May 19, 2021 • 30 mins
Pelvic floor Physical Therapist, ‘The Vagina Whisperer’, Sara Reardon is back! This week, she joins Heidi to cover everything you need to know about postpartum recovery. How much pain is normal, and what can you do to find relief? How can you take the fear out of the first poop, and optimize postpartum bladder control? And what about getting back to sex and exercise? Whether you have a vaginal delivery or a c-section, this episode is full of tips, tricks, and information that will empower you to prioritize healthy healing.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Who baby A baby? I need you, Oh how I
need you? What to expect? As a production of I
Heart Radio, I'm your host Heidi Murkoff, and I'm a
mom on a mission, a mission to help you know
what to expect every step of the way. Let's face it,
(00:26):
your vagina is a pretty amazing organ and it is
built to take it snug enough to slip a tamp on,
in elastic enough to accommodate a baby's exit. But even
if your baby arrives via c section, your vagina, not
to mention, your paraneum and your pelvic floor muscles can
(00:47):
take a hit during pregnancy and childbirth. Enter the vagina
Whisperer Sarah Reardon. She's a pelvic floor physical therapist and
she specializes in tender, loving care of your entire pelvic floor.
Last week she was here on what to Expect, to
talk about your pregnancy aches and pains, and how to
(01:07):
prepare for birth. Today she's back to talk us through
postpartum recovery. What will your recovery look like and how
can you make it easier? Encourage healthy healing, come about
a whole new set of aches and pains. Help you
regain bladder control, go back to pooping as usual, get
(01:27):
moving again, and what about sex? Does that have to
be a four letter word postpartum? Sarah, welcome back, Thank
you hiding. I'm so excited to be here again. So
I guess we've delivered our baby. Now we have to
find out what we do postpartum to nurture ourselves, because
it's not all about the baby, it's about nurturing yourself
as well. And I feel like there's a reason why
(01:52):
we've changed the pregnancy timeline a bit, the traditional one
that talked about three trimesters and then you have a
six check up and then you're done. But pregnancy really
is more of a for trimester process because recovery takes time.
There are huge benefits to caring for your pelvic floor
(02:13):
during pregnancy. But you say many patients don't show up
at your door or virtual door until after they've delivered.
Is it like better late than never? It's any time
is a good time. So whether it's you know, days postpartum,
we have folks calling us asking about taking their first
postpartum poop or six weeks when they're returning to sex
(02:35):
and exercise, or even later down the line. But it's
always better late than never. And I think that oftentimes
we think if we're out of the fourth trimester, then
our healing should be done, that our postpartum period is over.
But you and I both know that it really lasts forever.
And there's just I think, such little care for moms postpartum,
(02:55):
and we don't even know what care we need sometimes
that we didn't even know where to start getting it
on are the most common symptoms that bring new moms
in to see you? So I would say some of
the most common ones are urinary leakage. So that may
be leakage with a call for a sneeze, running after
a kiddo getting out of a chair too, or it
(03:15):
may show up later when they are returning to exercise
and they're starting to run and do jumping jacks. I
think oftentimes we think, oh, it's going to happen a
little bit in the beginning, but it'll get better. And
research is really showing that a lot of folks who
are experiencing leakage at three months postpartum may still be
experiencing it at twelve months postpartum, So it doesn't necessarily
just go away. If anything, we become more active when
(03:38):
we start doing more and it could potentially get worse.
So that's a common one. Another really common one is
painful sex. That's kind of a scary one to enter
back into. And you know, six weeks is this kind
of arbitrary timeline that's come up with. I tell you know,
my patients, it's totally fine to wait longer. There is
no rush. But some things to think about are you
(03:58):
may have vaginal dryness if you are lactating, you may
have some scar tissue in the area that could cause pain.
You may have experienced trauma during birth that really could
be affecting your intimacy or your muscle tension. So that's
a really big one that I think you'd like to
address with moms. And then lastly, probably you know cesarean
scar restriction, cesarean scar pain. Moms are having cecerean births
(04:21):
these days, and there's no follow up on how do
I manage my scar? What if it's painful? What does
it feel fuzzy or uncomfortable when I'm wearing pants? And
we do a lot of cesarian recovery as well, what
is your timeline for recovery, Like when do you feel
if I don't if I don't feel good by now,
something's wrong and I need to come to see you.
(04:43):
In my ideal vagina world, I would see all folks,
usually everyone I know. Hopefully we will live in that world,
but I would see everyone for at least one visit
POSTPARTU to say, looks good, you're doing this exercise properly,
a everything looks like it's great and healing, carry on.
Or to say there is a little bit of weakness here,
(05:05):
a little bit of prolapse, a little bit of scar massage.
Let's work on that. So around six weeks, we'd like
to see them. I think if by twelve weeks you're
still experiencing pain, leaked pressure, abdominal weakness, discomfort, I would
go in and start seeing a physical therapist around that
twelve week mark. So the O B is going to
the midwife, is going to see you at six weeks,
(05:27):
should we also come in to see you at that
six weeks. That's when we ask our clients to come in.
After they kind of get their medical clearance of everything
looks good, You're good to return to normal, we have
them come in to see us. Sometimes, you know, the
very next day or within that week to get them
started back to exercise, sex, living their daily lives. I
mean we kind of get that sums up to like
(05:49):
go back to your normal life, but like nothing is
normally what is normal? And physically we haven't been rehabilitated,
So how do we just go back to normal now?
And if anything, it will be a new normal, but
hopefully ultimately a better new normal with our help. UM,
So let's get into a little detail about that first
(06:10):
poop that you mentioned, because I gotta say it comes
with a lot of dread, understandably, especially if you've had stitches,
But even if you had a C section, you're still
stressed out about that first poop. In fact, having a
c section all that medication can make you more constipated,
and also you're moving less, which can make you more constipated.
(06:33):
So this too, shall pass, but how do we make
it pass more easily? Initially? That's um one of the
most common things I like to address with moms because
we don't even especially first time mom, they don't even
realize that that first poop might be an issue. So
the number one thing I tell folks is to take
a stool softeners so you have blood loss you have dehydration,
(06:55):
you're in pain, whether you've had a vaginal or cesarean birth,
and taking those stool softomers will help keep your poops
off so that it's not really hard and difficult to pass.
And also tons of hydration. Your milk maybe coming in again.
You've got blood loss and dehydration, so making sure that
you're really pushing the fluids the first two weeks and
even after that. The other things are is to use
(07:16):
a squatty potty. So we touched on this a little
bit in our first chat together. But putting your feet
up on a stool or a box or whatever you have.
