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March 2013 - we're gonna need a bigger wine rack

998 replies

Plonkysaurus · 02/05/2014 22:24

Ta da!

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WottaMess · 02/07/2014 08:31

Def need to get that checked out Gerry Shock and don't be fobbed off either. Hope sort out able without too much drama.

BettyOff · 02/07/2014 09:08

Right Gerry I'm about to go into my standard pelvic floor chat! please stop reading if it's too much detail or generally not helping!

Firstly, you won't have ruined anything by running but you may have made an underlying problem much more noticeable. If you do have a prolapse stop running for now until you've got it sorted, mostly because it'll be uncomfortable and if you have any leaking that won't help it.

A few questions first that your Dr will probably ask, you don't have to answer on here and if you want to but not in public then PM me. Can you feel anything bulging onto the outside when you wipe after peeing? When you say about bladder control is it all the time, random times or on exertion/coughing/sneezing etc? With opening your bowels are you struggling? (Lots of people that do have a bit of a prolapse have to push on the back vaginal wall to help with opening their bowels but this seems to be some massively unspoken thing despite being common). Most importantly, do you do pelvic floor exercises, if so are you sure you're doing them properly, how long do you hold 'up' for and how often are you doing them?

It's not uncommon to get a bit of a pulling down/bulging/everything falling out feeling after having a baby because the vaginal tissues are stretched in a way they never were before and so you get folds of tissue that you can sometimes feel but this isn't necessarily a prolapse. A prolapse is basically a hernia of other organs into the vagina and is caused by the muscles around the vaginal walls being weakened and losing their elasticity. It causes either the rectum at the back, the bladder at the front or the uterus and cervix at the top to bulge down (at this point I usually draw a picture for people but can't really using the emoticons Grin )

Around 40% of primary prolapses can be cured (when I say cured it doesn't necessarily get back to completely normal but you'd stop noticing it) by pelvic floor exercises alone within 6 months and most of these are in young people because their tissues are better and easier to get the muscle tone back in. Building up that muscle then pushes back whichever organ is bulging into its proper anatomical position.

Prolapses at the front (known as a cystocoele) cause urinary symptoms because they change the shape of the junction between the bladder and the urethra which means the sphincter has to work harder to keep urine in against abdominal pressure and so leaks occasionally. Prolapses at the back (rectocoeles) do the opposite and make opening your bowels harder because they make the rectum have a sharp u-bend which obviously makes getting anything out more difficult.

If they don't improve with physio alone the next stage is surgery if the prolapse is a certain stage (we use a scoring system that depends on how many cms away from various landmarks the bulging comes to). There's a few different surgical options which I won't go into in detail as that's hopefully a long way off for any of us.

When you see your GP they'll likely do a speculum examination and a digital pelvic exam. If they think there's a prolapse some of them will refer you to physio, some send you away to do pelvic floor exercises and some will refer directly to gynae. If you see gynae they'll examine you again, score you and then usually send you away for 4 months of physio and see you back in 6 months time.

And so here comes the end of today's gynae rant. I'm definitely better at this than the other chatter. Can I just do gynae fact of the day from now on instead of any other posts?

Gerrythetootallgiraffeswife · 02/07/2014 09:35

Betty, that's really helpful (and reassuring!) I have a lot of the synptoms you describe and yes, last night I did notice that there is an element of bulging. The bladder things is mainly coughing/sneezing etc but also possibly general light leakage. (Sorry everyone). The bowel isn't too bad but have noticed that I don't exactly feel constipated, just that I don't have the strength to expel. I'm stopping running and doing more squeezing (although I feel like I spend half my life squeezing, doesn't seem to make a difference!) and have a drs appt booked for next week. I had very severe spd from 20 weeks and show all 8 markers for hypermobility so I think the whole things is probably linked.

Damn my bendy weak body

BettyOff · 02/07/2014 10:17

Gerry it may well be linked to hypermobility and that makes good pelvic floor exercises all the more important. If you're not sure if you're doing them right there's a really good leaflet on the NHS website and on patient.co.uk which explains it well and 5-10 mins 2-3 times a day is the ideal. I do mine in the car usually when I drive past a specific point on the way to work that reminds me.

Try not be embarrassed either, there's not many people that get through pregnancy and the following year without some leaking. I completely emptied my bladder when I was about 26 weeks pregnant after a badly timed sneeze! I was in the middle of the gynae ward in light blue scrubs and had to pick the nurses up off the floor from laughing and send them to get me new scrubs before the stuffy male consultant noticed! I had to sit down and cross my legs whenever I coughed and sneezed for a few months after DD was born too but I'm like a pelvic floor nazi and have been for years (since I started working in gynae) so not too bad now. Grin

And, squeeze....

