Prolapse and Subsequent PGs? May be TMI

Hello, After DD was born (and much to my great alarm) i discovered I had a prolapse. Anyway over a period of time it seemed to get better (as doc said) and I thought no more about it.

However, now 8 yrs later, the codeine (after wisdom teeth surgery) has made me constipated and ....the Prolapse is back!!!! :eek: We're now TTC#2 and since I had so little info last time I've got no idea - does a prolapse affect subsequent pregnancies at all??

Please anyone with info/experiences please let me know, since AF is here & I've got to wait until she leaves again before seeing my dr (v.anxious....). I have googled the topic and it's all very scary with lots of medical stuff about surgery. :confused:

I assume you're talking about a prolapsed bowel? Some of the oldies at work (I'm in Aged Care) had prolapsed bowels....I think you can get it operated on but not sure?
At any rate, there should be some excercises you could do? Sorry I'm not much help...
All the best with TTC #2 :)

Hello, ***TMI alert*** I'm talking prolapsed pelvic organs, referred to variously as cystocele, rectocele and uterine prolapse, it's where other organs press or bulge into the space which is normally reserved for one's vagina. In the oldies, it can be quite extreme and require surgery to hook everything back into place. But can't find any info about what this means in pregnancy???!!!!

Marydean, I'll ask my Mum more about this one ...

She had four children (thus four pregnancies and births) and had a very severe uterine prolapse by the time her 4th was about 5yo (i.e. part of her uterus was hanging out of her vagina, external to her body).

Anyway, I didn't mean to freak you out, but wanted to say that I presume that she had a milder version of the prolapse for quite a while prior to this time, and managed to have 4 very healthy pregnancies despite what was probably going on with her uterus.

I'll email her and ask her when her prolapse first started.
I hope you get some good answers after talking to your Dr.

Thanks for your post, Cherie, I'd really be interested in hearing any more info you can tell me about your mum's experience. I'm not freaked out at all by your description of the extreme prolapse (but I was 8 years ago when I googled 'uterine prolapse' and my first hit contained a graphic photograph!!!)

I'm sure any prolapse I have is probably fairly mild, I'm just a bit shocked cos I really thought I had recovered completely.

No worries ... I'll let you know as soon as I hear something from Mum :)

Reply from my mum:

:

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Now ... about my prolapse ... I noticed it after I gave birth to DD #2

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:

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(but not straight away). At that time it was only the size of a pea. I did pelvic floor exercises but they obviously didn't help much because after I
gave birth to DD #3(10 lbs 1 oz) the prolapse became much worse (bigger). I was gonna get something done about it but Dad and I had decided that we wanted to have a baby together and the Dr advised me to wait till after I'd
finished my family (DD #4). So, for quality of life (no other reason) I had a vaginal hysterectomy. It was the best decision I ever made.

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So, looks like Mum went on to have 2 subsequent pregnancies after noticing the prolapse for the first time.

Hope this helps you somewhat Marydean :)

ETA: Arrghh ... trying to fix up my quotation marks, but it won't let me!

Thanks Cherie, That's very reassuring. Pls thank your mum for me. I've managed to get it all into perspective now, will wait *calmly* until I see the Dr this week.
:-)

No worries :) Best of luck at the Dr's - let me know how you go.

I also have a vaginal prolapse from DS.

Has gone away slightly, i need to be better about doing pevic floor exercise

My obs said it isn't a worry unless its really bad (my mum also had one like ur mums Cherie - was advised to have a hysterectomy, but instead had a different kind of surgery where they like sitch it back inside you.

He said to wait until i stop having kids (am planning on having a rather large family), and then when i'm like 45 he will do something about it.

So i don't think its a problem, but see what your doc says.

HTH

Can I please ask a really silly question - How or what was it that you actually noticed that brought to your attention that you had a prolapse?

The reason I ask is because my Mum had quite a severe prolapse and considering I am the one out of three girls that appears to have taken after her the most, I might with that as well and am just wondering what I should look out for.

Thanks girls

Thanks Yael for the reassurance, I'm only planning one more, I'm not sure my body could withstand any more after that!

Relle, the way I knew I had a prolapse - I noticed a soft fleshy lump bulging inside near my vag entrance - because it was quite soon after birth, it seemed to me in my horrified state (!) that it was bulging right out sometimes (tho I'm sure it wasn't that bad) but it seemed to get really irritated just by my knickers rubbing against it. Plus you get a heavy, dragging feeling in the pelvic region. It was really noticeable especially if i had been on my feet a lot or when I was exercising or when I was tired. I must say I am of the belief that it was my poorly managed labour that caused it (started pushing well before i was fully dilated and no one bothered to tell me otherwise, pushed > 3 hours, DD's head was larger than normal circumference too) So if you think you might have a predisposition for it, make sure you speak to your healthcare providers on how to best avoid it...?

