Let’s be honest, pregnancy and childbirth changes our bodies. Things look and can feel a little different than our twenty-something days lying by the pool on spring break when you were feeling H.O.T. However, this doesn’t mean that what you feel and experience now is necessarily the new normal.
Common vs. Normal
What is actually normal and/or expected?
•Stretched and droopier skin
•Larger and/or differently shaped breasts 👙
•Stretch marks
•Scarring
•The Baby Blues
•Ill-fitting pre-pregnancy pants 👖
Now onto what is NOT normal:
•Leaking urine/stool 💦- none, never, not at all! Don’t let your Aunt tell you different...
•A “presence“ or heaviness in your vaginal area
•Running to the bathroom before 2 hours from your last pee
•Urgently needing to get to a toilet 🚽
•Bulging of tissues from your vaginal opening
•Pelvic pain of any sort - at rest, with sex, with pelvic exams 🔥
•Vaginal bleeding other than approximately 6 weeks postpartum
•Inability to hold back gas
•Low back pain
•Bulging belly as if you were still pregnant 🤰🏻
If you experience any of these, know that there is help! Please do not accept these as the new normal for your postpartum body. You owe it to your amazing body to reclaim your normalcy.
What to do now...
The great news is that you don’t need a prescription or need to see your OB/Gyn or PCP before your evaluation. With Pittsburgh Pelvic Health, you can even have an evaluation from the comfort of your own home! Contact PPH via phone, email, or text to discuss how your new body can be made normal again ❤️