Monday, February 7, 2011

Having another baby after PSD

This is my personal story and what I would give as advice if someone asks. I hope it helps more people.

Having another baby after suffering PSD saved me. Now my second baby is 4.5 months and I feel I'm healthy again, after 5 years of pain, discomfort, desparation and limited mobilty.

2.5 years after I had my first baby PSD finally settled down and I felt I could live a pretty normal life again. Although my mobility was still limited due to PSD and minor prolapse and incontinence, I had learned how to life my life with them.

3 years after I had my first baby I fell pregnant. One of the reasons I wanted another child was because I heard a new birth will give my body a chance to reshuffle and possibility to solve all my old problems from the first birth. And it turned out to be true.

Diary of my second pregnancy is here: http://pubicsymphysis.blogspot.com/2010/05/psd-diary-for-second-pregnancy-to-be.html. In summary, I had a lot of pelvic pain, a very shattered unstable pelvis, much worse prolapse and incontinence, controled constipation through diet, very very limited mobility during the second half of this pregnancy.

But now 4 months after the birth I feel I'm the healthiest person in the world.

Here's my story in conjunction with what I would say to people who've had PSD and want to have another child:

During the pregnancy,

1) rest AS MUCH AS YOU CAN,

2) do AS LITTLE AS YOU CAN.

3) Ask your hubby to look after other children.

4) Do all your house chores (if you can do ANY!) in a sitting position. I
bought a kitchen stool with adjustable heights and castors so I could "walk
around" on it in the kitchen.

5) minimal lifting!

6) minimal walking

7) no exercise at all apart from pelvic floor exercises, which still didn't
help much with the prolapse due to baby growing heavier. But I would imagine
the prolapse to be much worse without it.

8) As soon as you start to have the symptoms, wear the belt! And wear it as much
as you can.

9) Try to avoid hills, stairs, and walk in small steps instead of large steps,
meaning separate your legs as little as you can.

During birth:

I used on all fours position, as advised by a few medical professionals, which protected my pubic symphysis area. It worked. My pubic sysmphysis wasn't damaged this time. And this position made the birth very quick. Do not separate your legs too much during birth. On all fours make it only about your shoulder's width so it wouldn't separate your pubic area.

Ceasarean is an option. But I was too scared to go through it. I thought it would be easier for me to do what I'd done before. :) But one main reason I still did natural birth was the possibility to heal the old problems through natural birth. The 'reshuffle'. :)

The birth was still painful and my pelvis felt like broken into hundreds of small pieces. But I could still WALK, which was a good sign. Last time I couldn't move at all.

Now After birth:

1) Start wearing the belt as soon as you can and as much as you can.

2) Start pelvic floor exercise as soon as you can and do as much as you can.

3) Stay in bed as much as you can. Rest as much as you can. I stayed in my bedroom for at least 1 month after birth. Apart from going to the toilet and having meals, I didn't leave my bed at all. And we have an ensuite so the toilet is in the bedroom; I had all my meals brought to my bedroom so I didn't need to walk out of the bedroom for meals. My parents came from overseas to help me so I could afford to do this. So if you can, get someone to do everything for you during the first or even the second month.

4) I was still in pain (painful unstable pelvis) 1 month after the birth of the 2nd baby so I still controlled my activities. I only did very limited activities such as very gentle walking for maybe 5-10 minutes each day, and then still rested as much as I could. This lasted for about 1.5 months.

5) I started seeing a physio at 10 weeks. I didn't do any exercise at all before this, apart from pelvic floor exercises. I still felt very weak, pelvis very unstable, and very bad back pain. Physio gave me very gental exercises to strengthen my tummy muscles. It was very difficult at first. But I found very soon I started to feel stronger and stronger. The physio also taught me how to do pelvic floor exercises correctly so I started to see a lot of improvements on prolapse and incontinence.

6) About 3 months after the birth I was pretty much pain free and during that time I gradually increased my activities (walking, shopping etc), using pain as my guide.

7) Now 4 months after birth I'm a normal person. I feel I'm healed. No PSD. No prolapse. Minor incontinence. No back pain unless I do too much.

I never imagined a life like this, pain free, can do anything I want. It's like I'm alive again, free again.

8 comments:

Cass said...

Can you do normal exercise? Eg go for runs, swim, bike??? Or do you get pain from doing anything to much??
Cass

Rowena said...

I don't normally do exercises. I can't swim, don't have a bike to ride, and hate running....My only exercise is walking. So far I haven't got any pubic pain from walking. The only time I got pubic pain was when bushwalking on hills, which means climbing is a no-no to me. I tried it twice since I had my second baby and I got pubic pain both times. It didn't take long to for the pain to go away though, maybe just a few days. I now try not to bushwalk...

grace said...

Thank you for this blog. It gave me hope after suffering from SPD with my first child. My GP printed out what info she had on the condition and I expected it to go away within several months of the delivery but it didn't. Physiotherapy helped but the SPD came back. I tried osteopathy and that helped temporarily. But there was a lingering sensitivity much like a bruise. During my second pregnancy I saw a chiropractor who specialized in prenatal care and gave me adjustments that helped. But it was the second delivery that made my SPD finally go away. I opted for a natural vaginal delivery with no epidural and tried to stay on all fours when possible and it was a quick and much easier labour. This past winter I pushed myself too hard (probably pushing the stroller through heavy snow) and experience a relapse for a couple of weeks but thankfully my body realigned itself and I'm SPD free.

Rowena said...

Hi Grace,

Thank you for your comment.

I am so glad that my blog helped you.

I am also glad that I wrote it back then because now I can hardly remember any of the details.

I am glad to hear that you are SPD free. It's a painful condition and a hassle if it doesn't completely go away.

Take care,
Rowena

Unknown said...

Grace,

Thank you for sharing your story! I haven't been able to find many other moms who have suffered through PSD followed by a natural delivery experiences on the internet. After reading your blog I have a glimpse of hope to be able to deliver naturally once again and perhaps get over the persistent lingering pain. I delivered my baby back in October naturally with no epidural and suffered PSD and two pelvic fractures, my orthopedic doctor wants to do surgery as I am still having some lingering pain but I am reluctant as I want to have more kids and be able to deliver naturally. Was is it hard for you to find a doctor to let you deliver naturally after PSD? Were you in a lot of pain during your pregnancy with the second baby?

Irene

Rowena said...

Hi Irene,

I wouldn‘t go with surgery if there is only lingering pain. If still disabled years after injury maybe I would consider that option. My orthopedic surgeon used to say surgery would be the last last resort and successful rate wasn‘t that high so he never recommended.

I had my second baby in puclic hospital so there was no issue delivering naturally.

I don‘t remember taking any pain relief during second pregnancy so I am sure the pain was bearable. But I remember the difficulty in walking and moving around was probably more of an issue than the pain. So I would say, listen to your body and take it easy.

Good luck and post any question if you need to.

Rowena

Unknown said...

Rowe a,

Thank you so much!

grace said...

Irene,

Sorry for the very late reply but perhaps it'll be helpful for others down the road. I didn't have any difficulty finding a doctor to deliver but I didn't have any of those pelvic fractures you mentioned so not sure if that was a factor. I actually was seeing 2 midwives during my second pregnancy but a doctor ended up delivering my daughter.

I was not in a lot of pain during the second pregnancy though I did get regular adjustments with the chiropractor to help keep me in alignment. I think I did get sore but nothing different from before. The second labour and delivery went super-fast with no epidural -- so quick that the nurses asked me to wait for them! I am still SPD free :)

Hope this is helpful,
Grace