7 weeks postpartum after third baby

Submitted by 3girlsmom on February 24, 2013 - 2:00pm
Body: 

I have always had natural deliveries and no real problems so I was alarmed when I found a swelling (about the size of a grape) protruding from my body 5 days after my third daughter was born. I called the midwife group I had been seeing and went to see them the next day. I was told it is really very normal and that everything was still just swollen and that things are "looser" the third time around and it would heal.

Fast forward a few weeks to my 6 week postpartum visit and I thankfully feel fine and do not see or feel anything protruding anymore. That said, I asked the midwife I saw last week about the previous protrusion and she said that yes it is still there (inside) and it is a mild cystocele. Again, she said it is very normal and that they sometimes send people to physical therapy for this condition, but that she wouldn't refer me to PT because my case is not serious enough. I left the office feeling like everything was fine, but then when I googled "cystocele" (you should never goodle medical conditions, but how can you not!?), I found only negative information basically telling me that a cystocele or any prolapse never fully gets better and will likely get worse if I were to have any more children and/or as I age.

So, now I am worried. I called the midwife that I saw last week to ask a few questions, but she pretty much dismissed my concerns saying things like "I'm sure your body wasn't the same after your first or second were born. You can't expect your body to be the same as it was before children." I was a little bit offended by that since to me this isn't the same as having a few stretch marks or a little extra weight. This seems serious and I am worried about my body functioning in the way that it should in years to come!

I'm left with questions.
• Should I push to get a referral to a physical therapist to prevent this from getting worse?
• If we decide to have another child (no idea yet if we will, but would like to leave the window open for now), will this get worse? Would I be guaranteeing that the prolapse would come back and be worse?
• In the meantime, can I run? I have been a runner for years and feel like I need to run for my mental and physical health. But now I am scared.

Thank you so much for any advice you can send my way!

Forum:

Surviving60

February 24, 2013 - 5:56pm

Hi 3girlsmom. Welcome and congrats on #3.

You might want to consider this a wake-up call. Yes, it's very normal. These 'celes can appear post partum and go away after awhile. The recovery period for your body can be up to 2 years. I can pretty much guarantee you that it will return, maybe not until after menopause like in my case, maybe sooner depending on lifestyle and posture. I was bulgy after my babies but probably just figured that was a normal after-effect of passing a large watermelon! It went away and I went back to my life of bad posture, bad diet, and kegeling (a terrible threesome if ever there was one). What appears to many of us as a sudden bulge, has really been in the works for a very long time.

I wouldn't bother with the PT as that tends to be a kegel-based approach. You can read elsewhere on this site (the blog to be exact) why kegeling only makes the problem worse.

But you can check around the site and forums and find out what this postural approach is all about. You can correct your posture so the organs can be held forward against the lower abdominal wall, not squishing into the vaginal space. I'd recommend for starters, the first video on the Video page (click Resources tab up above) for an overview of what this is all about. I wish I had known about this when I was post partum. I would have done a lot of things differently.

This is a great community of women here, including young super-duper birthing moms who have gone on to have more kids after a "diagnosis" much more advanced than what you describing. So don't panic, but do take action. - Surviving

3girlsmom

February 24, 2013 - 7:29pm

Thank you for responding, Surviving. That is good to know not to pursue the PT. I forgot to mention that I am ordering the first aid dvd and book ASAP. Is there anything else I need to start correcting my posture right away? What about running? Should I hold off until I've been working on the posture for a period of time? A month? A year? Or can I both run and work on my posture simultaneously? Thanks again. I am so glad to have found this forum!

granolamom

February 24, 2013 - 9:00pm

welcome and congrats on the new baby
yep, skip the PT. learn the posture and once you get it, go run in posture. how old is that baby? I wouldnt go running in any posture at 6 weeks, personally.
once I learned how to stabilize my prolapse it didnt really get worse after two more babies. (it was worse after the birth but by 3 mo pp or so it was back to where it was pre-pg).
prolapse gets worse if you leave it alone. but you arent going to do that. you're going to learn the posture and some exercises to bring it up and forward.
and I have a secret for you....I no longer feel that this is any different than stretch marks or extra weight. I've got it under control and no longer have any symptoms. mine was way worse than yours when I found it too.
oh, one more tip, you dont mention constipation but do make sure to avoid it. no straining on the toilet ever!
stick around, ask lots of questions, and dont let this get you down. no pun intended : )

Surviving60

February 25, 2013 - 2:36am

Lots and lots of walking in excellent WW posture might be your best bet for now. Not only is this great for prolapse but it will help you to make this posture your own.

Try it: relax the belly, pull up the chest, keep your shoulders down but not back. This give you a nice lower lumbar curve that is the basis for organ support. It gives the organs a place to rest in the belly. Sound easy enough, but it isn't at first, if you have been sucking in your stomach and tucking your butt as so many of us have. But this is natural posture, and to prove this to yourself, take a good look at how those little girls of yours stand and move.

This is not just about prolapse, but about the health of the hips and spine as we age. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones to have found this. - Surviving

louiseds

March 4, 2013 - 7:48am

HI 3girlsmom

Postpartum prolapse can be unpredictable. It doesn't always follow the rule of noticing it, then finding it getting gradually worse. Often it will appear then disappear in the first few weeks, but sometimes it only appears two months after the birth, then gets worse for a couple of months, regardless of what you do. We don't know why this happens. Then at about six months it will stop getting worse and start the real post-pregnancy reversion, which keeps going for about another 18 months. It is all very inexact and can be unpredictable. You just have to be very patient, do what you can with Whole Woman techniques, and wait. I am not trying to freak you out with this. I just want you to realise that you might find it getting worse in a few weeks, rather than better. As long as you are not doing anything stupid, it is nothing to worry about. It will start getting better again.

Louise