intro

Hi Suzanne,

I am sure Christine will answer you very quickly, but I just wanted to offer some words of comfort to you. First off, know that you are NOT alone and in the right place! A cystocele is not life threatening, and like you said, you probably would not even have noticed it had you not been looking. All types of prolapse can occur in women who are even younger than you, and even in some women who have not yet had children. I feel; that it is mainly due to the way we forced to birth our children, and that's when mine probably started. I feel it wasn't all that noticeable then, and with time and gravity proceeded downward from then. I had my first child at 41 and am now 49. I too feel that by doing exercises lying down and raising my legs up as well as seated lifting weight with my legs using exercise machines progressed my situation. But you cannot feel guilt over this, this is something you did not know. Plus, can we really say for sure that those things caused our cystoceles to get worse? I sincerely doubt they caused them to occur, just made them appear worse. I feel the birthing process (giving birth while lying down) is the main culprit. It just makes sense. Christine has made many points regarding this, as well as poor posture, movement and diet which all play a significant role. Well, like I said, you shouldn't feel guilt, it will only hinder your progress. You will improve with the proper care. I have been using the program for a few months now. Try and be careful what you eat....heavy foods, meat, dairy in excess can all wreak havoc on prolapse. You need to do only the exercises that feel good for your body. Besides the exercises in the book, I have found cycling the best for me! When lifting anything, even your little one, use care HOW you do it. Use your legs and buttocks. Also, if you need relief from that heavy feeling (after standing long periods), I use the sea sponges which I order on line. If you are interested, and need relief, these small natural sponges work great for a cystocele. They were created to use as an alternative to the tampon, but work for prolapse as well. Order them online at www.pandorapads.com. And don't worry, things will get better. You are still young, your body has the capability of healing itself, and you have the ability to create a positive climate to do this! Be well. April

Dear Suzanne,

I can only agree with April

I feel sorry with women who are young and have to deal with these issues. I was 55 when I first noticed everything heading south. At that age, I have come to accept it as a "badge of honor" for birthing four children. Should I expect a 20 year old body? No. With the exercises and posture a part of my life, I am content I have nothing life threatening at present to deal with.

Sybille

You know Christine, I had often wondered if the Pilates class I was attending may have been part of the culprit for me. The reason being they had us doing crunch-like exercises while lying on our backs with legs up in the air. I will continue to avoid them like the plague now that I know! However, I kind of felt that when I used the balance ball, the crunches probably weren't so bad (although they aren't exactly easy to do!) I used to love the balance ball classes. Otherwise, I do believe they practiced good posture because they always said NOT to concentrate on sucking the tummy in, keep the knees "soft", shoulders back.... kind of like your motto! I think when you said it's important to recognize and avoid doing any exercise that sends undo pressure directly to that area is of utmost importance. We all need to be so aware of our daily movements! I look forward to your creating a formal exercise program we all can benefit from and enjoy without worry! Do you have anything in the works? Take good care,

I'm just trying to get fully moved into the studio/office space! They've done such a beautiful job on the renovation, but it's taking FOREVER. There are only a few little, but important, details to finish, but the contractor has taken other jobs and my place has sort of become the orphan child. I haven't been there for a couple of days, but they promised me that it would be completed by Monday. THEN I'll be able to work more seriously on this program which for now resides for the most part in my head. Thanks for asking, April. I didn't know that about Pilates, but thought originally they were all about navel to backbone. The more women who can be taught about natural body mechanics the better!

Suzanne...I know how you feel. I just turned 33, I noticed my cystocele a few months ago. I have 3 children, the youngest will be 2 in Nov. I, too, felt freakish and to blame for the prolapse. I felt scared and depressed to think my body was already falling apart at 32. The psychological aspect to this problem is enormous. I will tell you, that things really did change after I found this site and read Christine's book. Truthfully, the cystocele doesn't bother me on a daily basis anymore, but I have since developed a rectocele and I'm wondering if my uterus is lower too. But, I've changed my diet and I pay very close attention to my body now and to myneed for exercise (Christine's exercises and walking). In short, I started taking care of myself....something I hadn't done since I was pregnant with my first.
Find someone to talk to about how you feel about all of this. the women here a great, I also confide in my sister (even though I think she's a bit freaked out by this) and my husband is amazing.
You aren't to blame for this, but you can probably make some changes and feel a whole lot better.
Take care
::::::sending warm feelings your way::::::::

