hadn't even read the responses.

Little update - my gorgeous baby is now nearly 17 months, still breastfed and I think my prolapse is better than it was when my first baby was 17 months for sure, BUT i wear a tampon everyday and (touch wood) I am mostly symptom free because of it and I have a pretty bad UP. I try not to think too much about how and why it is working, but it seems to be so long may this little trick work.

But.... there is a new health issue in my life, as I have been diagnosed with celiac disease, which (except when trying to eat out) is totally fine and I am loving how great I now feel.

Which brings me to my question: celiac brings with it some pretty gross gastrointestinal symptoms, in my case bad bloating, and I wonder, could undiagnosed celiac disease actually CAUSE prolapse in women who are susceptible to it. Would love ot hear thoughts (I think my lapse is improving since I went gluten free... seriously...)

It's a crazy thing, the human body :-)

Hi Cynical

It makes sense to me that it could, because bloating would distend your intestines and cause a lot of abnormal intaabdominal pressure, as well as extra bulk.

It is great that you now have a diagnosis, and that your new diet is helping your POPs.

It is not like it is a new health problem. You actually have a new solution. Have you found a local support group, or internet group for coeliac?

Louise

haven't joined any groups yet - there's so much info on the internet including coeliac forums, I'm not sure I'd ever need to do anything face to face. Provided I never get any of the diseases associated with coeliac, of all the diseases to have, this one is a breeze - no medication needed (I do miss beer though...). In fact, I think the nightmare I went through when I discovered the prolapse made me much stronger to deal with this sort of thing.