4.5 months postpartum

Submitted by KiwiSarahsa on September 11, 2012 - 4:20am
Body: 

Hi, I just want to say thank you so much to Christine and all the women who have shared their stories, experience and advice on this site. It has been a huge help and comfort to me after discovering I had developed a rectocele at 2 weeks PP. I was devastated, but after the initial shock, horror and regret I feel so much more positive. It is so great to find a supportive place with such good, in depth information when there is such a lot of ignorance among our health professionals.

I have the FAFP book, DVD and first two yoga DVDs, and although I haven't been successful yet at fitting in the exercises to my new baby-caring life, I have been practicing the WW posture and am encouraged to feel positive effects - my rectocele is no worse, and in fact I feel the bulge less often than I did at first. The best thing for me at the moment is a good walk everyday (I usually get at least an hour) with the babe in the pushchair - it gives my back a break and I can focus completely on the posture and breathing. It also makes him go to sleep, and as he isn't super keen on daytime sleeping that's a good thing!

I do find it hard to maintain the posture during breastfeeding, although a pillow under the arm supporting his head helps. The hardest thing is that he likes to be carried with his head on my left shoulder when he's tired and I can feel my shoulders and ribcage sagging forward and down, and my back gets sore at the level of my bottom ribs. Also there is awkward lifting that I can't avoid - like getting the car seat off its base and out of the car, and getting the pushchair in and out of the car boot when we go out - but there is also a lot of opportunity to spend time on my hands and knees, so I hope it is all balancing out. I do worry a bit about the lifting and carrying as he will only get bigger and heavier, although I do keep getting stronger, improving my posture, and I know there is also a lot of healing from the birth still to happen.

One good thing about being newly PP is that everything is so wacky with your body that it makes it a bit easier to get used to the postural changes - my body was unrecognisable to me, so it wasn't such a big deal to add another change, which was at least a positive change. Having got a *little* distance from that very early PP time I want to encourage any other newly PP woman who might read this entry, that it is an intense and difficult time, but you do get used to your changed body, it continues to change mostly for the better, and the WW posture can help. It's hard to be patient though!

I am really grateful for this site, for all the information and a place to share our stories.

Forum:

wholewomanUK

September 11, 2012 - 6:34am

Hi KiwiSarahsa,
Thank you so much for your feedback. It's good to hear when the WW work is working.

I'm so glad you found this site early on post partum. It's a great time to adopt the WW way and posture. It will undoubtedly maximise your postive recovery process. Sounds like you're successfully working out ways to incorporate the WW posture into you daily life. The walks sound great. Re awkward movements eg ina nd out of the cqr with a baby seat. I know what you mean; some situations are just plain difficult! It's worth continuing to experiment with trying out how best to approach those difficult situations - try different things and see what works best for you. If you do find things that help - let us know!

You're right though. Even if we can't do WW posture all the time for wahtever reason, if we do it as often as poss, it definately helps and helps to off-set the times when we can't/don't do it.

Re carrying baby - I was wondering whether some of the ingenious slings and baby rugsackscarriers might be of any use. I know I used a baby rugsack on my back and although I didn't know about WW then, thinking about it, it might work in terms of helping to keep the chest open and lifted... Also - it may be worth considering changing cars. I know - that's a huge thing and may not be poss. We have a Peugeot Partner which has a high boot space - and no lip at the bottom of the boot so there's no lifting required to get things in and out of the boot. Also the back doors slide right open like a van, which makes it easier to lift things in and out. However the leg distance from seat to pedals is rather to long for a shortie like me, so it doesn't work so well for me on that score. Still - might be worth considering those kinds of things if/when you replace your car. Also I have a light weight protable back support which I carry around in a pretty cloth bag, which I use when I need some support for WW posture, eg driving.

Best wishes, wholewomanukx

Surviving60

September 11, 2012 - 6:57am

Hi Kiwi – love your post, it is so encouraging for all PP members, and everyone else! Post partum is such a natural and perfect time to adopt WW posture, as WWUK says; you’ve been holding the organs forward for 9 months, and with a little encouragement they can stay that way! Your recovery has a long way to go and you are in such a perfect position to improve – you are doing all the right things.

I love WWUK’s suggestion about “wearing” your babe. Think about what Christine has said about weight-loading from above and how it actually accentuates the dynamics. I have proven the truth of this to myself on numerous occasions. Of course, you don’t have a very large window of time to consider this, with your baby growing every day. But if you can do this in such a way as to maintain all aspects of posture (i.e., that it doesn’t make you bend forward or flatten out lumbar curvature), it can be a great thing.

Same for pushing your baby in a stroller – it’s great if you can do it standing up straight in good posture, with arms close to body. But it’s easy to fall into a forward-leaning position….not good. We all have plenty of times when we have to fall out of posture. But if you remember to bend from the hips rather than the waist whenever possible (the difference being whether you still have the lumbar curve or not), you will be fine. - Surviving

KiwiSarahsa

September 17, 2012 - 4:41am

wholewomanUK and Surviving60 thanks for your encouragement :) We have a Subaru Legacy that is good as far as the front seats go - the angle of the seats can be adjusted as well as the seat backs, it was good for the one long trip we've done with the wee one. As for the pushchair, it's great for walking (adjustable handles, designed so you can walk with a long stride), just an awkward length to lift well - and I'm quite tall! Having a baby has really opened my eyes so much to how little the things we use (furniture, baby things etc) are designed to support our health. I find it ironic that the baby things especially don't seem to be designed for women to use well. But I guess that just reflects our society - it's far from health-promoting for most of us (speaking only for the English speaking countries I've lived in).

I'm definitely going to try backpacking my little one when his neck and back are a bit stronger. I know lots of women enjoy wearing their babies on their fronts but I haven't so far - I leave that up to my partner when we're out and about together and enjoy teasing him when he has to ask me to re-tie his shoelace or something, a little taste of pregnancy!

Anyway, thank you and I will check back when I have useful discoveries on this journey...

agnusdei

December 16, 2012 - 7:00pm

We have a truck, we'll see how it goes. Babe is along way off yet, but this new discovery has really gotten me down, just trying to see what to expect when the babe comes, as I find the issues hard enough to deal with now, and assume they only get worse after the babe arrives. Now that you are 7 month pp, how are you doing, emotionally and physically?