Limbo Ladies!!

[CeeCee2010]

Oh my gosh - sod the doughnut that drink looks heavenly!!!

 

[yasmin13]

Get yourself down there and use the voucher!

 

[xxMichellexx]

Its got a few different stories, the woman she was speaking to was over weight, 16stone at 5ft1. I cant give up my cereal though, and ive only gained about 12lbs so far so i dont think im doing much wrong. The rest of the food i eat is generally quite good xxx

 

[CeeCee2010]

Lol I would but the nearest Krispy Kreme to me is 14 miles away. Not somewhere I can nip to on my non existant lunch break. However if anybody would like to get one for me and deliver it to my office I would be truly greatful lol

 

[yasmin13]

There’s one 10 mins away from me but I might use it when I’m out with hubby…. I’m having chicken curry and rice for lunch, last night’s dinner cooked by my lovely DH. Feeling hungry but we have a presentation to go to till 1.15pm

 

[xxMichellexx]

mmmmmmm im having curry for dinner, not sure what to have for lunch xxx

 

[yasmin13]

Is anyone doing there pelvic floor exercise? I keep forgetting and think I really need to! Sometime I have no control when I sneeze or laugh really hard

 

[xxMichellexx]

Is anyone doing there pelvic floor exercise? I keep forgetting and think I really need to! Sometime I have no control when I sneeze or laugh really hard

I dont even know what they are or what to do, nobody has really mentioned them. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[yasmin13]

What is my pelvic floor?

Your pelvic floor is a broad sling of muscles, ligaments and sheet-like tissues. It stretches from your pubic bone at the front of your body to the base of your spine at the back.

The pelvic floor is sometimes compared to a trampoline, as it can stretch in response to weight and bounce up again!

Unlike a trampoline, however, if it bears weight for a long time (as it does during pregnancy), the muscles or tissues can become over-stretched and weak.

Why is my pelvic floor so important?

Your pelvic floor supports your bladder, bowel and uterus (womb). So your pelvic floor gives you control over when you empty your bladder and your bowels.

Having a weak pelvic floor makes it harder for you to squeeze the muscles (sphincters) at the bottom of your bladder to stop wee escaping. You may find you accidentally leak a little wee when you cough, sneeze or exercise. This is called stress incontinence (Morkved et al 2004). You may find this continues after you've had your baby. Postnatal stress incontinence affects up to a third of all new mums (Morkved and Bo 2000).

Your pelvic floor affects your vaginal muscles too. You may find sex less satisfying if you have weak pelvic floor (Roughan and Kunst 1981).

It's not just during pregnancy and childbirth that your pelvic floor is important. You'll need to keep it strong for the rest of your life to guard against problems later, especially after the menopause.

Later in life, if your vaginal muscles are weak, it's possible for your uterus to sag down and push against the walls of your vagina (Jelovsek et al 2007, Swift et al 2003). This is called prolapse. It's thought that four out of 10 women over the age of 50 have some degree of prolapse (Hendrix et al 2002, Swift et al 2003).

If all this sounds alarming, the good news is that you can do something about it. If you do your pelvic floor exercises (see below) every day, you'll be guarding against problems later.

How does pregnancy affect my pelvic floor?

Being pregnant can place a lot of stress on your pelvic floor muscles. Your pelvic floor can become weak and stretched from as early as 12 weeks into your pregnancy. Constipation, which is common in pregnant women, can put even more strain on your pelvic floor.


How do pelvic floor exercises help me?

Pelvic floor exercises, if done properly and often, can help to protect you from leaking urine while you're pregnant and after your baby is born (Morkved and Bo 2000 and 2003, Reilly et al 2002, Hay-Smith and Dumoulin 2006).

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says that all women should be told how to do the exercises during their first pregnancy (NICE 2006). If you haven't been shown how to do pelvic floor exercises during your antenatal classes, ask your midwife about them at your next visit.

Good pelvic floor muscles may help to:

support the extra weight of pregnancy

shorten the second stage of labour, when you push your baby out (Salvesen and Morkved 2007)

heal the area between your anus and vagina (perineum) after birth, by increasing the circulation of blood to it
Another benefit is that women with stronger pelvic floor muscles may be more likely to have orgasms during sex. So doing pelvic floor exercises could help you to have a more satisfying sex life (Roughan and Kunst, 1981)!

How do I find my pelvic floor muscles?

Imagine that you are trying to stop yourself from passing wind and trying to stop your flow of urine mid-stream at the same time. The feeling is one of squeeze and lift, pulling up and in around your front and back passages. When you have practised the exercises for a while, you could try this during love-making, asking your partner whether he can feel the effect.

Some women will feel more happening at the front and some will feel more happening around their bottom. Don't worry too much about this. As long as you can feel a tightening in at least one of these areas, you will be exercising your pelvic floor.