You know, in the hospital, I turned the garbage can
sideways and put my feet on it so that I
could help my hips relax a little bit. Getting into
that squatting position helps relax your pelvic floor so that
(07:36):
you can poop. And those hospital toilets are high. You know,
there's a little travel squatty potty that you can literally
pack up and bring in your hospital back. I'm like,
we need to rethink the hospital bag because we need
pelvic floor support for moms in there. What are we bringing, Oh,
we're bringing a travel squatty potty. We're bringing a little
peribottle with a curve nozzle so that it's a little
(07:59):
more sophisticate it in the hospital ones. I love compression
garments that aren't waste trainers, but give moms a little
support for swelling and healing. The ice pack always an
ice pack. I love an ice pack. Um, and I
tell folks to ice even after they get home from
the hospital the first week, so um, the stool softeners,
the stool under their feet, and then when they're pooping,
(08:19):
it actually encourage them to use their hand to support
the parenneum. So that area vaginally and at the pareneum,
whether you've had a tear or not, can be really
vulnerable and we're trying to like push something out, So
I tell them to take their hand and kind of
hold up the volver and pyneal area as they bear
down to poop. And if you've had a cesarean birth,
to put a pillow over your tummy and hold that
(08:41):
area when you're trying to have a poop. So just
kind of protecting those really vulnerable areas when you're trying
to exhale and bear down to empty the balls. And
clearly your hands are clean or actually you can use
toilet paper, I tell me up over their hand. That's
a good tip, great, great clarifica, no thanks. I really
appreciate your poop PEP talk. We all need it sometimes.
(09:05):
So on two P. The first time you pee, you
may feel like it's kind of hard to because your
bladder might feel paralyzed. You might need some encouragement. I always,
you know, use the running water and you know, warm
water over your paraneum. Um. What are some things you
can tell us about that first P and subsequent peace
(09:26):
and how to keep them healthy? Right, So the very
first P, I think is a big one. That you
kind of feel a little bit frozen down there. And
so that's the experience that I had, And I had
to get into the shower and let warm water run
over me, and that warmth and that water running kind
of helps you relax a little bit and then pan
(09:48):
a shower. Everybody, it's a great place to pee. It's
a totally fine, safe place to pe um. But when
you're in the hospital you can do that and then
also taking some just big deep breath, really not having
mom's push when they p. We want those big deep
breasts to help the muscles relax and then the bladder
can push the p out for them. Um. That's if
they're standing or sitting. And then again if they're sitting
(10:09):
over the toilet or sitting on the toilet, having a
little stool or support under their feet to help them
relax because those toilets are high. And then I even
tell moms that they're really you know, not able to
start their stream. Another thing for their hospital back to
keep peppermint essential oil in their hospital back and you
put ten or twenty drops of that in the toilet
water and then you sit over that and the aroma
(10:30):
or the fumes kind of stimulate the urine area sphincter
to relax a little bit. So all of these just
things to help options so that you don't end up
getting right to a catheter. But you have some tools
to help facilitate relaxation. But if you've had a catheter
because you had an epidural, that's going to make it
even harder, right, And so that's why you really want
to work on the they'll take that catheter out, you
(10:50):
still want to work on the breathing, maybe the running water,
maybe the peppermint drops in the toilet water. All things
to really facilitate relaxation of that pelt floor. And also
it's it's hard to be lying down, isn't it. I
mean if they give you a bad pan. So bladder control,
we talked a lot about that because it's an important topic.
(11:11):
Can you regain it after you've lost it? Yeah, I
mean I think it's variable depending on kind of the
level the extent of loss of bladder control. So which
will you know, typically present like urinary leakage, And that's
one of the things is that a lot of moms
one of two things happens after you give birth is
that you can't pee at all, where you get up
from the bed and like water gushes out and you're like, wait,
(11:33):
I already had the baby. That's not my water breaking,
and it's your bladder, right, it's your bladder leaking. And
you've got a lot of urine loss because the muscles
are just tired. So it's one of those things that
after the first two or three weeks it should get better.
But you know, working on strengthening those muscles, reconnecting with
those muscles can definitely help you improve bladder control over time. Okay,
(11:54):
that's a good news, and if not, they should definitely
see a pelvit for therapists. Correct, don't wait, don't wait
for it to get better, right, don't wait, just go
ahead and go. I mean I say that all the time,
like if we have, you know, I think of all
the appointments I have. When you know, COVID ended, I
was like, I'm getting my hair done, I'm getting my
nails done, getting my eyebrows done, and like go see
your public four therapists, like put that on your list
(12:16):
of things you want to do after baby is born
as well. Absolutely. Okay, So let's talk about some recoveries specifics,
(12:36):
which are going to be different depending on how your
baby has arrived, whether it was your first baby or
your fourth baby. Maybe how hard or how easy, or
how long or how short your labor and delivery were,
how much pushing you did. So from your perspective, what
are the most important things a woman should know if
(12:57):
she's recovering from a vaginal birth. Two. We already touched
on how to pee and how to pool, like one
and two. Next is I think icing We touched on
this a little bit, but really the cold in the
very beginning helps decrease inflammation. UM minimize infection, improve healing,
So you know, having a little ice pack that you
(13:18):
put on the area for twenty minutes several times a
day for the first week. UM. Also having a little
peri bottle filled with warm water or which hazel that
you sprits on the area. That can also help facilitate
your urine stream if you can't pee, but definitely rinse
after peeing, after pooping, and even just you'll still be bleeding,
so kind of rinsing the area so that you don't
(13:39):
have to wipe aggressively. And there are a lot of
sprays and bombs and different things you can use if
you've had a tear or you have some soreness in
the area that can be helpful that they may give
you in the hospital. You can also keep at home.
But really baby the area, I mean really, you know,
be tender to it, don't overdo it, and give yourself
the first few weeks to really really rest and recover.
(13:59):
Like you have been through a lot and you're sleep
deprived now, so um, really just focusing on recovery those
first few weeks. Now, Pecotomys are faithfully rare theseas how,
if you need to have an apseotomy, and it would
only be if you absolutely need one. How would you
say it's best to heal and speed recovery. Ice is
(14:22):
a big one again for that. So when a psotomy
is a cut, when they actually cut the muscle, and
typically they're doing that now only and medically indicated. Back
in the day, it was like everybody got one, and
now we're showing that it's actually gonna be better if
we just see what naturally happens to the muscles and
tissues with birth. And most women do tear a little bit,
but it's typically a minor tear, so in a psotomy
(14:43):
is what we consider a grade to like into the muscle.
