‘What I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Giving Birth’ by Maria Hoey

There are so many things I wish I had been told before I gave birth. Like how I should only buy the zip-up jammies, like literally only buy those! No one has time to mess with buttons when they are trying to wrangle an infant who just had a blowout. I also wish someone had told me that getting good at breastfeeding can take a lot longer than you think.

But one of the biggest things I wish someone had told me was that my pelvic floor was going to take time to heal and that there were many things I could do to help it along the way.  I just assumed everything would take time, and eventually, my body would heal itself. And while that may be true, my pelvic floor needed more attention.

Unfortunately, many women aren’t given any guidance about their pelvic floors. In fact, when I went to my year check-up post-baby, my doctor told me to just wait until I was done having children, and then I could get some sort of surgery to fix it. Surprise, surprise, that surgery is now under several lawsuits. No, thank you!

So I took it upon myself to find exercises I could do to heal my pelvic floor. I can proudly say that after two vaginal births, I am able to jump rope and jump on a trampoline without any issues!

Here are a few exercises I did:

• Hold your pee – I know this sounds strange, and things are about to get graphic, so hang tight. What I did was while I was peeing, I would stop the flow of urine. I would try to hold it for 5 seconds and then release it. I kept doing this until I could hold it for longer and longer. The first time I tried, I was still peeing even though I was “holding” it!
• Squat – Who knew that squats would help your pelvic floor? But they do. Try to do as deep a squat as you can.
• Glute Bridge – Glute bridges can be done in 3 different ways to help your pelvic floor. The first is the traditional glute bridge. The second is using a yoga block in between your knees and squeezing it as you do the bridge. The third is to tap your knees together as you hold a bridge.

As always, consult with your physician before you try any new exercises, as I am not a doctor or an expert. I’m just a mom trying to make sure other moms can join their kids on the trampoline!