Of course, that sounds easy enough. But the catch is that you have to squeeze and lift without:

pulling in your tummy
squeezing your legs together
tightening your buttocks
holding your breath
When you first try pelvic floor exercises, it is best to start in a comfortable position, for example, lying down (Bo and Finchenhagen 2003) in a quiet place. It may help you get a feel for where your muscles are. Once you know how to do the exercises in this position, try doing them when you are sitting down.

How can I perfect the exercise technique?

When you start out exercising your pelvic floor muscles, you may find that you hold your breath as you squeeze. You'll need to learn to breathe normally as you do the exercises. This is because when you cough or sneeze, you breathe out forcefully. If you can only tighten your muscles when you hold your breath, they will relax as you cough and won't stop urine leaks.

To help you get the technique right, try the following exercise:

Place one hand at the top of your bump and the other on one of your shoulders. Breathe normally for four or five breaths.


If your breathing is relaxed, you should find that the hand on your tummy moves up and down more than the hand on your shoulder. If this is not happening, try to stop your shoulders moving and let your tummy rise and fall naturally.


Gently pull up and in "down below" as you breathe out. When you are learning, don't try to pull up so hard that you have to hold your breath. Start with a gentle contraction until you have managed to co-ordinate your contraction with a breath out.


Try then to hold a contraction for a few seconds while you continue to breathe in and out as normal.


You may feel your lower tummy muscles tightening, and that's fine (Sapsford et al 2000). If you are tightening your upper tummy muscles (above your belly button) then you are trying too hard! Go back to the breathing exercise and start again.


You should aim to be able to hold a pelvic floor contraction for 10 seconds while breathing normally. If you lose your breathing control, stop and start again.
There is a way to help you check if you're doing the exercise properly. Only do this check if you have not been told to avoid sex during pregnancy and do not have any bleeding or infections in your bladder or vagina. Gently insert one or two fingers in your vagina when you are having a bath. Start doing the exercises. You should feel a squeeze and lift inside your vagina if you are exercising your pelvic floor muscles.

Once you have got the basic exercise down to fine art, you can add in fast pull-ups. Begin by making sure you are breathing in a relaxed way and then as you breathe out, pull up your pelvic floor muscles and let go quickly. Then try to pull up and let go quickly up to 10 times in a row without holding your breath.

This exercise helps your pelvic floor muscles to react quickly when you cough, sneeze or laugh. It only works if your pelvic floor muscles are strong enough to support all of your pelvic floor, which is why it is important to start with the slow contractions.

It is much harder to learn how to do these exercises after your baby is born, so practise as much as you can while you're pregnant.

How often do I need to exercise my pelvic floor muscles?

NICE recommends you should exercise eight times, three times a day (2006). If you are having problems with leaking urine you may need to do them more often. In fact, it's a good idea to do as many as you can as you go about your daily routine. You should aim to make pelvic floor exercises a part of your life for ever.

What else do I need to know?

It is just as important to learn how to relax your pelvic floor as it is to tighten it. When your baby's head "crowns" during the second stage of labour, your muscles need to relax. Some midwives believe that a relaxed pelvic floor at this stage can help prevent tearing or episiotomy. Also, if your muscles can't relax properly, they will tire more quickly.

After you have tightened your pelvic floor muscles, make sure you relax them fully before tightening them again. For some women, a gentle push out at the end of each pelvic floor contraction will help. Getting your breathing right will make this easier.

Other things that will help you to protect your pelvic floor:

Drink normally and only go when you feel that your bladder is full. It is normal to go to the toilet more often when you are pregnant but this should stop a week or so after your baby is born.


If you're trying to get fit after the birth of your baby, don't do straight-leg sit-ups and double-leg lifts. These put severe pressure on your pelvic floor and your back. See our article about safe postnatal exercises.
If you find that pelvic floor exercises do not help you control your bladder, ask your GP, obstetrician or midwife to refer you to a specialist women's health physiotherapist or continence nurse.

 

[CeeCee2010]

So I gave in and went to Costa Coffee instead and has a fruit cooler and my god it's divine! I could drink another and another!! As for pelvic floor exercises I must admit I haven't even attempted one!! I have quite strong muscles down there I think as despite the 'direct hit to bladder and wetting myself at work incident' I haven't had any other issues .... lol XXX

 

[xxMichellexx]

What is my pelvic floor?

Your pelvic floor is a broad sling of muscles, ligaments and sheet-like tissues. It stretches from your pubic bone at the front of your body to the base of your spine at the back.

The pelvic floor is sometimes compared to a trampoline, as it can stretch in response to weight and bounce up again!

Unlike a trampoline, however, if it bears weight for a long time (as it does during pregnancy), the muscles or tissues can become over-stretched and weak.

Why is my pelvic floor so important?

