blue and achy :(

Body: 

Not sure what is going on down there and it's making me discouraged. At 5m pp I have stage 2 cystocele and have seen some improvements using the posture and doing the exercises. I have not done the exercises for the past few days however and today am feeling under the weather with a mild ache in the bladder area. Also seem to have some leakage/discharge that smells like stale urine, but I have not had any incontinence up to this point. The likely culprit is cystitis but I do not have a burning sensation or anything. I have had symptoms like this since discovering the prolapse postpartum but they went away on their own. Just wondering if anyone else has had experience with these symptoms and if they seem to worsen if you "slack off" from the ww program?
Feeling like I wish I had my old self back today :(

Hard to know the chicken from the egg Bonne Maman. You slacken off because why? Maybe, you are not feeling well to start with, or maybe you are not feeling well and not doing the exercises can make the prolapse feel worse. However, here you are now; blue and achy. Sounds to me like an hour’s rest in the afternoon would not hurt for a few days.

I think it is worth a visit to the doc and seeing if antibiotics are called for. These things can go away on their own of course, but then again they can flare up again seemingly out of the blue.

I don’t know whether it is connected to any postpartum infections you may have developed soon after birth.

If you do have urine pooling in the bladder, check out Christine’s book on p120 for ways of fully emptying the bladder.

Best wishes, Fab

Hi Bonne Maman

If it smells like stale urine, it probably is. I find that concentrated urine will make me uncomfortable in the urethra and vulva in general. I suggest frequent changes of undies, drink more water to keep your urine paler and less concentrated, and to flush out your bladder.

I suggest peeing on all fours, or in firebreathing posture, as often as you can, maybe in the shower. FB posture. Feet at least 500mm apart, hips turned out, knees bent into half squat, lumbar curve, relaxed belly between thighs so bladder is hanging forward, hands on knees, elbows bent, so that shoulders can be kept relaxed. Now pee. Let your pelvis drop forward and see how far back you can pee! It is better to be outdoors to do this, but brrrrrr! in the northern hemisphere right now! At the end stand up straight, then do a couple of deep plies on flat feet to get the last urine out. Then remember to collect your undies of the gooseberry bush and put them back on! ;-)

Thanks Louise, I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with me :). I have been implementing your suggestions and the achyness has gone away. However, I find that no matter how I try to empty my bladder, there always seems to be some urine left in my urethra. This will then dribble out after I stand up. The amount is minimal, but I can feel it dribbling and then there is the smell... Have you had experience with this? I think I will start another post on this to see what folks say. Thanks again!

OK, if it is just urine in your urethra, then work with it. Yes, this does happen to me a bit. Two ways to deal with it.

1 As soon as you feel the dribble starting, stop rising and let it dribble to its heart's content. Then when it has stopped, sit down again, then rise again. Keep rising and sitting until no more dribbles come. Then you know it has all gone.

2 Grab a bit of toilet paper, and press it to your closed vulva as you stand up to a half squat. Wait until it stops, then remove the damp TP and stand up. You can also do a couple of up and downs too. The urine is now in the TP, so it won't make your knickers and your vulva smelly. :-)

I know that my urethra looked like a flattened railway tunnel at 5mo pp with one of my pregnancies. However, it did get back almost to virginal size eventually, but it could well have taken several years for that to happen. Keeping your urethra long and thin with WW posture, pulling your bladder forward, will help it to revert.

ps. *Do not look!* It won't make it revert any quicker. You can't wish it smaller. The spell doesn't work.