So I really encourage, you know, a really good nutrition
because we want that for wound healing. So vitamin C, food,
vitamin C, fish oil, you know, making sure that you're
still taking your prenatal vitamins, good nutrition, good hydration, icing
the area, maybe even using a little steak cushion to
(15:04):
sit on, so that you're kind of staying off that
wound while you're sitting, especially when pumping or breastfeeding. Would
you say a donut to sit on. I don't love
doughnuts filled with air. They have so many great options
that are kind of a phone that are kind of
a little bit softer to sink into, or even your
body pillow just turns to put that in the chair
and just sit right on that, you know, and just
something to kind of elevate that area. And then actually
(15:26):
it's a great time to kind of start thinking about
doing little keygal contraction, so not really tight ones, but
just to contract and relax, to start pumping some fluid
out of that area, getting some blood float of the
area to help appealing. I was going to ask about
that because when you know, I'm all about keegals. But
I remember so clearly trying to do keygles right after birth,
(15:47):
and I think I could, but I couldn't feel myself
doing them, So is that normal? Yes? I also tried
to do them right after birth, and I was like, wow,
it is radio silence down there. That is normal. These
muscles are tired. But what we're just looking for is connection.
We're just looking to say, can I, you know, could
wake through his muscles often, you know, I do tell
(16:09):
people every once in a while you might want to
be urinating and test it, like can you contract your
muscles and stop your stream. Don't do keegels during peeing
as an exercise, but every once in a while you
can test it, yes, just to tell that you're doing
them correctly, right, because otherwise you could end up with U, T, I,
S and all kinds of Yeah, that's not a good thing. Okay.
So besides not you know, rushing in it, listening to
(16:32):
your body, not overdoing lifting with care. What about a
mom who has had a C section? And as you said,
thirty percent of moms are going to have one, whether
you know we like it or not, and we should
try to reduce those rates. But in the meantime, if
you've had a c section, how do you best recover
from that? For both of these and I didn't mention
(16:53):
this with the psotomy either said there's kind of an
early stage of healing and then like a later stage
of healing. So so Sarian Recovery really love moms to
use like a really simple abdominal binder in the hospital,
and most hospitals will provide it if you ask. They
don't always offer it. And I'm not talking a waste
train or I'm talking like a really gentle soft wrap
(17:13):
that just gives you a little bit of support when
you are trying to get in and out of bed
and lift the baby. Next is you can ice your
scar right away. That's going to help produce inflammation. And
then you know, even starting to do just some gentle
breathing exercises to kind of bring just like you were thinking,
do a couple of keegles to kind of wake those
tissues up. Just take some breaths to kind of help
(17:34):
open up and expand the abdominals and then start walking
on day one. So often our Cesrian moms want to
hunch over and it's so painful. But the more that
you can push yourself upright, So walk the baby around
in the bassinet in the hospital and kind of help
that push yourself up into a more upright position so
that your abdomen, your chest can open instead of just
(17:55):
kind of staying hunched down, because long term that's going
to make it a little bit more difficult for healing. Absolutely,
And how about getting out of bed? How do you
recommend getting out of bed? And this is why we
love to teach moms this during pregnancy, is that we
encourage moms to roll to their side, so you kind
of don't even use your abs, you roll all the
way to your side, let your feet kind of dangle
(18:15):
off the edge, and use your arms to push up
so that you can allow those abdominal muscles to relax
a little bit, and you're using your upper and lower
body to help you so you don't have to do
that sit up position. This is another tip that I
like to tell a lot of moms is to exhale
when they're picking up the baby or when they're lifting something.
If you hold your breath, it kind of like tightens
up everything a little bit. But if you exhale gently
(18:38):
picking up the baby or you know, pushing something, pushing
the stroller, it helps those muscles relax a little bit
and takes the pressure for abdomen. Do you have other
tips for lifting or for bending to help with your
back pain? Yeah, I mean always like a squat position
is better than like the bending over arching your back.
Another thing is break down the load. I mean, my
(18:58):
husband used to make fun of me because in my
third trimester I would put the trash in a wagon
and wheel it out to the backyard instead of like
lugging the doing that will he traveled, so I was
so during the week. But that's a great question. You know,
even things like that just break down the load instead
of curing all of these huge things, doing smaller you know,
(19:19):
little trips with smaller amounts. And a lot of us
have other kids when we have when we give birth,
So again, practice that explation when you're lifting the kiddos
in and out of the car, in and out of
the bathtub, and you can also hug them from a
sitting position. I know, I know, and it's it's hard
and it's kind of sad because you feel like you
can't do the things that you want to do. But
it really does come back with time, oh for sure.
(19:41):
So speaking of that, of course, your body has been
through a lot. Your pelvis has been through a lot.
All those muscles have been through a lot, a lot
of stretching, a lot of pressure. So of course you're
going to expect some pain. How much pain should you
expect if everything is normal, whether it's bad pain, paraneal pain,
pelvic pain, and when did you start looking for help?
(20:05):
Really within the first two weeks is when the majority
of healing, real like wound healing, and if an infection
is going to happen, If something's gonna happen, it's gonna
happen within the first two weeks. So after that two
week mark, if you're really like something doesn't feel right
my scar my paraneum, I'm like, you've got to go
to the doctor, because that's when we really want to
kind of start looking for red flags of infection and
(20:26):
things like that. But even after those two week marks
is when I start saying, like, start getting out and
walking a little bit more. Start you know, we start
doing some breathing with some abdominal contractions. And if you're
having pain even after that two week mark that doesn't
just feel like exhaustion or deconditioning, but real pain, then
I say go back to the doctor, and then you know,
check in with the PT after you get that six
(20:47):
week mark. I concur Yeah, so what do you mentioned walking?
And walking, of course is a great exercise for late
(21:08):
pregnancy also when you have a new baby, because first
of all, the fresh air is going to do so
much good on every level. How do you at the
same time rest up enough and also make sure that
you're moving enough. How much exercise do you recommend and
what kind? At what point I really recommend the first
week one to two weeks, you were like at home
(21:28):
in bed, and I think the past year has really
taught us that moving slowly and having less on our
plates and less visitors can serve us well, oh my god,
silver lining, silver lining, I know, and I think it
was something that we all really felt like we needed
to slow down, and especially our moms who had tons
of visitors come over and we want to go to
lunches and things like that. So the first one to
two weeks is focused on healing, doing things around the house.
(21:51):
And I always say the rule of thumb is if
you have an increase in pain or an increase in
bleeding when you do an activity, you're probably overdoing it.
