help! I think I have prolapse!

Welcome, Marsh,

Deep breath. What you describe is "normal" for having what sounds like an inflamed, stretched out urethra from multiple caths, and a garden-variety postpartum cystocele. I believe all will resolve with time and musculoskeletal restructuring. With prolapse, the urethral meatus often does fall back and 'into' the vagina. It's okay. Gynecologists know they can often gauge the stage of a woman's prolapse simply by looking at how far the urethra has fallen away from the pubic bone.

What is to be done now is this postural work. The WW posture restores the angle between bladder and urethra, while moving the bladder itself forward against the lower belly. The bulge will improve over time and the urethral inflammation will subside. Please be patient and understand that it may be a full year before your symptoms are drastically improved.

I believe in the capacity of your body to restore itself by returning to the true pelvic organ support system, which is a postural system...they are one and the same.

Chin up.

Christine

You’re most welcome. It’s amazing that none of our medical systems, including chiropractic, have outlined the difference between the low type of sway back that results from a beer belly, sticking your bum out, or placing most of the weight on your heels, vs. a wide-radius curve where the chest is lifted and the lower belly relaxed. It’s all just called “sway back” and deemed undesirable. You can see for yourself how very many women here are growing strong and pain-free with this wide-angle lumbar curve posture. The upper body posture is primary. I think you will find it uncomfortable in the beginning, as you build up the musculature to hold yourself in this way, but over time it will become effortless and natural.

We have lots of WW members who have gone on to have wonderful births post-prolapse with no worsening of symptoms. Take it a little easy with sex as you heal - side-lying, face-to-face positioning might be best - and empty your bladder after sex and otherwise by leaning forward to get your bum off the seat and place your weight onto your feet. This way you will be pushing your organs into your soft lower belly instead of toward your vaginal opening. Yes, try not to let stool get trapped in a developing rectocele (which kinda goes hand-in-hand with cystocele) by an excellent diet and leaning forward with all increases in pressure.

Sit up strongly in WW posture on a firm platform and feel how your musculature is closing around your urethra. Unlike the muscle-shortening effect of kegels, it is doing this by closing the muscular wall (or “floor”) toward the middle like a pair of elevator doors. We are dismantling the idea of kegels (except for increasing sexual pleasure) as an old, outdated concept of “strengthening” and making smaller a plug-hole in a soft-tissue hammock hanging underneath the torso from pubic bones to tailbone. In reality, the organs are held against the lower abdominal wall and over the *true* pelvic floor, which are supportive bones that run front-to-back underneath you and between your legs. From our perspective, you are “kegeling” the right way all day long in this posture.

Please keep us posted on your progress and hopefully some of our mommies will jump in with a few words of encouragement. C.

I've often thought that we are not born with a clear ability to visualize our vaginas for good reason!
6 weeks is early days. Things are gonna look better in time. No, you will never have your pre-baby bits back- but right now is probably as bad as it's gonna look. Hide the mirror for now- or use a wall mirror and bend over in front of it (things look much better this way).
those postpartum hormones can put you in a serious black hole- for me, having a mantra helps when I feel the cloud descending. Something like: my body is healing from the birth or my body is amazing and grew this baby or my body is recovering. Be patient with yourself and treat yourself kindly, especially with the self talk. YOu know, that dialogue we all have in our heads about our bodies? Make sure you are only saying things to yourself that you would say to a friend. Your body is your friend!

It's funny that when we are pregnant we don't consider that we are finally saying goodbye to our true *virginity* and know that we will be taking on the shape of a mother. It is a challenge in and of it's self, without dealing with prolapse. Finding postpartum prolapse after your first baby can be devastating. Just breathe in that yummy baby smell. Drink up that sweet baby smile and get all those good hormones flowing.
Breastfeeding your baby is one of the best things you can ever do for your child. It will not change your prolapse in the long run. You may be a bit dry (and you can use lube to combat that) but once your period returns you will have the estrogen that a non- breastfeeding woman has, so no need to stop.
Our baby is almost a year and I still have not had a period, so that can happen too.

Congratulations on your baby! and welcome here. Ask any questions you may have.
shoot, almost forgot, sex. Well, again, early days- I really enjoyed sex after our first baby because all of the sudden it was about this new body of mine, how to feel good, the old stuff was not working, and it was good to shake things up, go slow and gentle- really focus on my pleasure. My dh was happy to work with me and in the end a good time has been had by all :)
You might find some nerves are not as sensitive, that breast fondling is tricky with milk boobs, that scar tissue is brittle and painful- these are all issues we've worked through. In a way, it sort of creates another layer in the partnership, a tender sensitive caring layer.
But anyway, no rush, take your time with it all- I was in such a hurry to prove to myself that I could still keep up- and that set me up for disappointment big time.
and speaking of keeping up- take it easy, rest well, heal up- you can consider postpartum healing to be going on even 2 years out.
Last thing, don't bother trying to squeeze into tight clothing, stay comfortable, don't compress your belly. It's a good excuse to get some comfy yoga pants and tops (or it was for me anyway).