Marydean - Thankyou so much for your reply! I must admit that I often have a horrible dragging feeling particularly when AF is here and for about 6 months after having No 1 and at my 6 week check up my ob just said it was from blood loss. But when I have this ache I have the sensation of everything "falling out".

If the ache persists I might go and see my doctor again about it.

My friend had a prolapse before her first pregnancy...She had surgery, and has had 3 children now with no probs...I think they monitered her closely throughout her pregnancy...All the best and good luck xx

Hello, I saw the dr today and she said the unusual pressure might have pushed my uterus 'forwards and down' - apparently they can move around if you're straining and the pelvic floor is weak. She mentioned being overweight is a factor. Nothing at all to be worried about during pregnancy as the uterus swells over the top of the pelvic cage and is supported that way (not a very good explanation of what she said but I get it). Just have to watch that I'm not having diff with urinating etc. Only concern might be that a further pregnancy could worsen the condition of my pelvic floor, so it's a case of exercise those PFMs over and over and over again (forever...)! I'll be Super Pelvic Floor Woman in no time, hahahaha!

Thanks for your comments and reassurance ladies.

That's great news about it not being a problem for pregnancy Marydean. Now .... I'll send you a little :bluedust: just for luck!

Ooooooh, Baby dust !!!! And it's blue baby dust too....!!!!!

((*Squeals ...dives for baby dust ...rolls in it!!!))

Ta, just what I needed!
:-)

ROFLMAO .... that's so gorgeous!!!
Here - have some more :bluedust: :bluedust:

OOOoooh more more more!!!

((**Languishes in Babydust bath....*))
:-)

Hey Marydean,

Thats great news from the dr... I picked up on mine the same way, i had this heaving aching feeling down there, like things were beginning to fall out.

And then i thought i had pulled a stitch so when i got a mirror to check i saw that it really was beginning to come outside, if that makes sense?

Mines not to bad, and i do think it got a little better, but i do find it slightly harder having relations, not that it is painful, just uncomfortable if not in exactly the right position...

I am so terrible about doing pelvic floor exercises, really need to get onto that straight away!

Good luck with TTC...

Yael

Hi guys,

I don't know whether I have had a prolabpse, I don't think so at this stage, but my PF is definately not right.

Did you just see a GP or OB, or did you get a referral to a uro-gynaecologist - and if so could you recommend anyone in Melbourne?

Thanks sooo much

Yael> Mine got progressively better over the space of about 18 months, however I was bellydancing as regularly as I could stand it (good for abdominal muscles generally) and I was pretty good about the pelvic floor exercises too. I really didn't notice it all for 7 or so years, but I guess I'll always just have to be on top the pelvic floor awareness!

Rachael> Mine was diagnosed by a GP who said not to worry and provided no information/reassurance/treatment as such. Took it up several months later when we moved to a new city, with another GP, since she specialised in women's health issues. I didn't need to take it further, since no surgery etc req'd.

We move around a lot, so I always ring the local women's health information line (there's one in every state we've been to) and ask for a list of GPs that are recommended for women's health. This is the only way I've been able to consistently get good GPs. If you have a good GP they will generally only refer you to specialists that are good as well. You will probably find that first stop will be a referral to the local incontinence clinic staffed by either nurses or physiotherapists, depending on the severity. Hope that helps.
:-)

Hey girls

Not sure if this is any help or not, but one of my gfs has a uterine prolapse from her baby's birth in March. She has seen an ob recently and will be having an op to hold everything inside next month. Hers is quite bad and since she's planning on having another baby she will have to have a c/s once the op is done. It's basically some kind of 'mesh' that is sewn in and holds everything up. I have another gf whose prolapse is not as bad and our ob (we see the same one) told her it would probably get better, but if it didn't then he'd do the same op when she was 40ish and finished her family for certain. Both have some incontinence with their prolapses.

Thanks Jennifer, that's really useful info, sounds like your friend has a pretty bad prolapse cos they usually don't do that sort of surgery until women are post-menopausal. My GP kinda said it's a problem that gets worse with each subsequent PG. I'm pretty sure my damage was done as a result of the long and arduous and poorly managed birth (and not the pregnancy itself), and I will be having a C/S next time, so I'm kind of hoping I can avoid the surgery thing and keep on top of it with the Pelvic floor exercises.

Hi,

I have had five children, and with a couple of them I had a mild prolapse and it didn't worry me when I was pregnant. I have now got problems with my bladder(cystocoele) as well and he has told me that I will need surgery and possilbly a hysterectomy(which I do not want as I want to have one more child). He has told me to keep on working on the pelvic floor exercises which is suppose to help the problem but he said it won't help my incontinence so that's why I will need a least the surgery for that.

I am hoping to have one more child and then he can fix everything up. Going back to see my gyno in March and will be asking then. But all I can say is keep doing your pelvic floor exercises and you might find that the problem might right itself and then you won't have any problems in the pregnancy.

Michele
Mother of Christopher, Luke, Melissa, Jayden and Ashleigh(nearly 1)