BettyOff · 02/07/2014 10:19

Oh and Eco I have no idea why I've got Bike and you haven't but I live them! Maybe it's because I'm in glorious Yorkshire and going to see the TDF fly past us on Saturday!

Bike Bike Bike

I'd rather have tickets for Wimbledon centre court though! Tennis

So much sport this fortnight, I'm loving it!

BettyOff · 02/07/2014 10:20

That should say love them, not live on them. That would be a lie and give you a very sore bum

Plonkysaurus · 02/07/2014 10:38

Yowzers Gerry get thee asqueezin'!

These babies don't half cause us some strain eh? I was sitting here thinking I'm one of the lucky ones because my pelvic floor is somehow still quite dependable, but then I realised I've already been awake for nearly SIX HOURS at 10.30 am.

Betty I meant to say yesterday - try not to feel down about DD not breastfeeding any more. You don't need me to tell you how in awe I am of all the mums on this thread who breastfed past ten days (my stopping point). She self-weaned. Isn't that the best conclusion you can hope for?

Also - Dsis has had her 28 week blood results and has just been prescribed iron pills. I know anaemia is normal at that stage, but she's not even been given an opportunity to discuss how anaemic she is. I've no experience of this but thought some of you might. She's also hoping to keep working til her EDD - did any of you have anaemia and manage to keep up at work? Not wanting to reopen the GP debate, but it left me scratching my head - shouldn't she have been given an opportunity to discuss it?

Best get on me Bike

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StormyBrid · 02/07/2014 12:52

I've definitely been lucky with the pelvic floor - I remember to do the exercises about once a month (feel free to tell me off, Betty, but they're really not comfortable). If I'm sitting cross legged and I cough or sneeze a leak a tiny bit, but otherwise no issues. Except oversensitivity! Half wake up in the night, roll over, go back to sleep is not a thing I can do these days. It's half wake up, become aware of pressure in bladder, must go per before going back to sleep. The amitriptyline means no half waking, and I haven't been wetting the bed, so that must just be oversensitivity.

BettyOff · 02/07/2014 12:53

Plonky was it with a midwife rather than GP? I've never worked in an area where GPs do any routine antenatal care. Most midwives don't go into it other than you're anaemic so you need iron tablets and most people don't want details therefore don't like seeing me as I get verbal diarrhoea and over explain and just take the tablets. If she wanted more information and it wasn't forthcoming though, that's a whole different matter and completely wrong. Nobody should be treating you without being able to explain why. Her Hb level will likely be between 8 and 10 and the aim is to keep it over 10 so that if she bled up to 1000ml giving birth her Hb wouldn't drop low enough to need transfusion. Most will come up with iron tablets within 2 weeks as long as she can tolerate them without too much in the way of side effects and as long as it comes up she shouldn't feel any more knackered than anyone else that's heavily pregnant. As for working to her EDD, that would have finished me off i think but plenty do it successfully.

Now i think I need to shut up about all things obs and gynae!

somethingbeginningwith · 02/07/2014 13:35

betty I like finding out things about our bodies. I'm blissfully unaware of how I work so feel free to keep telling us Grin

yummy DS was alright during his hair cut, but that may have been down to the rice crispie cake that he was eating at the time. As soon as he inhaled that, he started to get wriggly and fed up. Same hairdresser caught my nephew's ear when he was a baby and now he refuses to let anyone other than DSis cut his hair. He also has to be completely naked. Not sure what that's about.

gerry get squeezing and get visiting that Dr. Hope you get yourself fixed!

I've never really had pelvic floor problems, but I put that down to the fact that I didn't squeeze one of them there babies outta me. I know pregnancy still weakens it so every now and then I find myself leaking a tiny bit, like Stormy, but it's quite rare. I do, however, have an unsightly and vulgar yet actually quite small and barely noticable scar on my bits so swings and roundabouts I suppose Wink

eco I hope the MIL visit has given you enough respite to gear you up for the chaos of potential tennant viewings. It sounds like she's a dream. Send her my way!

So, childminder called in sick at 21:30 last night. Nightmare. Luckily, SIL is still on maternity leave so she was able to take DS this morning to her baby music group and look after him for us. They're going round to great-grandma's too, so he will get undeniably treated. Bless SIL though, 16 month old, 10 month old, and she's three months pregnant. Shh, I didn't tell you that bit. It's a secret!!

