HELP:Totally new; MANY questions but mainly Future Pregnancies????

Submitted by Christianna on May 17, 2011 - 12:00pm
Body: 

I am 27, a mother of 3, and totally new to all of this (the diagnosis, ....I still can't quite figure out how I'm supposed to use the forum--not very competent technologically.
I had POP first when my last child was three weeks old (even though I had 3 completely natural births, and my last birth was upright on my knees and an absolutely beautiful and wonderful experience!)
I lifted a bin of clothes over my head into the attic b/c company was coming for dinner and I didn't want to wait till my husband got home for him to do it. I felt my bladder (and a few days later, my uterus) fall and b/c I am a nurse I knew what happened. It was (obviously) a devastating diagnosis, but I am thankful that my only symptoms were the "feeling," no incontinence, pain, or anything else. and thanks to WW book and dvd, I am already symptom free. Everything is still prolapsed but unless I do too much, I don't feel anything. After reading some of the posts, it sounds like I have hope that it will continue to improve and my uterus and bladder to go back up.

For years, I have dreamed of having a "large" family (at least 4 or 5!) When this happened, my constant torture was not living with this or possibly having surgery (though those were as I said devastating) but the horrible devastation to me was thinking I would never be able to have children again: I cried for WEEKS just thinking that this will have to be it for me. When I spent that precious time breast feeding my new baby, I cried thinking "I'll never this precious bonding again." "I'll never get to enjoy feeling a precious life inside me kick again." "I'll never get to experience that wonderful life-giving process that natural childbirth allows." I tried to think of how blessed I was to enjoy this 3 times already (since my OB and everyone else in the world thinks I'm completely NUTS to want more than three), but then I would think about getting my tubes tied at 26 yrs old the tears started all over again! I was so disappointed that the book or dvd didn't deal with this topic. I read the "Prolapse and pregnancy" chapter, but it was all dealing with a new prolapse that occurred while you were pregnant. My wonderful midwife says I could sustain another pregnancy, but is it wise to get pregnant after having a prolapse? will the hormonal and postural changes of pregnancy make me symptomatic or much worse if I get pregnant? I just feel like I can't emotionally handle going through the prolapse all over again, pregnant or not. It was so miserable. But I feel like I emotionally can't bear the thought of doing something permanent so we can never have more children! Anyone else been through this dilemma? Anyone else gotten pregnant after a prolapse? (Anyone have sympathies to wanting more than 3 children? :))

Christine

May 17, 2011 - 12:24pm

Welcome, Christianna,

Thank you so much for the feedback and you are absolutely right. I must ask Alemama, Granolamom, BadMirror and others to write that chapter for the 3rd edition! These women have had and are having wonderful, natural pregnancies and births 1, 2 and 3 times post-prolapse. Hang on..they are the ones to talk with...

Christine

granolamom

May 17, 2011 - 5:26pm

hi christianna! congrats on the new baby
sounds like you've taken on your POP and you're already doing well in that regard. compare that to my experience, which briefly, goes like this
found my pop when my third and then youngest was 18 mo. it was a stage 3 cystocele/urethrocele. shortly after developed rectocele (am still in denial about my uterus's drop, but its lower than it used to be).
after a year of WW posture, started to see some good results.
by the time I got pg with baby number four, my POP was completely asymptomatic and higher/smaller than it was when I found it.
by the time my fourth baby was 6 mo, my POP was even higher and smaller than it was before I got pg with him.
went on to have a fifth baby and am no worse off for it.

so can you have more babies? YES YOU CAN!!!!!!!!

would elaborate on what you could do during pg/labor/childbirth to protect your POP, but some of those five babies of mine are needing to be put to bed right now, so I've got to go.
but will check back when I can. but hold onto your dreams of growing your family. POP wont stop you.

alemama

May 17, 2011 - 6:05pm

You bet!
We also have 5 children (like granolamom). Our 5th was born less than a month ago so I probably won't get a chance to write you a book, the baby is already starting to fuss.
I found my prolapse when our 3rd child was about 5 or 6 weeks old. I have a rectocele.
There are ups and downs with this 'condition' and sometimes it seems like one step forward and two steps back but you'll figure out what is best for your body in time.
My theory is that once you have 1 pregnancy, the *damage* is done and any subsequent pregnancies are not going to cause a problem. The only exception I can think of to this theory is that with subsequent births you could potentially sustain a birth injury that would make things worse.
Also, during pregnancy you might notice your previously stabilized or even reversed prolapse will pop back in again. This happened to me with my bladder. Before I got pregnant with 4 and then again with 5 my bladder was in a great position. The anterior wall of my vagina was strong and concave. I owe this mostly to nauli pulling every thing up and into place and the posture for holding it there. When I couldn't do this exercise anymore because it's contraindicated for pregnancy and with the addition of the weight of the baby and fluid- my anterior wall got softer and eventually bulged into my vagina a little bit.
For me though this was actually a good thing, as the anterior wall sort of braced against the rectocele and gave good support (that's what we call nature's pessary on these forums). This temporary bulging goes away by the one year mark and I'm feeling great.
So, go on ahead and have your babies! The damage has been done. Just plan to have gentle births and avoid any injury to your body.
My only symptoms are the 'feeling' as well and for me, the feeling goes away and stays away. So get in the posture- learn how to nauli and you will be fine.

