How the hell do you do it!!

[Babyblues14]

Pelvic floor exercises..
I cant do them, I've tried loads of times, but apparently if your stomach or bottom clenches as well your doing it wrong.
I feel like an idiot, I dont want to be incontinent after birth but really feel like I cant try any harder
Please help, how do you do them properly??
Currently 28wks with first baby

It's the same feeling as trying to hold in a wee and fart at the same time - does that help?

Stand up tall. Put the end of your little finger in your mouth. And suck on it like a straw. You can sort of feeling yourself 'lifting" your floor up. At least I can.

(Or you'll get an attack of the giggles. Seriously, helps me visualise it)

I was told at pregnancy yoga that there are three aspects to pelvic floor.

1. try this once and only once. When you go for a wee. Pull back to stop the flow part way through. That's the muscle you want to work on at the front (just do it once mid flow of a wee otherwise you'll potentially the yourself a UTI)
2. insert 1 or 2 fingers into your vagina and squeeze. That's how to identify muscle 2.
3. the clench you do when you hold in a fart.

When I very occasionally do my pelvic floors i try to do all three separately

Ps I only did them very occasionally and am not incontinent

Download the NHS squeezy app - it will tell you exactly how to do them!

If it helps when I went to the hospital about pelvic girdle pain they said that your bum muscles (around your anus) will tighten.
The showed a model of the pelvic and the position of the muscles and it more than one set of muscles you are wanting to strengthen apparently.

I know what you mean, it's hard to tell if you're doing them right and I still don't think I am!

I bought the cones as I got so fed up of trying to get the exercises right. Much prefer them. No worries about whether you're doing it "right" and you only have to use once a day. They work too!!

just do it once mid flow of a wee otherwise you'll potentially the yourself a UTI)
How could you give yourself a UTI by holding your urine mid-flow? It does not go back upwards. And even if it did, what went back up would have still been inside your body.

I clench up as if I were trying to desperately trying to stop myself from weeing and farting/pooing.

HPFA cones???

DD is 6 months old. I really need to do something about the sneeze / wee combo.

Hayfever is not my friend....

What cones HPFA?

I was told to imagine theres a piece of string running from your vagina to the top of your head and someone is pulling the string upwards.

My Pilates teacher used to say "suck up the spaghetti". It helped!

There are many different ways I've been told over the years one was the zip. It does tummy muscles at the same time. Whilst standing imagine you have a zip runnning from bum all the way under to tummy button. Imagine doing that zip up and pull in all the muscles in that order.

Get a yoni egg. They normally come in 3 sizes and you 'work down'. Eventually you can sneeze and kind of 'catch' the egg on the way out

I think it's really hard to work out what you're meant to be doing (and I found most of the analogies like "imagine it's an elevator" really unhelpful). Like a PP the only way I could get the hang of them was to stick a couple of fingers up there so I could feel what was going on. I was horrified at how weak mine were to start with.

These ones cleanermaid

www.amazon.co.uk/Aquaflex-Pelvic-Floor-Exercise-System/dp/B003UES7A8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498404983&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=aquaflex&psc=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21

You can't use them while you're actually pregnant and you would need to heal up first after the birth but I found them much more effective and more convenient than the exercises.

HPFA do you still need to 'squeeze' with those or do you just put them in and forget them for a bit?

Thank you HPFA my pelvic floor could do with some help! xx

You don't need to squeeze - you just pop the cone in and your muscles do the work.

There are some frustrations - you can tend to find a weight you manage perfectly easily one day you can't do the next -I find particularly coming up to a period. And make sure you're wearing a pair of knickers in case of a sneezing fit!

For me, I just found trying to do them five times a day was impossible - every time I sat down to relax I'd be thinking - oh God I've got to do those awful exercises - so for me being able to use a cone first thing in the morning and have everything done for the day is priceless.

How quickly did you see an improvement?

Well not 'see' obviously!

Hard to remember - a few weeks probably. Unfortunately I have a bit of urge incontinence where the manufacturers warn that the product won't be as effective as if you only have stress issues. Still a big improvement though.

I'm always wary of recommending things that will cost people money but I'm certainly happy with the results. I'm sure if you do the exercises conscientiously with the correct technique and five times a day you'll do just as well - my problem was I just couldn't discipline myself to do that.

I've managed to dig out a bit of research evidence from a reputable source if anyone's interested. Mumsnet leads us to some strange places!!

www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/continence/vaginal-cones-in-stress-incontinence-treatment/574827.article

Thank you - weeks sounds good, i was expecting you to say months!

I've got a Kegel Ultra - not for the faint of heart, you can really feel it making the muscles contract when on the higher settings. It's more effective if you squeeze the muscles yourself at the same time as the clenching caused by the device. You'll definitely know where your PFMs are after using one.