It takes many weeks to fully recover from a Caesarean Section and the last thing you will feel like doing is exercise, even though you know you should. Sex, on the other hand, is an activity that you find it hard to imagine ever wanting to indulge in again. Everything hurts and trying to move around without control of your stomach muscles makes you feel like a beached whale.
However, performing Kegel and pelvic floor exercises is vital to the future health of your pelvic and pubic areas and gentle squeezing of the muscle that you use to control your urine should be tried at the first opportunity. In most cases, it is possible to perform some gentle repetitions the day after your operation, with the agreement of your health professional.
The most basic Kegel and pelvic floor exercises consist of squeezing your vaginal muscles as if you were trying to stop the flow of urine and then holding the contraction for a count of three before slowly releasing.
This means that these exercises can be done whilst you are feeding your baby, so it's not something you have to try to fit in to what will become an increasingly crowded schedule.
After this major abdominal surgery, for six weeks, the only thing you should be lifting is your baby.
It's hard not to want to lose the remaining excess weight of pregnancy and retrieve your figure but, no matter how desperate you are, any exercise should be restricted to gentle walking and Kegel and pelvic floor squeezing. Until your stomach muscles have realigned themselves and regained the strength to deal with such demanding exercises, you should avoid crunchies or sit-ups.
The thing to focus on is that, all the time that you are doing your kegel and pelvic floor exercises, you are repairing and reinforcing the foundations of a structure that will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.
The pelvic diaphragm is a sling of muscles stretching from your back bone through your legs to your pubic bone. They hold your bladder, your womb, your vagina and your rectum in place.
Carrying the weight of the baby and placenta on top of the normal organs will have placed additional pressure on this structure. In the final months of gestation, muscle and tissue relaxing hormones are released which help to allow the cervix and vagina to accommodate the passage of the baby's head. The downside of this is that the tension in the hammock of muscles that form the pelvic diaphragm is also affected. It is, therefore, vital to help those retaining muscles to return to their pre-pregnancy size if you wish to avoid a prolapse of your womb, rectum or vagina.
As well as preventing problems with prolapse, gently exercising the pelvic floor aids circulation to the womb, bladder, rectum and vagina, so regular repetitions will stop you from becoming incontinent, make your orgasms better and reduce your chances of getting piles.
The avoidance of haemerrhoids is one of the big advantages that a caesarean has over the vaginal method of delivery and our sisters who have had to push! Piles can become such a nuisance in later life that a few minutes a day now will save you a whole lot of painful irritation later on.
When your baby gets to 12 weeks old, you should consult with your health professional to ascertain whether your scar is sufficiently healed to begin participating in more advanced exercise programmes, but these should be undertaken alongside your Kegel and pelvic floor exercises.
At about this time, you can also start to use the various available internal aids which assist with squeezing - barbells, balls, cones and battery-powered pelvic health aids. These Kegel devices have various pre-programmed stimulating patterns aimed at regaining the optimum pelvic floor.
As the old adage says, Use It or Lose It! Which brings us to the thorny subject of sex after a caesarean.
This is an issue that will start to become pressing right about 12 weeks. Now that your scar is less painful, you become aware of the needs of the man who has been supporting you throughout this difficult time.
To be honest, the longer you put it off, the more difficult the subject will become. Like all new mothers, you will be worried about the changes that he might find in your nether regions.
However, unlike those women who have given birth vaginally, for the mother who has had a caesarean, it is the scar that is the concern. The redness will diminish over time and, after 12 weeks, it should be able to bear the weight of your partner in missionary position. If you are concerned, then you can try spooning.
Down at the business end, you will discover the other major plus of having a caesarean section, rather than pushing the baby out through the vagina. The fact that the baby's head has not stretched the vagina to facilitate its exit means that its appearance and shape should not have changed.
The great thing is that, if you have been doing your Kegel and pelvic floor exercises regularly, the muscles of the vagina will have benefitted from increased blood flow and it will feel tighter and more sensitive than it did pre-pregnancy. This means that both of you will experience more intense climaxes.
Kegel and pelvic floor exercises. Helping to maintain the tone of your vagina and pubococcygeus (or love) muscle.
Enjoy!
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