That could be a load of laundry, dish is or
a walk. Around two weeks, I say start getting outside
to go for walks around the block, maybe fifteen minutes,
twenty minutes. If you feel okay, you can start doing
two of those a day, and then you can start
going for thirty minutes. So every week, just kind of
(22:13):
bump it up a little bit, and then around six
weeks starting to do more core exercises, really basic, not
sit ups, but like little contractions and bridges and maybe
some squats and things that kind of start some movement
and then return to higher intensity around twelve weeks, and
at this point you might be wondering core, what core?
How do we find that core and how do we
(22:34):
best support it at that point, So around six weeks
I encourage folks to start working more on specific core stuff.
So I always start with the breath. I haven't you know,
started doing some diaplematic breathing and then on the exhale
of their breath, I haven't learned to contract their public
floor to pull in their transverse abdominals. And that takes
sometimes a little bit of work in practice, and that's
(22:54):
why it's great to do it before birth as well.
But you know, working on some of those simple exercises
and actually the foundation for everything, the keegel in the
you know, lower abdominal contraction is the basis for all
core exercises. So whether you're doing a push up, a plank,
a squat, a lunch, you have to pull that pelvic
for an abdomen in before you do it. Okay, So
(23:17):
then there's sex or is there is there? There doesn't
have to be. I mean, let's take the pressure off
of moms. So like, you know, get right back to
it now. You get the clearance at six weeks, but
you may not feel emotionally or physically ready. What do
you want new parents to know about postpartum sex that
(23:41):
the first time it may not feel comfortable. So a
common think that a lot of our patients says that
they don't realize it's going to be so dry. If
you're lactating or breastfeeding, you typically have lower estrogen levels,
which causes your vaginal tissues to feel drier. So I
say proactively use a lubricant. I like to use a
water based lubrican in or some folks use an all
natural coconut oil. The forecast is mainly dry for the
(24:05):
time that, yes, go slowly, mainly dry, and honestly, if
there's pain, stop like you don't need to push through
the pain. You might just need a little bit more
time for recovery, or you may have some scar tissue
that's still healing as a paradem, or you may even
need to do scar massage so to the Cesarean scar
or the barren Neil scar. So you know, I think
(24:27):
that dryness taking it slow. If there's bleeding or pain,
you obviously want to stop, and then you know, just
kind of see how you feel. You may be a
little bit sore afterwards, so it's okay to ice, But
consistent pain with sex is not normal, So if it
continues to be painful, I think it's worth addressing. Are
there certain postpartum positions that you would prefer? So? I
(24:47):
think it's really variable, you know, depending on how somebody feels,
But typically lying on your back kind of in your
on your back and your partner's on top is a
less penetrating position. Your partner behind you in the spooning
position is less penetray rating, but if your partners behind you,
that may be more penetrating and more uncomfortable. If you've
had a para meal tear, that may be meant an
or more uncomfortable position. And then some women like to
(25:10):
be on top because then they can kind of control
the pace of it as well. So I would say
the most kind of uncomfortable position right away might be
a woman on their hands and knees and the partner
behind them, and your your sexual gps may have changed
quite a lot. You know, you should make sure you
also listen to your body and see what's comfortable what's not.
I think communication is key, you know, to kind of
(25:33):
express what you're feeling, what's going on. And I also think,
you know, I really want to take some of the
pressure that we feel as women, as moms afterwards, it's
like we have to get back there. It's a six weeks.
We feel bad for our partners and I used to
feel this way. Or you can have insecurities about your body.
You may be licking breast milk. I mean, you may
still be bleeding. There's so many things that I really
(25:53):
think if we give ourselves some grace and some time
for recovery, it doesn't have to be so traumatic for
us or so um exhausting for us. Yeah, for sure.
And the most important kind of intercourses the talking kind, right, Yeah,
I call it outer course. Of course. Well that could
mean something else too, which is also might be more
comfortable at this point, exactly exactly. Not all roads have
(26:14):
to lead to, you know, vaginal sex. So there's a
lot of options out there, yep, So explore those roads, Sarah.
There are a lot of things that I wish I
could go back in time and tell my newly delivered
mom self about my postpartum recovery. Now that I know
what to expect. But what is your most important message
(26:38):
to all about to become moms about postpartum recovery? Yeah,
I have three. I think this isn't being related to recovery,
but it's related to postpartum. Is that to get help
with breastfeeding. I knew everything about pelvic floor and I
had wonderful bursts and wonderful recoveries, but my biggest struggle
was breastfeeding and I didn't know I didn't prepare enough
(26:59):
for that, and I felt like that really almost made
my postpartum traumatic or really difficult, and despite my pelvic
floor being in good shape. So the second is to
take it slow. And it's such a generic and corny
and cheesy term, but I just look at how fast
I tried to get back to walking and running and
socializing and wanting to get my body back, And you know,
(27:22):
twelve weeks is a sliver of time in the big
scheme of things. And I really find now that my
mom's who take it slow and really give them some
time to heal and then get back into fitness and
exercise do way better in the long run. So that's
a really big one. That's probably one of the bigger ones.
And then you know, lastly is that if it hurts,
get help. You know, we don't have to deal with things.
(27:43):
We don't have to suffer. And whether it's physical, emotional, mental,
whatever the case may be, is to really um we
mentioned this in our previous chat, but strength isn't isn't
asking for help and not feeling like we just have
to bear the weight of the world and power through,
you know, and we're not going to use the phrase
just do it. Yeah, and you don't have to just
(28:04):
deal with it. You know, we have so much to
deal with us new moms. I think that you know,
I'm really seeing this. It takes a village come back.
And maybe we're doing it virtually or on social media,
but I really see moms rising up together saying we've
been through this and you know, here are some tips,
here resources, here's this amazing podcast, and just really trying
(28:24):
to support one another through the process. We know what
I say, motherhood is the ultimate sisterhood. We've got to
help our sisters out, that's right. So thank you for
helping us out today. We really really appreciate And for
those who don't already follow you, where can they find
you from? More tips. The biggest place I have a
presence is on Instagram as the Vagina Whisperer, and then
(28:45):
it's also the Vagina whisper dot com, where we have
a ton of blog posts about pregnancy and birth and
online resources and courses to help support moms. It's awesome.
Thank you so much, Sarah, Thanks for having me Baby Belove,
my baby Belove. I need you, Oh how I need you.
(29:09):
Thanks for listening. Remember I'm always here for you. What
to Expect is always here for you. We're all in
this together. For more on what you heard on today's episode,
visit what to Expect dot com slash podcasts. You can
also check out What to Expect when You're Expecting, What
to Expect the First Year, and the what to Expect app.
(29:30):
And we want to hear from you. Connect with us
on our community message board or on our social media.
You can find me at Heidi Murkoff and Emma at
Emma bing wt E, and of course at What to Expect.