The psychological side I felt was the most difficult to deal with. I felt so helpless. Everything I read on the net said this was only the beginning of great downhill slide and a life of endless surgeries until...CHRISTINE! :) The posture and exercises were something I could DO and DO NOW! Changing my diet was also something else I could DO. DOING seemed to be the key to helping my psyche--not to mention the physical aspect. It took away the helplessness and the freakishness of it. Joining in this community strengthened the normalacy of my situation and helped to recognize that I was now in a new normal--a mother's normal. Blessings to you.

Jane
Off this topic and to Julie: I saw your post about your bed:

and I am praying for you Julie if you see this message.

Hi Jane!

It's always so good to hear from you - hope the school year is going well. Jane, we desperately need you to write out Ty's birth story again! Could you send it to me to put up on the site? ([email protected]) Debbie and Heather sent wonderful (if terrible) "dark side" stories, but we so need yours, which is the epitome of the birth teaching these young women need to hear.

I never did get ahold of the guy who wrote this program - I thought I could call him, but found out you can only email him - and the new website builders told me that this forum is all contained within files that only have a limited amount of space and that is why they dump the earlier posts. The new one will be set up on the net, so it will hold an infinite amount of data.

Is it almost time for his 1st birthday???

:-)Christine

Suzanne, I wanted to "say" hi to you and let you know that all your feelings are very normal. I just turned 33 and first found out about my cystocele, rectocele and endrocele when I was 32, too (5 months after the birth of my first (and only, so far) baby). I think the psychological impact is just as bad, if not worse, than the physical. I have to agree with all the other ladies here - this group and Christine have really changed my attitude about my prolapses. I feel so positive and "normal" now. I found out about this site and ordered the book and DVD a couple of months ago and I feel so much better physically already . . . I have to wonder if how this site affected me mentally is partly responsible for my physical changes!

I hope you find help within this group and that you will begin to heal . . . physically and mentally. Mental hugs to you.

Heather

Hi Suzanne,

I'm a true believer now in avoiding any straining on the toilet - my prolapse is noticeably better after just a week of doing this: Either look into the squatting platform at naturesplatform.com or, sit down as usual and whenever you need to strain - at all - just rock up slightly onto your feet, using your leg muscles. It helps to keep your forearms on your thighs for support. It's so amazing when we work with our natural systems - unlike straining against the seat, I don't feel like I'm pushing everything out this way. Thank you Jon!!!

Sorry if my explanation above caused confusion. It was really the second point that I was emphasizing, although I'm assuming that there are times when you are weight bearing and not holding your baby out in front, thus allowing your spine to resume its prepregnancy shape.

I'm going to defer to Jane regarding baby carriers, as she knows more about them than me. I will say that you'll have much more strength for carrying your baby after several weeks of the postural work. Make sure to counterbalance the work with lots of rest and good food.

Christine

I think everyone has to push a bit. You haven't read the book so you don't know that I've had my bladder sewn to my abdominal wall...I have to strain a lot just to pee...I've forgotten what normal urinating is like and I love not pushing against the seat now. A good diet is primarily for building healthy tissues like endopelvic fascia.

Suzanne - regarding baby carriers, all I can say is that when my kids were little I carried them ALL THE TIME. with my younger two, I used the maya wrap. I had my 22 month old in the maya on my back the other day and it was so much more comfortable than the way I normally hold him (on one hip).
regarding your Achilles tendinitis, obviously this is just my unscientific hunch, but I'd guess its connected to the prolapse one way or another. You can still practice a good posture when sitting cross legged on the floor...I find that easiest as I can hang out with my kids comfortably in that position.
nothing is going to fall out when you're on the toilet, but I've had the same fear. I've been squatting now and its become natural for me, but at first I was afraid to go.

Hi Christine,

Suzanne's package was sent on Sept 19, so she should receive it by Fri/Sat.
If she didn't get her confirmation receipt, it was probably sent to her Spam
folder.

Have a great day!

Shayla Garcia
Bridgeworks, Inc
1-888-514-1400
or 505-837-1400