R.C. Anderson
Water displacement and … talking about water …
March 19th 2007 06:53
We went swimming yesterday, at the local pool. It was the first time in quite a while that I’d endeavoured to squeeze my ever expanding belly into a swimming costume and I was pretty pessimistic about my chances of getting all relevant parts of my anatomy into it AND keeping them in as the water lapped around my bosom.
A swimming costume designed to fit a person of a particular size generally shakes its non-existent head and refuses to cooperate when asked to stretch over a stomach a number of sizes larger than its original size. I had terrible images flashing through my mind of elegantly stepping out of the water after my relaxing swim to find both my boobies flopping out of the top of my costume, which had decided it just wouldn’t stretch any further.
To my eternal gratitude (and probably the gratitude of all other patrons at the pool) my swimming costume decided to ‘play the game’ and ‘come to the party’ and my boobs remained under wraps.
Oh, the perils of being 31 weeks pregnant … there is “No Dignity Allowed”.
I must admit, though, when I did finally step elegantly out of the water, I’m sure my whale-like body had caused a rather major displacement problem to the level of water in the pool. I’m positive the level dropped a good few inches!
Oh, and the ‘experts’ are right. Swimming, along with walking, is one of the best exercises a pregnant woman can participate in. For the hour or so we were in the water I could almost forget that I was carrying something the general size and shape of a watermelon in my belly.
I almost felt normal.
Now … talking about water …
As I enter the final stages of pregnancy there is a particular subject that continues to push itself to the forefront of my mind. I’m not talking about going into labour, or going through the whole childbirth experience, or even meeting this little person growing inside me for the first time. I’m talking about something entirely different.
I’m talking about the pelvic floor.
The pelvic floor muscles are found strung between the tailbone and pubic bone and encircle the urethra, vagina and anus (in females). By contracting these muscles, the openings of these three areas of a woman’s body are tightened, helping to hold in urine and faeces. A weakened pelvic floor results in the muscles not contracting effectively, the bladder and bowels aren’t supported properly and leakage can occur.
There are a number of causes of a weakened pelvic floor in females but one of the most common is childbirth. Natural or vaginal childbirth stretches the pelvic floor muscles and is a major contributor towards statistics that state around one third of all women in Australia have some problem with bladder incontinence.
Many women consider this an embarrassing and humiliating problem and don’t truly understand that they are not alone suffering symptoms such as bladder leakage when coughing, sneezing or laughing; failing to reach the toilet on time; diminished vaginal sensations and a feeling of heaviness and bulging in the vagina.
Minor pelvic floor weakness can be reversed, however, using gentle pelvic floor exercises. The three sphincters (rings of muscles) surrounding the vagina, urethra and anus should be exercised . To determine which sphincter is weakened try the following:
Urethral: try to stop the flow of urine when going to the toilet by squeezing the muscles. This shouldn’t be attempted on a regular basis, only to identify any weakness.
Anal: squeeze the muscles and pretend to hold in a fart.
Vaginal: insert a couple of clean fingers into your vagina (yours or someone else’s!) and try to squeeze them.
Once you’ve identified your area of weakness, try the following exercises. Find a comfortable position and don’t bear down or hold your breath.
* Squeeze all muscles slowly. Hold for 5 seconds then gradually release. Repeat 10 times, relaxing fully between each contraction.
* Perform short, strong squeezes in sets of ten, relaxing totally between each set.
And remember to squeeze the muscles tightly each time you cough or sneeze.
Don’t give up. Noticeable improvement can take a while to become apparent but it will happen if you exercise the muscles. Constipation and obesity can also contribute towards pelvic floor muscle weakness so incorporating a healthy diet in to your normal routine is beneficial, in more ways than one.
And don’t forget, don’t be embarrassed to share your problem with your doctor. He or she has seen it all before.
Okay, it’s time for me to go and do some exercises … what a great excuse to go and lie down in bed. Now I just have to convince my husband that I’m not being a lazy slack arse and I really am doing something healthy …
… wish me luck!
A swimming costume designed to fit a person of a particular size generally shakes its non-existent head and refuses to cooperate when asked to stretch over a stomach a number of sizes larger than its original size. I had terrible images flashing through my mind of elegantly stepping out of the water after my relaxing swim to find both my boobies flopping out of the top of my costume, which had decided it just wouldn’t stretch any further.
To my eternal gratitude (and probably the gratitude of all other patrons at the pool) my swimming costume decided to ‘play the game’ and ‘come to the party’ and my boobs remained under wraps.
Oh, the perils of being 31 weeks pregnant … there is “No Dignity Allowed”.
I must admit, though, when I did finally step elegantly out of the water, I’m sure my whale-like body had caused a rather major displacement problem to the level of water in the pool. I’m positive the level dropped a good few inches!