Baby Love is performed by Riley Peterer. What to Expect
(29:50):
is a production of I Heart Radio. From more shows
from I heart Radio, check out the i heart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
In my arms right, don't you stay Knija kneja baby
(30:10):
love O, baby Low
Who baby A baby? I need you, Oh how I
need you? What to expect? As a production of I
Heart Radio, I'm your host Heidi Murkoff, and I'm a
mom on a mission, a mission to help you know
what to expect every step of the way. Let's face it,
(00:26):
your vagina is a pretty amazing organ and it is
built to take it snug enough to slip a tamp on,
in elastic enough to accommodate a baby's exit. But even
if your baby arrives via c section, your vagina, not
to mention, your paraneum and your pelvic floor muscles can
(00:47):
take a hit during pregnancy and childbirth. Enter the vagina
Whisperer Sarah Reardon. She's a pelvic floor physical therapist and
she specializes in tender, loving care of your entire pelvic floor.
Last week she was here on what to Expect, to
talk about your pregnancy aches and pains, and how to
(01:07):
prepare for birth. Today she's back to talk us through
postpartum recovery. What will your recovery look like and how
can you make it easier? Encourage healthy healing, come about
a whole new set of aches and pains. Help you
regain bladder control, go back to pooping as usual, get
(01:27):
moving again, and what about sex? Does that have to
be a four letter word postpartum? Sarah, welcome back, Thank
you hiding. I'm so excited to be here again. So
I guess we've delivered our baby. Now we have to
find out what we do postpartum to nurture ourselves, because
it's not all about the baby, it's about nurturing yourself
as well. And I feel like there's a reason why
(01:52):
we've changed the pregnancy timeline a bit, the traditional one
that talked about three trimesters and then you have a
six check up and then you're done. But pregnancy really
is more of a for trimester process because recovery takes time.
There are huge benefits to caring for your pelvic floor
(02:13):
during pregnancy. But you say many patients don't show up
at your door or virtual door until after they've delivered.
Is it like better late than never? It's any time
is a good time. So whether it's you know, days postpartum,
we have folks calling us asking about taking their first
postpartum poop or six weeks when they're returning to sex
(02:35):
and exercise, or even later down the line. But it's
always better late than never. And I think that oftentimes
we think if we're out of the fourth trimester, then
our healing should be done, that our postpartum period is over.
But you and I both know that it really lasts forever.
And there's just I think, such little care for moms postpartum,
(02:55):
and we don't even know what care we need sometimes
that we didn't even know where to start getting it
on are the most common symptoms that bring new moms
in to see you? So I would say some of
the most common ones are urinary leakage. So that may
be leakage with a call for a sneeze, running after
a kiddo getting out of a chair too, or it
(03:15):
may show up later when they are returning to exercise
and they're starting to run and do jumping jacks. I
think oftentimes we think, oh, it's going to happen a
little bit in the beginning, but it'll get better. And
research is really showing that a lot of folks who
are experiencing leakage at three months postpartum may still be
experiencing it at twelve months postpartum, So it doesn't necessarily
just go away. If anything, we become more active when
(03:38):
we start doing more and it could potentially get worse.
So that's a common one. Another really common one is
painful sex. That's kind of a scary one to enter
back into. And you know, six weeks is this kind
of arbitrary timeline that's come up with. I tell you know,
my patients, it's totally fine to wait longer. There is
no rush. But some things to think about are you
(03:58):
may have vaginal dryness if you are lactating, you may
have some scar tissue in the area that could cause pain.
You may have experienced trauma during birth that really could
be affecting your intimacy or your muscle tension. So that's
a really big one that I think you'd like to
address with moms. And then lastly, probably you know cesarean
scar restriction, cesarean scar pain. Moms are having cecerean births
(04:21):
these days, and there's no follow up on how do
I manage my scar? What if it's painful? What does
it feel fuzzy or uncomfortable when I'm wearing pants? And
we do a lot of cesarian recovery as well, what
is your timeline for recovery, Like when do you feel
if I don't if I don't feel good by now,
something's wrong and I need to come to see you.
(04:43):
In my ideal vagina world, I would see all folks,
usually everyone I know. Hopefully we will live in that world,
but I would see everyone for at least one visit
POSTPARTU to say, looks good, you're doing this exercise properly,
a everything looks like it's great and healing, carry on.
Or to say there is a little bit of weakness here,
(05:05):
a little bit of prolapse, a little bit of scar massage.
Let's work on that. So around six weeks, we'd like
to see them. I think if by twelve weeks you're
still experiencing pain, leaked pressure, abdominal weakness, discomfort, I would
go in and start seeing a physical therapist around that
twelve week mark. So the O B is going to
the midwife, is going to see you at six weeks,
(05:27):
should we also come in to see you at that
six weeks. That's when we ask our clients to come in.
After they kind of get their medical clearance of everything
looks good, You're good to return to normal, we have
them come in to see us. Sometimes, you know, the
very next day or within that week to get them
started back to exercise, sex, living their daily lives. I
mean we kind of get that sums up to like
(05:49):
go back to your normal life, but like nothing is
normally what is normal? And physically we haven't been rehabilitated,
So how do we just go back to normal now?
And if anything, it will be a new normal, but
hopefully ultimately a better new normal with our help. UM,
So let's get into a little detail about that first
(06:10):
poop that you mentioned, because I gotta say it comes
with a lot of dread, understandably, especially if you've had stitches,
But even if you had a C section, you're still
stressed out about that first poop. In fact, having a
c section all that medication can make you more constipated,
and also you're moving less, which can make you more constipated.
(06:33):
So this too, shall pass, but how do we make
it pass more easily? Initially? That's um one of the
most common things I like to address with moms because
we don't even especially first time mom, they don't even
realize that that first poop might be an issue. So
the number one thing I tell folks is to take
a stool softeners so you have blood loss you have dehydration,
(06:55):
you're in pain, whether you've had a vaginal or cesarean birth,
and taking those stool softomers will help keep your poops
off so that it's not really hard and difficult to pass.
And also tons of hydration. Your milk maybe coming in again.
You've got blood loss and dehydration, so making sure that
you're really pushing the fluids the first two weeks and
even after that. The other things are is to use
(07:16):
a squatty potty. So we touched on this a little
bit in our first chat together. But putting your feet
up on a stool or a box or whatever you have.