clavicula

May 18, 2011 - 1:18am

Hello, Christianna,

I am 30, with 3 kids and we are TTC #4 right now. Our third is 2.5 yo. I have found my POP (mostly cystocele) after his birth when I was 28. So you are not alone, and you have all my sympathies! :)

Great to have you here! Stick around, this is an awesome place!

Liv

Andrea

May 18, 2011 - 12:10pm

I am 45 years old, I havw 5 children, my youngest daughter is 15, I was told I had prolapsed bladder about 4 years ago, I was told that it was probably that, ive never been diagnosed, anyway I havent used birth control in 4 years and I havent gotten pregnant, my mother is an R.N. And she said that yes I could get pregnant, I need to know if the chances are lower, I have finally found the love of my life and we want to have a baby, can anyone help me?

granolamom

May 18, 2011 - 2:16pm

I havent come across anything suggesting that prolapse affects ones ability to get pg.

bad_mirror

May 18, 2011 - 4:17pm

Well, you've already heard from the grand multiparas in the house, so I'm not sure my story will be all that exciting to you . . . . I discovered a cystocele within 5 weeks of the birth of my first -- a gentle water birth at home. Ugg, recalling those emotional first few months is awful. I thought I might never have sex, let alone children again! I found this website and I dedicated myself to doing the WW posture and excercises, and pretty much reversed the thing within 2 years. Anyway, I am now 28 weeks pregnant with my second (first post-POP) baby and I could not feel better! Pregnancy and I get along great, no morning sickness or other complaints, and I have not heard a peep out of my cystocele. I have been very active walking and taking ballet class. Also, my first two trimesters were spent finishing nursing school, so as you know, not much time off my feet! I did my capstone in the ICU between 16 and 22 weeks, with lots of ups and downs from the floor and moving and turning of patients, and I still felt amazing. Sure, I was scared to take the plunge into the "what-ifs" that a future pregnancy might hold, but I'm glad I did, because none of my fears came true. At all! Sure, I am still a bit apprehensive about what the state of my vagina will be after this birth, but I have a recovery "game plan" in place, and I feel confident that I can get back to where I was in another 2 years.

I think granolamom and alemama have good theories regarding how damage is done, but rarely gets worse, especially with active, natural birth. I personally think (and I hope to prove my own theory right!) that subsequent pregnancies and births can be healing, if the woman can start pulling her organs into the proper position very soon after birthing.

Here's the part where I give some advice -- do what you like with it. I don't know when your last child was born, but try to space your next birth to be 2-3 years later. The body really takes 2 years to recovery from pregnancy and birth -- give it a chance to fully recover before stressing it again. At the very least, give yourself one full year of doing WW work and get to know how to best manage your prolapse. Once you are in control of it, you will feel much more prepared to face whatever may happen as a result of pregnancy -- and you will know that you will again have control over it. And, have a drug-free vertical or hands-and knees birth! Track some posts by granolamom, alemama, and cararosesmum, to get a feel for how these women's post-POP pregnancies played out. They are very inspiring!

Best wishes!

**ETA: I actually would like to have 4 kids myself, but my age (34) and economics may be more of a hindrance than I think my POP will ever be in reaching that goal! :-)

bad_mirror

May 18, 2011 - 4:16pm

Sorry, I can't tell you why you are not getting pregnant, but your chances are not lower because of a prolapsed bladder. Your mom is right -- prolapse of pelvic organs is not implicated in infertility. Do you have any other underlying health issues? You may wish to get some basic testing (hormone levels, sperm count, etc.) for you and your partner, since your fertility is proven but you have not conceived in four years of unprotected sex. Wishing you the best!

doubtful

May 19, 2011 - 8:07am

Hi Andrea,

I too longed for another baby after forty ( having been very fertile before) but it didn't happen. I have friends who have had babies very late - one at forty nine with no IVF and few problems, but for most of us, however, healthy, I'm afraid it just doesn't happen. I did think about fertility treatment but decided my body was telling me it had finished with the reproductive phase - and I'm very happy with just my two children now. There is a kind of mourning though, I think, accepting that it's not going to happen. It might still happen for you. I'm sure it's got nothing to do with POP.

Hugs

Doubtful