Oh, and the ‘experts’ are right. Swimming, along with walking, is one of the best exercises a pregnant woman can participate in. For the hour or so we were in the water I could almost forget that I was carrying something the general size and shape of a watermelon in my belly.
I almost felt normal.
Now … talking about water …
As I enter the final stages of pregnancy there is a particular subject that continues to push itself to the forefront of my mind. I’m not talking about going into labour, or going through the whole childbirth experience, or even meeting this little person growing inside me for the first time. I’m talking about something entirely different.
I’m talking about the pelvic floor.
The pelvic floor muscles are found strung between the tailbone and pubic bone and encircle the urethra, vagina and anus (in females). By contracting these muscles, the openings of these three areas of a woman’s body are tightened, helping to hold in urine and faeces. A weakened pelvic floor results in the muscles not contracting effectively, the bladder and bowels aren’t supported properly and leakage can occur.
There are a number of causes of a weakened pelvic floor in females but one of the most common is childbirth. Natural or vaginal childbirth stretches the pelvic floor muscles and is a major contributor towards statistics that state around one third of all women in Australia have some problem with bladder incontinence.
Many women consider this an embarrassing and humiliating problem and don’t truly understand that they are not alone suffering symptoms such as bladder leakage when coughing, sneezing or laughing; failing to reach the toilet on time; diminished vaginal sensations and a feeling of heaviness and bulging in the vagina.
Minor pelvic floor weakness can be reversed, however, using gentle pelvic floor exercises. The three sphincters (rings of muscles) surrounding the vagina, urethra and anus should be exercised . To determine which sphincter is weakened try the following:
Urethral: try to stop the flow of urine when going to the toilet by squeezing the muscles. This shouldn’t be attempted on a regular basis, only to identify any weakness.
Anal: squeeze the muscles and pretend to hold in a fart.
Vaginal: insert a couple of clean fingers into your vagina (yours or someone else’s!) and try to squeeze them.
Once you’ve identified your area of weakness, try the following exercises. Find a comfortable position and don’t bear down or hold your breath.
* Squeeze all muscles slowly. Hold for 5 seconds then gradually release. Repeat 10 times, relaxing fully between each contraction.
* Perform short, strong squeezes in sets of ten, relaxing totally between each set.
And remember to squeeze the muscles tightly each time you cough or sneeze.
Don’t give up. Noticeable improvement can take a while to become apparent but it will happen if you exercise the muscles. Constipation and obesity can also contribute towards pelvic floor muscle weakness so incorporating a healthy diet in to your normal routine is beneficial, in more ways than one.
And don’t forget, don’t be embarrassed to share your problem with your doctor. He or she has seen it all before.
Okay, it’s time for me to go and do some exercises … what a great excuse to go and lie down in bed. Now I just have to convince my husband that I’m not being a lazy slack arse and I really am doing something healthy …
… wish me luck!
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Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
Pelvis has entered the building.
...or should it be the other way around...?
Cara....funny, funny, funny....and wonderfuly informative and descriptive as only you can write it.
I'm floored.
One thing.
How the bloomin' hell did you get past mature content???????????????
The 'al' exercises?
You can see it can't you?
The havoc someone (like oh...let me think...hmm... let's say.....David) would wreak with them....
One must always do ones pelvic floor exercises...one can do them anywhere, anytime...and I'll just leave it at that...
It's wonderful to see you Cara...
Dusk
xoxox
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
You are the shining light in my night ...
... you crack me up, my girl, crack me up.
And I have found that if you whisper (shhhhhhh), mature content just doesn't hear you! Then again, I really don't agree with the concept of being mature ... too much like hard work.
Keep up those exercises, my dear friend.
Take care ... it's great to 'see' you too.
Love Cara. xxxx
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
I'm enjoying the ride you are taking us all on. Having done this 3 times myself I read your posts with envy and a little bit of the "thank god I'm not doing that again".
My youngest is 17 months old this week and ordinarily this would be about the time I would start to try and fall pregnant again, but sadly I don't think I'm having any more. But I am conflicted about the subject.
Anyway, all I really wanted to say was that if I can't do this again, thank you for sharing your journey.
Happy to hear that your boobs behaved
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Portsmouth
Keep all us fans up to date on your progress.
Love as always from Pompey xxxxxx
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Thank you so much for your lovely words. It's nice to know that I am not just entertaining and educating but bringing back fond memories for others as well.
I do know what you're saying ... I think three is going to be the limit for me as well so I guess that was partly the reason I wanted to document my pregnancy 'trials and tribulations' this time around.
Oh and personally I'm glad my boobs behaved too!!!
Thanks again.
A xx
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
It's never too late, you know. The pelvic floor is like any and every muscle in the body ... the more you use it and exercise it, the better it will work.
Swimming is great, isn't it.
I'll write soon.
Love A. xxxx
PS Parcel arrived safely ... thankyou for that.