You know, in the hospital, I turned the garbage can
sideways and put my feet on it so that I
could help my hips relax a little bit. Getting into
that squatting position helps relax your pelvic floor so that
(07:36):
you can poop. And those hospital toilets are high. You know,
there's a little travel squatty potty that you can literally
pack up and bring in your hospital back. I'm like,
we need to rethink the hospital bag because we need
pelvic floor support for moms in there. What are we bringing, Oh,
we're bringing a travel squatty potty. We're bringing a little
peribottle with a curve nozzle so that it's a little
(07:59):
more sophisticate it in the hospital ones. I love compression
garments that aren't waste trainers, but give moms a little
support for swelling and healing. The ice pack always an
ice pack. I love an ice pack. Um, and I
tell folks to ice even after they get home from
the hospital the first week, so um, the stool softeners,
the stool under their feet, and then when they're pooping,
(08:19):
it actually encourage them to use their hand to support
the parenneum. So that area vaginally and at the pareneum,
whether you've had a tear or not, can be really
vulnerable and we're trying to like push something out, So
I tell them to take their hand and kind of
hold up the volver and pyneal area as they bear
down to poop. And if you've had a cesarean birth,
to put a pillow over your tummy and hold that
(08:41):
area when you're trying to have a poop. So just
kind of protecting those really vulnerable areas when you're trying
to exhale and bear down to empty the balls. And
clearly your hands are clean or actually you can use
toilet paper, I tell me up over their hand. That's
a good tip, great, great clarifica, no thanks. I really
appreciate your poop PEP talk. We all need it sometimes.
(09:05):
So on two P. The first time you pee, you
may feel like it's kind of hard to because your
bladder might feel paralyzed. You might need some encouragement. I always,
you know, use the running water and you know, warm
water over your paraneum. Um. What are some things you
can tell us about that first P and subsequent peace
(09:26):
and how to keep them healthy? Right, So the very
first P, I think is a big one. That you
kind of feel a little bit frozen down there. And
so that's the experience that I had, And I had
to get into the shower and let warm water run
over me, and that warmth and that water running kind
of helps you relax a little bit and then pan
(09:48):
a shower. Everybody, it's a great place to pee. It's
a totally fine, safe place to pe um. But when
you're in the hospital you can do that and then
also taking some just big deep breath, really not having
mom's push when they p. We want those big deep
breasts to help the muscles relax and then the bladder
can push the p out for them. Um. That's if
they're standing or sitting. And then again if they're sitting
(10:09):
over the toilet or sitting on the toilet, having a
little stool or support under their feet to help them
relax because those toilets are high. And then I even
tell moms that they're really you know, not able to
start their stream. Another thing for their hospital back to
keep peppermint essential oil in their hospital back and you
put ten or twenty drops of that in the toilet
water and then you sit over that and the aroma
(10:30):
or the fumes kind of stimulate the urine area sphincter
to relax a little bit. So all of these just
things to help options so that you don't end up
getting right to a catheter. But you have some tools
to help facilitate relaxation. But if you've had a catheter
because you had an epidural, that's going to make it
even harder, right, And so that's why you really want
to work on the they'll take that catheter out, you
(10:50):
still want to work on the breathing, maybe the running water,
maybe the peppermint drops in the toilet water. All things
to really facilitate relaxation of that pelt floor. And also
it's it's hard to be lying down, isn't it. I
mean if they give you a bad pan. So bladder control,
we talked a lot about that because it's an important topic.
(11:11):
Can you regain it after you've lost it? Yeah, I
mean I think it's variable depending on kind of the
level the extent of loss of bladder control. So which
will you know, typically present like urinary leakage, And that's
one of the things is that a lot of moms
one of two things happens after you give birth is
that you can't pee at all, where you get up
from the bed and like water gushes out and you're like, wait,
(11:33):
I already had the baby. That's not my water breaking,
and it's your bladder, right, it's your bladder leaking. And
you've got a lot of urine loss because the muscles
are just tired. So it's one of those things that
after the first two or three weeks it should get better.
But you know, working on strengthening those muscles, reconnecting with
those muscles can definitely help you improve bladder control over time. Okay,
(11:54):
that's a good news, and if not, they should definitely
see a pelvit for therapists. Correct, don't wait, don't wait
for it to get better, right, don't wait, just go
ahead and go. I mean I say that all the time,
like if we have, you know, I think of all
the appointments I have. When you know, COVID ended, I
was like, I'm getting my hair done, I'm getting my
nails done, getting my eyebrows done, and like go see
your public four therapists, like put that on your list
(12:16):
of things you want to do after baby is born
as well. Absolutely. Okay, So let's talk about some recoveries specifics,
(12:36):
which are going to be different depending on how your
baby has arrived, whether it was your first baby or
your fourth baby. Maybe how hard or how easy, or
how long or how short your labor and delivery were,
how much pushing you did. So from your perspective, what
are the most important things a woman should know if
(12:57):
she's recovering from a vaginal birth. Two. We already touched
on how to pee and how to pool, like one
and two. Next is I think icing We touched on
this a little bit, but really the cold in the
very beginning helps decrease inflammation. UM minimize infection, improve healing,
So you know, having a little ice pack that you
(13:18):
put on the area for twenty minutes several times a
day for the first week. UM. Also having a little
peri bottle filled with warm water or which hazel that
you sprits on the area. That can also help facilitate
your urine stream if you can't pee, but definitely rinse
after peeing, after pooping, and even just you'll still be bleeding,
so kind of rinsing the area so that you don't
(13:39):
have to wipe aggressively. And there are a lot of
sprays and bombs and different things you can use if
you've had a tear or you have some soreness in
the area that can be helpful that they may give
you in the hospital. You can also keep at home.
But really baby the area, I mean really, you know,
be tender to it, don't overdo it, and give yourself
the first few weeks to really really rest and recover.
(13:59):
Like you have been through a lot and you're sleep
deprived now, so um, really just focusing on recovery those
first few weeks. Now, Pecotomys are faithfully rare theseas how,
if you need to have an apseotomy, and it would
only be if you absolutely need one. How would you
say it's best to heal and speed recovery. Ice is
(14:22):
a big one again for that. So when a psotomy
is a cut, when they actually cut the muscle, and
typically they're doing that now only and medically indicated. Back
in the day, it was like everybody got one, and
now we're showing that it's actually gonna be better if
we just see what naturally happens to the muscles and
tissues with birth. And most women do tear a little bit,
but it's typically a minor tear, so in a psotomy
(14:43):
is what we consider a grade to like into the muscle.