Your pelvic floor supports your bladder, bowel and uterus (womb). So your pelvic floor gives you control over when you empty your bladder and your bowels.

Having a weak pelvic floor makes it harder for you to squeeze the muscles (sphincters) at the bottom of your bladder to stop wee escaping. You may find you accidentally leak a little wee when you cough, sneeze or exercise. This is called stress incontinence (Morkved et al 2004). You may find this continues after you've had your baby. Postnatal stress incontinence affects up to a third of all new mums (Morkved and Bo 2000).

Your pelvic floor affects your vaginal muscles too. You may find sex less satisfying if you have weak pelvic floor (Roughan and Kunst 1981).

It's not just during pregnancy and childbirth that your pelvic floor is important. You'll need to keep it strong for the rest of your life to guard against problems later, especially after the menopause.

Later in life, if your vaginal muscles are weak, it's possible for your uterus to sag down and push against the walls of your vagina (Jelovsek et al 2007, Swift et al 2003). This is called prolapse. It's thought that four out of 10 women over the age of 50 have some degree of prolapse (Hendrix et al 2002, Swift et al 2003).

If all this sounds alarming, the good news is that you can do something about it. If you do your pelvic floor exercises (see below) every day, you'll be guarding against problems later.

How does pregnancy affect my pelvic floor?

Being pregnant can place a lot of stress on your pelvic floor muscles. Your pelvic floor can become weak and stretched from as early as 12 weeks into your pregnancy. Constipation, which is common in pregnant women, can put even more strain on your pelvic floor.


How do pelvic floor exercises help me?

Pelvic floor exercises, if done properly and often, can help to protect you from leaking urine while you're pregnant and after your baby is born (Morkved and Bo 2000 and 2003, Reilly et al 2002, Hay-Smith and Dumoulin 2006).

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says that all women should be told how to do the exercises during their first pregnancy (NICE 2006). If you haven't been shown how to do pelvic floor exercises during your antenatal classes, ask your midwife about them at your next visit.

Good pelvic floor muscles may help to:

support the extra weight of pregnancy

shorten the second stage of labour, when you push your baby out (Salvesen and Morkved 2007)

heal the area between your anus and vagina (perineum) after birth, by increasing the circulation of blood to it
Another benefit is that women with stronger pelvic floor muscles may be more likely to have orgasms during sex. So doing pelvic floor exercises could help you to have a more satisfying sex life (Roughan and Kunst, 1981)!

How do I find my pelvic floor muscles?

Imagine that you are trying to stop yourself from passing wind and trying to stop your flow of urine mid-stream at the same time. The feeling is one of squeeze and lift, pulling up and in around your front and back passages. When you have practised the exercises for a while, you could try this during love-making, asking your partner whether he can feel the effect.

Some women will feel more happening at the front and some will feel more happening around their bottom. Don't worry too much about this. As long as you can feel a tightening in at least one of these areas, you will be exercising your pelvic floor.

Of course, that sounds easy enough. But the catch is that you have to squeeze and lift without:

pulling in your tummy
squeezing your legs together
tightening your buttocks
holding your breath
When you first try pelvic floor exercises, it is best to start in a comfortable position, for example, lying down (Bo and Finchenhagen 2003) in a quiet place. It may help you get a feel for where your muscles are. Once you know how to do the exercises in this position, try doing them when you are sitting down.

How can I perfect the exercise technique?

When you start out exercising your pelvic floor muscles, you may find that you hold your breath as you squeeze. You'll need to learn to breathe normally as you do the exercises. This is because when you cough or sneeze, you breathe out forcefully. If you can only tighten your muscles when you hold your breath, they will relax as you cough and won't stop urine leaks.

To help you get the technique right, try the following exercise:

Place one hand at the top of your bump and the other on one of your shoulders. Breathe normally for four or five breaths.


If your breathing is relaxed, you should find that the hand on your tummy moves up and down more than the hand on your shoulder. If this is not happening, try to stop your shoulders moving and let your tummy rise and fall naturally.


Gently pull up and in "down below" as you breathe out. When you are learning, don't try to pull up so hard that you have to hold your breath. Start with a gentle contraction until you have managed to co-ordinate your contraction with a breath out.


Try then to hold a contraction for a few seconds while you continue to breathe in and out as normal.


You may feel your lower tummy muscles tightening, and that's fine (Sapsford et al 2000). If you are tightening your upper tummy muscles (above your belly button) then you are trying too hard! Go back to the breathing exercise and start again.


You should aim to be able to hold a pelvic floor contraction for 10 seconds while breathing normally. If you lose your breathing control, stop and start again.
There is a way to help you check if you're doing the exercise properly. Only do this check if you have not been told to avoid sex during pregnancy and do not have any bleeding or infections in your bladder or vagina. Gently insert one or two fingers in your vagina when you are having a bath. Start doing the exercises. You should feel a squeeze and lift inside your vagina if you are exercising your pelvic floor muscles.