WottaMess · 02/07/2014 14:41

I finished 3 days earlier than I had planned at 37+3. Good job as he turned up 38+4!

yummychocolate · 02/07/2014 15:22

Did anyone else start squeezing whilst reading Betty's thread? I forget to do my pelvic floor exercises. I don't leak but if I open my bowels I get the feeling my insides will fall out

plonky please tell your dsis to remember to take her iron tablets. I was anemic and still am. I lost a lot of blood after birth and was on borderline for transfusion. I felt like shit after the birth and feel so angry and guilty that I couldn't enjoy the newborn days because I was too tired. I was very pale and after about 3hrs of being awake I would start shivering and just felt generally unwell. However, each individual is different and it depends on her levels.

eco I share he same dire rear problem as you. It has gone on for weeks. I have had this problem since I had my gall bladder taken out 7yrs ago but since about 3 weeks this is the worst it has been. The good thing is I may lose some weight from this. How are you feeling?

Oodlives · 02/07/2014 15:24

gerry prolapse is linked to hypermobility syndrome. it scared me when I was reading up on it SPD means you use those muscles less due to pain so it takes longer to build back up. hence me still being so crap

yummychocolate · 02/07/2014 18:05

Hello ood. Don't lurk. Please join us.

Oodlives · 02/07/2014 18:14

It's nothing personal just not keeping up /mumsnetting as much. Once I get behind it's difficult to get going again. bit like cleaning Blush

StormyBrid · 02/07/2014 18:57

I suspect the decrease in potential mumsnetting time when one has another child is exponential rather than linear. With four, I'm amazed Ood manages to get on at all. Well done that woman! Grin

ecofreckle · 02/07/2014 19:58

Four ood? Yikes. congratulations for even finding a device to access Internet with!

Yummy that sounds crap. Are digestive issues such as that a normal result of gall bladder removal? Do you take drugs for it? I've been dire rear free for a week now so really hoping it's passed now. I'm back on lactose and eating normally although my optician today questioned my diet. He said I had dry eyes (which sounds like a geriatric affliction to me Hmm) and that diet can be to blame. I guess that's four weeks of brat. I need to get me some vitamins.

Betty I'm sorry the breast feeding is making you feel blue. It's a real double edged sword eh? I think it'll be good to reclaim my boobs for good, but yes, sad when they don't want it anymore. I guess it makes us sad because it's a signal they're becoming more independent and growing up. Really we should celebrate that but I totally understand. Is it just rainbow and I left feeding now then? My goal posts keep shifting with regards duration. It'll be school age at this rate!Grin

Plonky pops how's the stress and decisions today? Did you get any ironing done? Do you want my Mil?

Something I forget everyone's birth stories Blush How did your ds get into the world? You've made me remember my scarring. I'm going to check it out after this bath. TMI.

Doli remind us how many weeks you are at present. You still feeling improved on the nausea front?

Stormy I've been thinking about how lame I've been without dh around to support me and it made me think of your situation. Are you still living on your own and dealing with dd on your own in the main? Do you find it mentally tough? How often do you get any help? Hope it all feels better than when there was tobacco everywhere and blank looks during big conversations. I need your tips!

Nothing to report here. Been into city, ate in Wilkinson's cafe (don't rush out to do that), had my eyes tested whilst Ecotod waited patiently in pushchair, visited park where a potty training girl weed on slide, ate dinner in the garden, played baby wrestling on the bed. All very standard. I get my dh back a day early this week because I'm going to London on own on train for first time since birth on Friday to have afternoon tea at the ritz! Two hours each way on train in solitude Smile I have great plans for books and writing. Yippee!

Oh, and shattered, please come back to play with us soon. Betty needs a Wimbledon buddy to natter with. Poor Murray. Anyone see match? Was he lame or was the other dude awesome?

Wine Wednesday I believe ladies. Bottoms up Wine

Oodlives · 02/07/2014 20:21

eco my iPhone runs my home life and my blackberry runs my work life. I have internet on tap , just usually interrupted by it telling me to do something else!

The trip to the Ritz sounds fab, afternoon tea is one of my favourite meals (tie with a hotel breakfast!)

Plonkysaurus · 02/07/2014 20:42

Eco your trip sounds fab, make the most of it!

Yummy I will make sure she does take them! I worry because she works hard (uni researcher, lots of long days) but is also in the process of buying a house and my bridesmaid. But I will tell her your cautionary tale - she's actually livid with the gp for not giving her a appt to discuss, they literally just called and told her to get the prescription. No letter with results or nuffink. Bloomin' scousers.

Apologies to any scousers on thread Grin

Ood lovely to have you back, however brief. You're a reassuring presence. How is the Oodlet? (The March one anyway).