So I really encourage, you know, a really good nutrition
because we want that for wound healing. So vitamin C, food,
vitamin C, fish oil, you know, making sure that you're
still taking your prenatal vitamins, good nutrition, good hydration, icing
the area, maybe even using a little steak cushion to
(15:04):
sit on, so that you're kind of staying off that
wound while you're sitting, especially when pumping or breastfeeding. Would
you say a donut to sit on. I don't love
doughnuts filled with air. They have so many great options
that are kind of a phone that are kind of
a little bit softer to sink into, or even your
body pillow just turns to put that in the chair
and just sit right on that, you know, and just
something to kind of elevate that area. And then actually
(15:26):
it's a great time to kind of start thinking about
doing little keygal contraction, so not really tight ones, but
just to contract and relax, to start pumping some fluid
out of that area, getting some blood float of the
area to help appealing. I was going to ask about
that because when you know, I'm all about keegals. But
I remember so clearly trying to do keygles right after birth,
(15:47):
and I think I could, but I couldn't feel myself
doing them, So is that normal? Yes? I also tried
to do them right after birth, and I was like, wow,
it is radio silence down there. That is normal. These
muscles are tired. But what we're just looking for is connection.
We're just looking to say, can I, you know, could
wake through his muscles often, you know, I do tell
(16:09):
people every once in a while you might want to
be urinating and test it, like can you contract your
muscles and stop your stream. Don't do keegels during peeing
as an exercise, but every once in a while you
can test it, yes, just to tell that you're doing
them correctly, right, because otherwise you could end up with U, T, I,
S and all kinds of Yeah, that's not a good thing. Okay.
So besides not you know, rushing in it, listening to
(16:32):
your body, not overdoing lifting with care. What about a
mom who has had a C section? And as you said,
thirty percent of moms are going to have one, whether
you know we like it or not, and we should
try to reduce those rates. But in the meantime, if
you've had a c section, how do you best recover
from that? For both of these and I didn't mention
(16:53):
this with the psotomy either said there's kind of an
early stage of healing and then like a later stage
of healing. So so Sarian Recovery really love moms to
use like a really simple abdominal binder in the hospital,
and most hospitals will provide it if you ask. They
don't always offer it. And I'm not talking a waste
train or I'm talking like a really gentle soft wrap
(17:13):
that just gives you a little bit of support when
you are trying to get in and out of bed
and lift the baby. Next is you can ice your
scar right away. That's going to help produce inflammation. And
then you know, even starting to do just some gentle
breathing exercises to kind of bring just like you were thinking,
do a couple of keegles to kind of wake those
tissues up. Just take some breaths to kind of help
(17:34):
open up and expand the abdominals and then start walking
on day one. So often our Cesrian moms want to
hunch over and it's so painful. But the more that
you can push yourself upright, So walk the baby around
in the bassinet in the hospital and kind of help
that push yourself up into a more upright position so
that your abdomen, your chest can open instead of just
(17:55):
kind of staying hunched down, because long term that's going
to make it a little bit more difficult for healing. Absolutely,
And how about getting out of bed? How do you
recommend getting out of bed? And this is why we
love to teach moms this during pregnancy, is that we
encourage moms to roll to their side, so you kind
of don't even use your abs, you roll all the
way to your side, let your feet kind of dangle
(18:15):
off the edge, and use your arms to push up
so that you can allow those abdominal muscles to relax
a little bit, and you're using your upper and lower
body to help you so you don't have to do
that sit up position. This is another tip that I
like to tell a lot of moms is to exhale
when they're picking up the baby or when they're lifting something.
If you hold your breath, it kind of like tightens
up everything a little bit. But if you exhale gently
(18:38):
picking up the baby or you know, pushing something, pushing
the stroller, it helps those muscles relax a little bit
and takes the pressure for abdomen. Do you have other
tips for lifting or for bending to help with your
back pain? Yeah, I mean always like a squat position
is better than like the bending over arching your back.
Another thing is break down the load. I mean, my
(18:58):
husband used to make fun of me because in my
third trimester I would put the trash in a wagon
and wheel it out to the backyard instead of like
lugging the doing that will he traveled, so I was
so during the week. But that's a great question. You know,
even things like that just break down the load instead
of curing all of these huge things, doing smaller you know,
(19:19):
little trips with smaller amounts. And a lot of us
have other kids when we have when we give birth,
So again, practice that explation when you're lifting the kiddos
in and out of the car, in and out of
the bathtub, and you can also hug them from a
sitting position. I know, I know, and it's it's hard
and it's kind of sad because you feel like you
can't do the things that you want to do. But
it really does come back with time, oh for sure.
(19:41):
So speaking of that, of course, your body has been
through a lot. Your pelvis has been through a lot.
All those muscles have been through a lot, a lot
of stretching, a lot of pressure. So of course you're
going to expect some pain. How much pain should you
expect if everything is normal, whether it's bad pain, paraneal pain,
pelvic pain, and when did you start looking for help?
(20:05):
Really within the first two weeks is when the majority
of healing, real like wound healing, and if an infection
is going to happen, If something's gonna happen, it's gonna
happen within the first two weeks. So after that two
week mark, if you're really like something doesn't feel right
my scar my paraneum, I'm like, you've got to go
to the doctor, because that's when we really want to
kind of start looking for red flags of infection and
(20:26):
things like that. But even after those two week marks
is when I start saying, like, start getting out and
walking a little bit more. Start you know, we start
doing some breathing with some abdominal contractions. And if you're
having pain even after that two week mark that doesn't
just feel like exhaustion or deconditioning, but real pain, then
I say go back to the doctor, and then you know,
check in with the PT after you get that six
(20:47):
week mark. I concur Yeah, so what do you mentioned walking?
And walking, of course is a great exercise for late
(21:08):
pregnancy also when you have a new baby, because first
of all, the fresh air is going to do so
much good on every level. How do you at the
same time rest up enough and also make sure that
you're moving enough. How much exercise do you recommend and
what kind? At what point I really recommend the first
week one to two weeks, you were like at home
(21:28):
in bed, and I think the past year has really
taught us that moving slowly and having less on our
plates and less visitors can serve us well, oh my god,
silver lining, silver lining, I know, and I think it
was something that we all really felt like we needed
to slow down, and especially our moms who had tons
of visitors come over and we want to go to
lunches and things like that. So the first one to
two weeks is focused on healing, doing things around the house.
(21:51):
And I always say the rule of thumb is if
you have an increase in pain or an increase in
bleeding when you do an activity, you're probably overdoing it.
That could be a load of laundry, dish is or
a walk. Around two weeks, I say start getting outside
to go for walks around the block, maybe fifteen minutes,
twenty minutes. If you feel okay, you can start doing
two of those a day, and then you can start
going for thirty minutes. So every week, just kind of
(22:13):
bump it up a little bit, and then around six
weeks starting to do more core exercises, really basic, not
sit ups, but like little contractions and bridges and maybe
some squats and things that kind of start some movement
and then return to higher intensity around twelve weeks, and
at this point you might be wondering core, what core?
