Rectocele? Very confused and anxious.

Submitted by Postbabygirl on July 8, 2014 - 10:38am
Body: 

I am almost 6 weeks post partum and I am having some symptoms of a rectocele.

I saw my GP and she said there was no evidence of one, and that I have naturally slightly lax walls which was to be expected after childbirth. I had the dreaded forceps!

I did the self exam as per the PDF and I'm pretty sure there isn't a bulge. My vagina walls feel soft and spongy though as if a bit lax - just as my GP said.

What worry some are these 2 symptoms.

1. I can feel my stool through the vagina wall. This is only when I need to go. I can push on it and it goes away, and I know that I had this before childbirth - but I'm hyper sensitive to it now. This I appears randomly up and down the back wall and only when my rectum is full.

2. I struggle to push smaller stools out. A big and normal stool is no problem. I've done some digital evacuation on the little ones (splinting doesn't really a work for me because there isn't a bulge as such to splint) but again I occasionally did this before childbirth if a stool was hard. I find it difficult to engage the correct muscles to push - I think. It's hard to tell. I'm worried I'm so anxious about going I'm trying to 'go' when I'm not ready and causing more anxiety .

My pelvic floor feels strong and I can stop wee mid stream and feel my vagina hug my finger. It improves daily with the dreaded kegals.

Is it possible I just have lax walls as my GP says and not rectocele? Is it possible that my evacuation issues will improve as I recover from the birth? Why does no one warn you? All the midwives just say 'give it time' and 'kegals' but I'm not sure. I'm so anxious I have no idea what is normal.

My episiotomy is still open and slowly repairing at the top of the cut (vagina side).

Also taking lactolose but moving to high fibre diet slowly.

Thanks in advance. I'm very anxious.

Xx

Forum:

Surviving60

July 8, 2014 - 5:04pm

Hi PBG and congrats to you on your little one! I hope that we can make you feel less anxious, because this precious time with your little girl is too wonderful to let a 'cele get in the way.

First off, I would stop the kegels. Christine has written extensively on why these are useless at best, and can actually aggravate things. I did them for decades so I should know. Click over to the Blog page and put "kegels" into the search box, to see some articles that are well worth reading. Kegels pull the organs INTO the vagina, which is clearly not what you want, and it's probably not a great thing for your healing episiotomy.

You have a lot of recovery ahead of you....up to 2 years. The best thing you can do now is to get familiar with Whole Woman posture, which is what Christine teaches here. The idea is to keep the belly relaxed and chest lifted, forming a nice lower lumbar curvature and room in the lower belly to house the organs so that they are not falling down and back. What you describe is pretty normal after childbirth but even if you don't go on to develop a prolapse now, it will be back to surprise you later in life, so consider nipping it in the bud while you're still young!

Don't overdo the fibre. I think filling up on fibre and then chugging more water to bulk it up is a very vicious cycle which many of us have abandoned, and feel better for it.

For an overview, watch this video:
http://wholewoman.com/newpages/video/ww101.html

Congrats and hugs to you and the babe! - Surviving

Aussie Soul Sister

July 8, 2014 - 10:00pm

Hi dear Postbabygirl,
Firstly many congratulations on your new baby.
The other first is to embrace WWPosture while sitting,standing and walking, and belly breathing just like you will observe your baby doing, will help your recovery. Just sitting unaided, and standing up using your thighs will strengthen your torso & thighs, so that is exercise in itself.

As your baby learns to sit unaided, walk etc this is the posture we start off in and lose as we become older due to our slouchy furniture, tight clothes and popular beliefs of how we should exercise and change this natural innate posture with deterioration of physical health over time.

The first benefit you may notice is the strengthening of your thighs which will help you tip your body weight off the toilet seat ( you can still touch the seat with your thighs at the edge without putting any weight on it) when you want to increase pressure when doing a bowel movement - doing this in the posture. I am now strong enough to stand above the seat to do this if I wish. WWP helps free the internal organs to do their jobs unrestricted.

Keeping yourself hydrated, particularly if you are breast feeding is very important. I agree with what Surviving tells you about the problem with added fibre.
At this time I take an aspartame free Magnesium supplement and in time will use what Christine recommends which is much more natural.
Sometimes I get smaller BMs in the rectocele and it usually resolves by itself the next day, a reminder to do those things more diligently.
Find a way to relax - I read books, slept when the baby slept and when I had my 2nd I gave up thinking I had to be superwoman... and made myself relax and sleep from day one.
You have a headstart over many of us and I wish you well,
Let us know how you are going,
Best wishes,
Aussie Soul Sister

Postbabygirl

September 6, 2014 - 10:07am

I wanted to give an update to this post in the hope that other post pregnancy women read it.

I have seen 2 doctors and 2 gynaecologists now who all assure me I have no vault prolapse, cytocele, rectocele or otherwise. They have told me my vaginal walls are slightly 'domed' but there is very little movement during straining. The doming is apparently normal post childbirth, and that over time (and after weaning) the walls will strengthen back up - but never to where they were before.

What I saw in the mirror that I thought was a 'bulge' is very very small (maybe half a small grape?) and that is apparently just the lax walls. There is no falling forward during straining.

They both said that it is normal to have some bowel issues after a forceps delivery and issues with pushing, evacuation etc - and that it should resolve over time, but that I might need to keep a better eye on my diet.

I have good days and bad days but over all there is definitely slow improvement over weeks rather than day to day.

I have come to realise that some prolapse is almost inevitable after childbirth. I definitely have had a slight one. I think the doctors are reluctant to label it because they do often resolve and it's only a definite 'prolapse' if it's obviously severe or if it is doesn't heal up over time.

I think most women just don't notice, don't feel around, don't look and by the time they are ready to have sex again or use a tampon (3-6 months etc) things are more or less getting back to normal.

I was an anxious mess when I posted this original message, and almost diagnosed with post partum depression - but now - 8 weeks later, I don't really care much if I have a cele. I've read up so much I feel armed with knowledge to keep my body healthy and try to prevent any further damage.

I know that the WW method is not to use kegels, but they've been helpful for me in tightening the entrance to my vagina which was very open after the forceps and made things look a lot worse.

Anyway. I'm no expert on this stuff, and I've still got a way to go but I think it can be very scary for women after they have a baby to accept their bodies changes.

Peace all. x

Surviving60

September 6, 2014 - 3:40pm

Hi PBG- glad to hear that things are going better for you. I too feel that post-partum bulginess is perfectly normal; I had it too, and didn't think much of it, having just squeezed a watermelon out of my vagina! I returned to my life of kegeling, and the prolapse reappeared a decade or two later. So if you are in fact doing kegels, I hope your decision was made after careful reading of Christine's articles on the subject (click over to the Blog and put kegel in the search field). The feeling of a PP gaping vagina tends to resolve on its own over time, and can be helped along by excellent WW posture which closes things up on the correct axis. - Surviving