12 Months pp update - hope and healing

Body: 

So I promised myself (and forum users) an update at this point.

Aside from a recent bout of illness that has lasted weeks and weeks, I am pleased to report that things have improved greatly over the course of the last 12 months (11 since I realised I had prolapse, 9 since I stopped the kegels and really started working on posture).
I'd say the greatest improvements have been since my cycle kicked in at 9 months and things have felt much more comfortable vaginally.

Here is a time line to give an idea of my progress.

2-3 months pp- lots of bad days. Some good days of no symptoms in between. Stuck tampon feeling and heavy/ achey feelings frequently. Feeling of sloshy organs dropping on standing. Air bubbles in vagina. Generally uncomfortable most of the time. multiple trips to empty bowels especially during 1-2 months pp.

3-4 months pp - worsening of all symptoms especially terrible bowel symptoms and constant urges, incomplete evacuation etc. I start doing regular daily walking in posture and am careful with diet.

4-6 months pp - the organs dropping symptom subsides and bowels become much more settled. Experiment with sugar free eating improves bowel frequency.

6-8 months - still experiencing good and bad days with pressure but sensation of 'something there' less frequent. Resume more active sex life with encouraging results! Vaginal pressure during and after bowel movements subsides to very mild on most days.

9-10 months - first pp period. Very achey and unable to stand on cd 1. Ovulation days feeling bulgy and air in vagina. Tampon use no problem and helps with comfort during periods. Non cycle and ovulation days feel very comfortable. Vaginal pressure is mild / unnoticeable for much of the time.

11-12 months - Continue to feel comfortable on most days. Weaning and ill health making symptoms more pronounced? Rectocele continues to be the 'cele that flares up more than the cystocele.

So that's my year in brief. Things are so much more comfortable in so many ways. I've forgotten all the aches and pains and niggles that used to trouble me until I really sit down to think about it…. I used to have such horrible sensations that are now for the most part 'ghosts' of what they were and I attribute much of my feeling better to natural healing, ww techniques, careful diet and hormones.

I'm still a long way off where I'd like to be in terms of bowel symptoms with no consistency or pattern that I can see in ups and downs other than eating too much sugar and processed junk is a very bad idea! I'm hopeful that this will also continue to improve and am sure that it will.
To ladies that come here with a pp cystocele, I think you will see a huuuuuge amount of improvement if you are careful, adopt the ww principles and look after yourselves. Touch wood I literally never feel mine any more as long as I avoid tight clothing and the rectocele will hopefully keep improving too.

Wishing you all luck, continued healing and a big thank you to everyone on here who has been of huge support over the last eleven months!

xxxx

Great post Miss D! Very helpful for any new mom. Thank you for taking the time to put this all down. - Surviving

Thank you for this! Being 14 mo PP I can see similarities and differences in our experiences. You found WW a lot sooner than I did. I basically didn't bf (struggled for 3-4 wks then quit), so my period came back within the first 3 months. Each cycle has a normalizing effect, I swear. Our sex life was delayed too long because we were waiting for hubs' vasectomy to be declared successful. Once we resumed (over 6 mo PP) it was a big help. Definitely get off the sugar because I'm a pretty strict no sugar person and I guess that's helped a ton. I have both cystocele and rectocele but it seems that my cystocele is the more naughty one for symptom flares. We're both seeing progress little by little. Like you say, it's not so much a bother anymore and it used to feel quite bad! Thank you!

You are so right about the normalising effect of periods! I really think my body responds much better to everything now that my cycle is back and to actually have something of a sex drive back (prolapse or no prolapse) makes me feel so much more normal too!
It's so hard to track the tiny changes isn't it? You don't realise how far you've come until a lot of time has passed. Last week I ran around on the beach with my kids for half an hour and felt great. I couldn't have done that six months ago. I carried my four year old daughter on my back for five minutes and had no extra pressure inside. Amazing. The little things really add up and I'm so thankful for every step in the right direction. Long may they continue.

Yes I often think back to times when it was too uncomfortable to do x, y, or z. The purpose of my blog is in part to notice and document these small victories!