How do we find that core and how do we
(22:34):
best support it at that point, So around six weeks
I encourage folks to start working more on specific core stuff.
So I always start with the breath. I haven't you know,
started doing some diaplematic breathing and then on the exhale
of their breath, I haven't learned to contract their public
floor to pull in their transverse abdominals. And that takes
sometimes a little bit of work in practice, and that's
(22:54):
why it's great to do it before birth as well.
But you know, working on some of those simple exercises
and actually the foundation for everything, the keegel in the
you know, lower abdominal contraction is the basis for all
core exercises. So whether you're doing a push up, a plank,
a squat, a lunch, you have to pull that pelvic
for an abdomen in before you do it. Okay, So
(23:17):
then there's sex or is there is there? There doesn't
have to be. I mean, let's take the pressure off
of moms. So like, you know, get right back to
it now. You get the clearance at six weeks, but
you may not feel emotionally or physically ready. What do
you want new parents to know about postpartum sex that
(23:41):
the first time it may not feel comfortable. So a
common think that a lot of our patients says that
they don't realize it's going to be so dry. If
you're lactating or breastfeeding, you typically have lower estrogen levels,
which causes your vaginal tissues to feel drier. So I
say proactively use a lubricant. I like to use a
water based lubrican in or some folks use an all
natural coconut oil. The forecast is mainly dry for the
(24:05):
time that, yes, go slowly, mainly dry, and honestly, if
there's pain, stop like you don't need to push through
the pain. You might just need a little bit more
time for recovery, or you may have some scar tissue
that's still healing as a paradem, or you may even
need to do scar massage so to the Cesarean scar
or the barren Neil scar. So you know, I think
(24:27):
that dryness taking it slow. If there's bleeding or pain,
you obviously want to stop, and then you know, just
kind of see how you feel. You may be a
little bit sore afterwards, so it's okay to ice, But
consistent pain with sex is not normal, So if it
continues to be painful, I think it's worth addressing. Are
there certain postpartum positions that you would prefer? So? I
(24:47):
think it's really variable, you know, depending on how somebody feels,
But typically lying on your back kind of in your
on your back and your partner's on top is a
less penetrating position. Your partner behind you in the spooning
position is less penetray rating, but if your partners behind you,
that may be more penetrating and more uncomfortable. If you've
had a para meal tear, that may be meant an
or more uncomfortable position. And then some women like to
(25:10):
be on top because then they can kind of control
the pace of it as well. So I would say
the most kind of uncomfortable position right away might be
a woman on their hands and knees and the partner
behind them, and your your sexual gps may have changed
quite a lot. You know, you should make sure you
also listen to your body and see what's comfortable what's not.
I think communication is key, you know, to kind of
(25:33):
express what you're feeling, what's going on. And I also think,
you know, I really want to take some of the
pressure that we feel as women, as moms afterwards, it's
like we have to get back there. It's a six weeks.
We feel bad for our partners and I used to
feel this way. Or you can have insecurities about your body.
You may be licking breast milk. I mean, you may
still be bleeding. There's so many things that I really
(25:53):
think if we give ourselves some grace and some time
for recovery, it doesn't have to be so traumatic for
us or so um exhausting for us. Yeah, for sure.
And the most important kind of intercourses the talking kind, right, Yeah,
I call it outer course. Of course. Well that could
mean something else too, which is also might be more
comfortable at this point, exactly exactly. Not all roads have
(26:14):
to lead to, you know, vaginal sex. So there's a
lot of options out there, yep, So explore those roads, Sarah.
There are a lot of things that I wish I
could go back in time and tell my newly delivered
mom self about my postpartum recovery. Now that I know
what to expect. But what is your most important message
(26:38):
to all about to become moms about postpartum recovery? Yeah,
I have three. I think this isn't being related to recovery,
but it's related to postpartum. Is that to get help
with breastfeeding. I knew everything about pelvic floor and I
had wonderful bursts and wonderful recoveries, but my biggest struggle
was breastfeeding and I didn't know I didn't prepare enough
(26:59):
for that, and I felt like that really almost made
my postpartum traumatic or really difficult, and despite my pelvic
floor being in good shape. So the second is to
take it slow. And it's such a generic and corny
and cheesy term, but I just look at how fast
I tried to get back to walking and running and
socializing and wanting to get my body back, And you know,
(27:22):
twelve weeks is a sliver of time in the big
scheme of things. And I really find now that my
mom's who take it slow and really give them some
time to heal and then get back into fitness and
exercise do way better in the long run. So that's
a really big one. That's probably one of the bigger ones.
And then you know, lastly is that if it hurts,
get help. You know, we don't have to deal with things.
(27:43):
We don't have to suffer. And whether it's physical, emotional, mental,
whatever the case may be, is to really um we
mentioned this in our previous chat, but strength isn't isn't
asking for help and not feeling like we just have
to bear the weight of the world and power through,
you know, and we're not going to use the phrase
just do it. Yeah, and you don't have to just
(28:04):
deal with it. You know, we have so much to
deal with us new moms. I think that you know,
I'm really seeing this. It takes a village come back.
And maybe we're doing it virtually or on social media,
but I really see moms rising up together saying we've
been through this and you know, here are some tips,
here resources, here's this amazing podcast, and just really trying
(28:24):
to support one another through the process. We know what
I say, motherhood is the ultimate sisterhood. We've got to
help our sisters out, that's right. So thank you for
helping us out today. We really really appreciate And for
those who don't already follow you, where can they find
you from? More tips. The biggest place I have a
presence is on Instagram as the Vagina Whisperer, and then
(28:45):
it's also the Vagina whisper dot com, where we have
a ton of blog posts about pregnancy and birth and
online resources and courses to help support moms. It's awesome.
Thank you so much, Sarah, Thanks for having me Baby Belove,
my baby Belove. I need you, Oh how I need you.
(29:09):
Thanks for listening. Remember I'm always here for you. What
to Expect is always here for you. We're all in
this together. For more on what you heard on today's episode,
visit what to Expect dot com slash podcasts. You can
also check out What to Expect when You're Expecting, What
to Expect the First Year, and the what to Expect app.
(29:30):
And we want to hear from you. Connect with us
on our community message board or on our social media.
You can find me at Heidi Murkoff and Emma at
Emma bing wt E, and of course at What to Expect.
Baby Love is performed by Riley Peterer. What to Expect
(29:50):
is a production of I Heart Radio. From more shows
from I heart Radio, check out the i heart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
In my arms right, don't you stay Knija kneja baby
(30:10):
love O, baby Low
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