Anyone else trying to sort out pelvic floor and/ core post birth?

[JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff]

Am 14w postpartum and have vaginal laxity/ possible prolapse. Seeing a womdn's physio every 4w and using vaginal cones plus PF trainer and doing basic pilates.

Anyone in a similar situation, rebuilding body after birth??

.... I am guessing not then but thought I would update in case anyone is lurking.

I have seen a women's health physio who has given me exercises for my whole core. I am also using vaginal cones and a pelvic floor trainer.

Mostly it is going well. My ribcage is less flared and I am holding myself better.

But today I walked in the door desperate for the loo and had a small loss of control so bloody humiliating!

The squeezy app is great for pelvic floor exercise reminders

Hi OP - I'm 12W pp and going through similar. It took me two years after DD1 to 'look' good again.
This time I am sticking to the exercises given to me at physio the first time around and seeing a small change each week. I too have the 'flared' ribcage - it looks so strange doesn't it?
My TVA muscles are at about a 4 finger separation at the moment. I have a small hernia so I am looking at an op to correct this, but I will probably look towards having a full tummy tuck to get rid of loose skin and finally close that gap. It is not something I am considering lightly though.

I’m 6 weeks pp

Need to lose a stone and tone up. Too exhausted to do much right now ........

I waited till 12wks (post 2nd C-sec) then did the Shred dvd 3x a week for 9mths and walked everywhere it was the most toned my core has ever been went back to work and slowly lost it arrhh now I’ve been running for a couple of yrs which is toning my core again but I need to do more. My “baby” is soon7 it whizzes past SO quick! Be kind to yourself and keep going just 20mins 3-4x a week of core work and before you know it you will feel stronger again.

Hi, am looking for Stomach exercises that work please? Thanks

Hi all!

Caithness I am still working with my physio and she has me going waaay back to basics with pilates. So, quadruped position and drawing up navel. Tabletop and one leg toe touch. That sort of thing. 8 reps only, but done really carefully.

It is working for my abs and ribcage BUT I still have the " slipped tampon" feeling. Am worried I will never run again which is really scary but trying to stay positive and focus on buildinga strong foundation.

Sock how is your diastasis progressing do you think? Do you hope to see it totally gone?

Johnny -

I'm feeling a lot stronger, but the gap is still wide (I haven't checked this week because it's too depressing!). I don't look any different with clothes on (still a bump) but feel stronger. I couldn't completely heal it the first time around, so I knew I would have a large separation this time around.

It would be a dream to fully heal, but I don't hold out for much this time. I spoke to a surgeon and he told me to wait at least six months to determine progress. I will look towards having surgery due to the fear of making my hernia worse and the copious amounts of loose skin I have.

This has not put me off trying with all my energy to lessen the separation. Pilates is great, but didn't fully correct it last time around :(

Where did you get the cones from?

Has anyone tried the MuTu system? I bought a membership last year for my awful separated stomach, but haven't got round to using it

I would love to do more exercise but have no-one to look after the DC whilst I run/ gym etc. They will be 3 soon and I'm still trying to get back to my pre-baby state!

Never tried mutu!

Cones are Aquaflex pelvic floor cones. They are basically like hollow plastic tampons that unscrew and you can put weighted discs in. You start with the bigger cone and the smallest weight then add weight in gradually. Theoretically you then progress to the smaller cone but my physio says lots of women don't get there.
You can wear them in the shower every morning and while getting ready. That is what I do and it dorsn't take up extra time.

Oh and I got them off Amazon. About £10-15 from memory.

Thanks - I'll be adding them to my basket tonight! Are they working for you?

Hi, I think so! In that I can carry more weight. When I started, 15-20g was a challenge to hold on to. Now I can walk up and down stairs pretty easily with 35g in and looking to progress to a heavier weight soon.

It is hard for me to assess what practical difference this makes as I don't (thankfully) have incontinence issues. Initially I worried that I had a prolapse due to the slipped tampon feeling. My physio says not, but I still have that feeling, so who knows!

I am just trusting that doing different types of pfx will pay off!

Hello.
Very similar here. My 3rd baby is 4.5 months old and it was a difficult birth. I was referred for physio for a very weak pelvic floor but also have diastasis recti. I feel my pelvic floor is still extremely weak, and I feel like there's prolapse, probably of the vaginal walls, though I've been told it seems ok.
I used to run a lot so I'm pretty gutted. But hoping things improve a bit when I stop breastfeediing.
The physio does seem to be helping with the diastasis recti though.

Blinkin sorry you are here but sounds like we are in the same boat! I love running and ran in pregnancy but scared to now in case my insides fall out!

I am seeing my physio again on the 11th and if I am not satisfied after that, I have made the decision to see a private consultant gynaecologist. There is one at my local Nuffield Hospital. He charges £200 for a consultation but we have cash in savings and frankly it is worth knowing once for all if there is a prolapse.

I am wondering now if I have a urethrocele as it feels like a small bulge on the anterior vaginal wall. What does yours feel like?

I don't know really. Just all very bulgy and lax... once I did push something back in which was towards the back. I told my physio and she wrote it down as 'one episode of prolapse', but then examined me and said it was probably just scar tissue.
Good for you being proactive. I really hope I get used to it and improve with physio and time. But I don't know if I'll ever dare run again!

So I went to see my physio yesterday and she reckons similar to yours blinkin !

She says - TMI - there is evidence of s minor tear to the urethra that was unstitched and there is a sort of flap of skin there now which might be what I am feeling.
She also said that my hormones due to bfing the twins will be making the tissues lax so I should wait to stop bfing which I hope to do around a year old, next Feb. She advised holding off on seeing the private cons till then as he would likely just say to wait too until the bf hormones had gone.

So plugging away with exercises! Up to 40g with my cones now.

Hopefully we'll both see some sort of improvement next year then!

How are you now please:) I was told by urogynocologist its not a prolapse but slight laxity.