Yes Doli how are you feeling these days? Seems like you've gone all quiet on us...so I hope it's because all is going well in Doliwood, and not because RL is hard going. Any improvement on the naps?

Betty thanks for your input where all things medical are concerned. Also very good know we have Obs/gynae expertise on tap.

Eco I'm currently feeling about as stressed out as I ever have. I'm just about keeping my head above water work wise by working evenings, so my house is a right bombsy tit and the ironing pile will start walking any day now. The cat looks quite neglected. I'm ok though, I could just do with a 28 hour day. Getting my hair cut and coloured tomorrow which I should be looking forward to but instead I can't help but think it's two hours out of an 18 hour week that I simply can't afford. Sorry for the moan, I just feel like I could do with another me.

But I do plan on paying a cleaner with what pittance we have left after wedding costs. And now I'm off to bed to curl up with a book, hopeful that ds let's me sleep til 6 without interruption!

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StormyBrid · 03/07/2014 00:07

My mum tells me the bloke who beat Murray was phenomenal. Or was it the bloke who beat Monkey Boy Awesome Arse Nadal? I lose track. I vaguely remember seeing Djokovic beat Cilic, was that today? Fartypants keeps pointing excitedly at the telly and shouting ball, ball!.

Eco we've not been in comparable situations, really. When the man was doing his disappearing into a pit of depression and not getting in touch for days on end, then it was comparable, because I was doing all the parenting. It was hard, and I admire you for coping with it and not cracking up. The lack of space to simply be isn't something I cope very well with. But these days he's here five or six days a week to see Fartypants. Sometimes I go out and leave them to it, sometimes we all spend time together, sometimes I go hide in the back yard and read a book. It actually feels like we've got a good time balance at the moment - we each get the mental space we need, DD always has one or other of us around, sometimes both. And it means I can feel confident that if anything were to happen to me, he's very capable of looking after her as well as I would. And he's being a bit more communicative, and he's been pulling his weight around the house when he's here, and there is a plan for future cohabitation (though there are hoops to jump through first). It's all good, to be honest.

Argh, how is it so late? Must bed, need horizontal.

BettyOff · 03/07/2014 06:23

Stormy I'm glad things are sorting themselves out on that front, it sounds like you've got a good balance there.

Eco I know you're coping because you have to but I so admire you. You seem to be doing it with acceptance that it's just a temporary shit situation for all and will improve shortly (very shortly by the sound of it Smile) whereas I would be resenting the hell out of DH and blaming him for everything. Poor DH did the short end of the deal when wives with patience and sympathy were doled out.

Right, I'm off to work. On call again. Delightful! Have a good day everyone.

BettyOff · 03/07/2014 06:25

Oh and Stormy it was indeed Murray's opponent although Nadal's played a stormer too. Murray wasn't playing near his best but he was very much outplayed and didn't deserve the win. I'm gutted. I wanted a Murray/Nadal final. Now what do I do with my weekend?

Plonkysaurus · 03/07/2014 06:54

Mmm Nadal's bum. Shame he's always picking it.

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somethingbeginningwith · 03/07/2014 08:28

Might have to google Nadal's bum. And hope that IT don't look through my internet history at work.

eco I am incredibly envious of your trip. It sounds right up my street. Enjoy! Especially the peace Smile

And to answer your birth story question: My DS was air lifted out Grin I was induced at 40+12, had contraction every 1.5 minutes for 12 hours, his heart rate slowed down and I was pushing at 4cm diliated, so they prepped me for surgery god bless that epidural, then it stabled so they changed their minds, then I started to drift off but his heart rate slowed down again so the doctor asked if I wanted to attempt to give birth vaginally or have the section. My mum asked what he'd suggest and he said "if you were my wife, I'd get the baby out now" so that answered that. Weirdest feeling in the world having 3 surgeons tug and pull at my insides. DP accidentally glanced over and saw more of me than he'd ever bargained for!

doli where've ya got to? I need to know all the details about how blooming and glowing you are. You're due around the same time as SIL so now I have two of you to live through!

Right, I'm off to think of more vagina based questions to ask betty Grin

Plonkysaurus · 03/07/2014 08:55

Something every time I hear of your ordeal getting ds out I am amazed we had our boys at the same hospital. My experience was action the moment ds was seen to be in distress, though we were lucky with his position etc.

Your poor dp! And poor you of course. I just want to offer you up a massive plate of cake and biscuits whenever you remind me of the details.

Seriously though, have a look at Nadal's bottom. It's very pert.

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