Pelvic floor advice

[drumst1ck]

Currently 27 weeks pregnant with second pregnancy, will only be 18 months between my two so my pelvic floor is taking a bit of a beating!

I had a vaginal delivery with 2nd degree tear with DD and felt that heavy, pulling feeling down below for about three months afterwards. Wondered if I had a very minor prolapse of some kind but had it checked by the GP at 6 weeks and she said it looked fine and then it gradually got better as well.

Fast forward and I'm starting to get that horrible feeling again like my insides might fall out if I sneeze/when I go to the toilet.

Does anyone have any good tips for pelvic floor programmes/online physio etc that will give me a fighting chance of not peeing myself after this next one?...

Best evidence at the moment suggests the following:

Deep breath in, relax out.

Tighten up down below, as if you're holding in a fart, but don't squeeze your bum cheeks or hold your breath.

Hold for 10 then relax.

10 short flicks of the same (rather than holding). And relax.

Repeat 3 x per day (frequency is the important bit).

OneFitMama, preferably the Peterborough group. Fab teacher, fab course.

@MGee123 thank you, I've been trying to do them regularly but just don't feel like it's intensive enough some how! Maybe I'm doing them wrong though...

There's an nhs app called Squeezy that's great. You can set it to remind you to do them too.

It shouldn't feel really intense and this will work if you're consistent 👍 Gusset Grippers is a great person to look up - she is an expert in this area and this is what she recommends. You just have to be consistent with it, which is the harder part!

What a hilarious name!

Similar to what @MGee123 said, but I do

Hold for 10 seconds, release slowly (important to learnt to relax the pelvic floor too)
Rest them for 10 seconds

10 short sharp “flicks” pull up back down

Then “elevator” so imagine pull them up 1 floor, hold for a second, pull them to the second floor, hold for a second, pull them up the third and final floor (so all the way up) hold for a second, then back down opposite way...2nd floor hold, 1st floor hold, then relax.

I do all 3, 3 times. Once in morning, once in afternoon, once at night.

There’s a great thread on here somewhere by a pelvic floor expert, if I find I will link...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/1845844-Improving-pelvic-floor-what-did-you-do

Scroll down to a post by gussiegrips. She’s amazing and she’s also on Twitter. I’ve been doing them religiously since before ds1 was born and I did them the day I gave birth too even though I couldn’t feel anything, but started feeling them working again a few days after. Pleased to report I have no issues with leaks. You have to do them everyday, forever but it’s so worth it.

Just had a long read of that thread, thank you! Anyone reckon it's worth seeing someone about possible mild prolapse now before giving birth or is it not worth it until after more damage has been done with the next birth?

I felt exactly the same after having my first baby. The heavy, pulling sensation if I was carrying something heavy or had been stood for a while. It eased up at about 9 months postpartum. Second pregnancy I really suffered with constipation (sorry TMI) and I’m sure I did have some sort of prolapse which made going to the toilet near impossible. Also the heavy feeling. I was prepared to go and see the GP about it after baby had been born but I’ve had absolutely no issues and barely any of the heavy feeling down below. Completely confusing because second baby was quite a bit bigger too. Not complaining though! So definitely don’t assume it will get worse. It’s almost like labour fixed me.

@Bigredriding that's very comforting! I'm sort of hoping if I tear they can fix it all up better this time around. Nice to hear of a positive story, doesn't seem to be many of those when it comes to pelvic floors! I'm on iron tablets at the moment and have a bit of constipation which probably isn't helping matters either!

I was also going to recommend the nhs Squeezy app, it give you the reps to do each day plus reminders, and is useful postpartum and during pregnancy

@drumst1ck eat prunes. Seriously, I’m getting a bag this week! Last pregnancy I ate three a day and it makes such a difference! I’d forgotten how much pregnancy slows everything down!