Once you have got the basic exercise down to fine art, you can add in fast pull-ups. Begin by making sure you are breathing in a relaxed way and then as you breathe out, pull up your pelvic floor muscles and let go quickly. Then try to pull up and let go quickly up to 10 times in a row without holding your breath.

This exercise helps your pelvic floor muscles to react quickly when you cough, sneeze or laugh. It only works if your pelvic floor muscles are strong enough to support all of your pelvic floor, which is why it is important to start with the slow contractions.

It is much harder to learn how to do these exercises after your baby is born, so practise as much as you can while you're pregnant.

How often do I need to exercise my pelvic floor muscles?

NICE recommends you should exercise eight times, three times a day (2006). If you are having problems with leaking urine you may need to do them more often. In fact, it's a good idea to do as many as you can as you go about your daily routine. You should aim to make pelvic floor exercises a part of your life for ever.

What else do I need to know?

It is just as important to learn how to relax your pelvic floor as it is to tighten it. When your baby's head "crowns" during the second stage of labour, your muscles need to relax. Some midwives believe that a relaxed pelvic floor at this stage can help prevent tearing or episiotomy. Also, if your muscles can't relax properly, they will tire more quickly.

After you have tightened your pelvic floor muscles, make sure you relax them fully before tightening them again. For some women, a gentle push out at the end of each pelvic floor contraction will help. Getting your breathing right will make this easier.

Other things that will help you to protect your pelvic floor:

Drink normally and only go when you feel that your bladder is full. It is normal to go to the toilet more often when you are pregnant but this should stop a week or so after your baby is born.


If you're trying to get fit after the birth of your baby, don't do straight-leg sit-ups and double-leg lifts. These put severe pressure on your pelvic floor and your back. See our article about safe postnatal exercises.
If you find that pelvic floor exercises do not help you control your bladder, ask your GP, obstetrician or midwife to refer you to a specialist women's health physiotherapist or continence nurse.

Why thank you xxxxx

 

[CeeCee2010]

Oh man I'm sooooo craving another berry blast fruit cooler from Costa Coffee now... one just isn't enough!! Just another quick question, what does it feel like when baby is engaged? Jess feels really really low down today and I feel like (and probably TMI here) her head is resting on my foof... is that what it feels like?? xxx

 

[Barbles]

My pelvic floor is shot to shit since having Phoebe, didnt do enough exercises so Im trying to get it back this time round. Squeeze them muscles girls!!!

And I have never had a Krispy Kreme donught, they don't have any in Cornwall to my knowledge. I love donughts.

I had a toasted bagel with chocolate spread for dinner, it was yummy.

 

[Barbles]

CeeCee, Jacob lives in my foof, he hasnt been out of it for days. Im pretty sure he is engaged though the midwife wouldnt say whether he is or not yesterday just that its nothing worry about at this stage as there is still plenty of room for him to move around still.
Phoebe never engaged fully until 2 days before she was born, there was a lot of pressure I remember but she was 9lbs by then so different to now anyways. Ill post a picture later of how low my bump is. Plus his movements are different etc I would quite like him to pop back up again now.

Generally when they engage properly you bump will drop and you will feel the difference in your bump, you have room to breath and eat though you waddle about

 

[xxMichellexx]

Does 'engaging' mean when the babies head is down below?

I know nothing xxx

 

[CeeCee2010]

Hmmm thats one of the reasons why I asked because my bump has dropped lol She's been head down since around 23 weeks when I saw the midwife. Apparently she's found a comfortable position and wants to stay there lol. Your post made me chuckle though "Jacob lives in my foof..." you do make me chuckle love!! X

 

[CeeCee2010]

Oh dear feel quite bad now... Just woke myself up as I had started dosing by my desk... oh lordy. Thank goodness my boss wasn't here! Need to wake up!! ~slaps face~ .... nope that didn't work lol

 

[Barbles]

We shall waddle together CeeCee !!

What I would give for a nap right now, it worse working on a day when you dont normally work.

Ooh Im having a braxton hicks randomly.

I think Im going to ring my OH, I like him today even if he does snore like a hippo!!

 

[CeeCee2010]

Lol just call me Jemima Puddle Duck and I shall waddle alongside you sweetie I had a really bad set of Braxton Hicks this morning when I was walking (or rather 'schleping' lol) to my office. It took me 15 mins to walk what normally takes me 2-3. The people who say Braxton Hicks don't hurt are bare faced liars lol xxx

 

[Barbles]

Mine aren't really hurting though they are quite intense iykwim. I never had them til I was 39 weeks with Phoebe, not that I noticed anyways but those one hurt with her, I thought I was going into labour everynight for a week and then nothing would happen lol.

Time for a coffee and a kitkat, today is not a day for healthyness for me x