Tag: womens-health

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

What a Week!

Posted on by Mama

Well another week gone and it feels like a complete blur! Let’s recap, at least what I can remember anyway.

I finally got to take pictures at Century Manor, I went back to the gym, my daughter rolled for the first time this week (Yay!!), my internet went out…AGAIN, went to the post office to send out a return, I unintentionally went for a two hour walk with my daughter, requested an exchange on a book order, rescheduled my dental appointment and Salem went back to the vet for a recheck. I think those are the big highlights.

It was a hectic week and I really didn’t expect it to be, it just kind of turned out that way. So I apologize in advance if this post is boring or too domestic compared to my usual posts.

I ordered some books from an online place called https://bookoutlet.ca/. It’s fantastic and I am a lover of physical copies. So, when I ordered they were doing a buy 4 get the 5th free; well I had to get books for myself and Valeria! I came across this one series, a book of three, and I thought I had ordered all three books. But when I got my order this week I had two copies of book three. I was confused, checking my order and somehow I had mistakenly ordered it. When I went back online, book one was no longer there, I was sad. I contacted their customer support requesting a return or exchange, I was even willing to ship back the book at my own cost. They got back to me the same day and stated they will refund me, and to donate the book instead of sending it back. Frankly, some of the best customer support I’ve ever received! So I will happily be donating that book.

Next up, I ordered clothing online. I know what your thinking…Ugh online shopping and this time I have to agree. I ordered two pairs of black pants and this cute hoodie with a cut-out at the upper chest, however I was severely disappointed. They fit WAY too small, the material on the one pair of pants felt more like fabric you’d wear at Halloween, the sweater was a teeny tiny crop top that barely fit over my boobs….needless to say, it was a disaster! I requested a return and sent it back. Which is why I went to the post office….

Next story..

I decided instead of having my husband drive me, or take my own car which I didnt have Thuraday anyway, that I would walk down to the post office. It’s not all that far and Valeria could use her daily walk, so I decided to take her in the stroller and go. Well, because we had to walk along the main road, the cars kept rushing by on the street, which little Miss Valeria was not a fan of. So, on the way home I decided to take the back way that goes past my eldest brother’s house. I informed my husband that if I was taking longer then expected that was why. Silly me didnt realize, at that moment, that a 5 minute drive isnt a short walk. From leaving the house to the time I got home, it was 2 hours! I was sore already from the gym, then that cardio, man was I spent! Valeria had a wonderful sleep pretty much the whole time and the sun was shining, so a big positive on both fronts.

I couldn’t handle going to the dentist this coming Monday, February 12th, so I rescheduled. I seriously hate going to the dentist. Traumatized as a kid, and still can’t get over it. So I avoid it as much as I possibly can. A story for another day!

Salem’s recheck. Well, I scheduled this one Wednesday morning for today. She still was having constipation and she was turning her nose up at the food that helps her get fiber in her diet. So, I needed to find out if the problem was something else internally. Thankfully the visit was quick; assessed her from head to toe again, I requested bloodwork and some more medicine and they gave her some subcutaneous fluids for the dehydration. Not sure how she is dehydrated, I see her drinking constantly. That makes me wonder if it is a kidney issue like I fear. The veterinarian also suggested trying unflavored metamucil in her food, which I will definitely try! Then we took her home.

Can you see how chaotic this week turned out to be? I don’t even want to get into the internet thing, so I’m going to leave this post on a happy note.

It was a good week, so many good things happened and I’ve already got big plans for next week. My husband took next week off for lots of family time.

Until tomorrow, have a wonderful day or evening wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Health & Wellness

What The Heck Is Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy?!

Posted on by Mama

***Full disclosure: I am not a doctor and please consult a health care professional, this is just my experience and suggestion.***

When I got pregnant with Valeria, I knew that I had some pondering to do with my birth. I have a lower back injury and I didn’t want intervention if we could help it, but that made me consider whether an epidural was viable for me or not. With the risk factors being higher then I would have liked, I opted for no epidural. Now, of course I discussed this with my Midwife and Doula in depth and let them know that if the circumstances arise where the baby or I were at risk, then off to the hospital for necessary treatment/an epidural.

Luckily, I didn’t have to do that and my birth was difficult but naturally done at the Midwife clinic.

Needless to say, I wanted to be well prepared before pushing a child out naturally. My sister-in-law suggested Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy. When she said that, initially I had this confused look on my face like “What the heck is that?”. Then she proceeded to explain what it was and how much it helped her with her births. She highly recommended it and I said “I will definitely look into it!” And I did.

For those who don’t know what this does for a pregnant woman; let me explain it and please if you are interested do further research. But here is what Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy is: A physiotherapist who can help address areas of pelvic and low back pain/pressure, incontinence, and helps to teach you exercises and techniques to help prepare your body for birth. Pregnant women are recommended to begin pelvic floor physiotherapy during the second or third trimester (28-32 weeks).

There are so many benefits to pelvic floor physiotherapy, and for me, I didn’t know just how much pressure and strain that was being put onto my pelvic floor until I started treatment. Between the pressure from the ever growing baby, unconsciously tightening my abdominal/butt muscles for compensation and straining my muscles with daily activity in general (I was a go go go kind of pregnant woman). I didn’t realize I was exhausting everything down below, which in turn caused me some incontinence.

My physiotherapist was wonderful and extremely knowledgeable. On the first visit she explained what she does, she explained with a diorama of the pelvis what is going on when your pregnant, and then did an assessment. Now I opted out of the internal assessment, which is recommended for a better understanding of what’s happening internally, but I really didn’t like being touched much during my pregnancy so….no. She did some assessments, asked numerous questions and then proceeded with a treatment plan. Now, I started my physiotherapy a little later then suggested, but still super beneficial. It helped with my incontinence quite a bit, how to put less strain when getting up out of bed or the couch, and techniques to help prepare my body for birth, helping to loosen my muscles.

The benefits were incredible and I’m so thankful this was suggested to me. Honestly, I wish more women knew about this and I’m hoping it gains more popularity in the future. It’s not just a benefit during pregnancy but postpartum as well. When I was recovering, I remembered certain tips and tricks my physiotherapist taught me for postpartum and to help with my pain, etc.

I heard in certain parts of Europe, specifically France, that this is seen as part of your postpartum recovery. The government has funded rehabilitation for women who give birth; they get to “re-train” their pelvic floors with 10 free physical therapy sessions. How wonderful and brilliant! Ours is part of private health care here in Canada.

If you are from Europe or other parts of the world, is this funded by the government or part of private health care?

Now you are probably wondering the point here huh?

Well today I had my postpartum follow-up. Generally you see your physiotherapist six weeks after birth, but I wasn’t able to. One, she had no availability and two, we were sick in December. So today was my big day and it was great. She assessed my abdomen, flexibility, etc.; I got the green light to get back in the gym (YES!), some new stretches and exercises to help with my core strengthening and for relaxation, and a nice chat on things to lookout for which may be cause for concern. Otherwise, she says my recovery has been amazing from what she could tell. She also wished more women would take the time to actually recover after birth, I wholeheartedly agreed. Even though it’s extremely difficult to do so.

My recommendation: If you are able, please take care of your pelvic floor before and after birth, it is so important for you to get back to normal. And let’s be honest, no mama wants to pee herself when she laughs, especially after birth! Also, pelvic floor physiotherapy isn’t just for pregnancy or just for women, men can go too! So, if you feel something is going on down below, please check it out because it may just help.

Ciao!