postpartum recovery questions..

Submitted by worried new mom on July 10, 2013 - 9:43pm
Body: 

Hello,

your insight into the following is much appreciated:

1) Is it normal to have ruggae visible at the entrance to the vagina? Or is this a sign/result of prolapse?
2) Would it be ok to reverse the breathing in Christine's ab exercise in third wheel video (lifting front half of body toward feet with baton overhead while laying on back with legs at 90 degrees)? I find it hard to inhale when lifting up.
2) is planking / chataranga ok to do to strengthen stomach postpartum. I have asked about this before but still unsure whether it is safe.
3) how relaxed should the lower belly be in the posture? Completely relaxed? Or is a very slight muscle hold / lift/ contraction ok? I understand not to suck in, but things feel a little odd if I completely let go of all muscle contraction, kinda floppy. Is it ok to keep softened/ relaxed lower belly but still maintain a slight hold , pulling in of the muscles ?

Forum:

louiseds

July 11, 2013 - 6:12am

Hi worried new mom

1 Yes. Normally the vagina is long and thin, but kinda bunched up, which is why there are rugae. During childbirth this long thin vagina suddenly has to grow VERY short and VERY fat. There are the same cells in the vagina. They just change shape. I think the rugae also kind of lock the anterior and posterior walls together, flat and airless, so they support each other on the vaginal side, being supported on the bladder / rectum side by connective tissue that loosely tethers the vagina to these organs. They also create a kind of spring effect that keeps the vagina compact and prevents it from flopping around. They can stretch out during penetrative sex and bounce back again (sproing!) afterwards. When the chest is lifted in Whole Woman posture all the connective tissue and muscle in the pelvis is wound up tight. In this situation the rugae might act like one of those spring doovies that you sometimes use on the bottom of a tent guy rope, when you want the tent to stay tight, but give a bit in a strong wind and bounce back to rigid again. I dunno. It is all a mystery to me, but as sure as eggs is eggs, rugae are normal and functional.

2. No, reversing the breathing is not a good idea. Inhaling pushes the bladder and uterus forward and down onto the stretched abdominal wall. This is where you want them to be while lifting. If you exhale they will slip back and down while lifting = vulval fullness.

3 Plank if you must, but be aware that it generates a lot of intraabdominal pressure by making the whole body into a truss, which is in compression on the top and tension on the bottom. We strengthen muscles by stretching them out and contracting and shortening them. You want them to be able to do both. If you only contract them it makes them hard to relax, so you can't make space for your uterus and bladder out the front of your body. Be hyper aware of POP symptoms while you are doing them, and stop immediately if you feel pressure in your pelvis or vulva.

3. How relaxed. While you are standing your muscles will pull up their own slack in response to intraabdominal pressure. I think this is called functional contraction, or something like that. You can consciously let them flop but they will take up some tension again as soon as you move. Muscles are dynamic. Just let them do what they want to do, but don't pretend that they want to be taut. They don't. This is learned behaviour. They want to adjust themselves. Just let them.

Hope this helps.

worried new mom

July 11, 2013 - 10:06am

Louise,
Thank you for your encyclopedic knowledge and for your generosity to take the time to respond to all my crazy questions. Truly thankful.

Regarding stomach: the only thing that is feeling off to me is when I consciously let my stomach completely flop and then try to maintain that (I was thinking that WW posture required a completely relaxed stomach). It feels better for me to have a soft/relaxed stomach but to let the muscles maintain that tiny tiny contraction.

Regarding ruggae: Thanks for that information. It amazes me how little I actually know about my own anatomy. So do you think that where a small amount of ruggae /vaginal wall is sometimes visible at entrance this is normal? I never noticed this before having children (also never really checked it out) and wondered if it was a sign of POP or something that is normally there regardless of POP.

Surviving60

July 11, 2013 - 10:42am

Hi Worried - as Louise says, this relaxed belly is a learned behaviour, at least for those of us who un-learned it in the first place! It is, after all, our natural posture that we all used to have as children (just look around at kids!) before we were taught to suck it in.

For many it is the hardest thing to learn about this posture, but it is essential. You can't belly-breathe if you are maintaining a tightness there. Many people do, and they have to concentrate on their breathing before they can relax the belly. For me, once I learned to relax the belly, the breathing took care of itself. But it did take me into my second year of this work before I could live in posture without constant reminders. But the difference is truly amazing, once you get over that hump.

Pulling the chest up is what keeps your belly from feeling floppy. I have belly flab, and I know! - Surviving

MsNightingale

July 13, 2013 - 9:58am

You have some great questions here. I wanted to share with you that I had a lot of difficulty learning to relax the belly, mostly because it wasnt until I entered the world of WW that I even knew that there was tension in there. I think I have learned quite well the posture and the relaxing of the belly, but it isnt until more recent now that I could feel the tautness of the belly by uplifting the chest. So, yes let the belly completely relax and little by little you will feel that it is not flopping out at all. Because you are uplifted from the chest, with shoulders relaxed and down, the long abs will be pulling up and the tautness (not tension and not pulling in at all) will become apparent to you. Best wishes to you!