Finding my "why"

Why did I start drifting away from general orthopedics and toward pelvic floor physical therapy, specializing in women's health, pregnancy and postpartum?It all started with my 3 girls. Literally. Pregnancy and birth is no freaking joke, no matter how they join the world. When we found out we were pregnant with twins, we were shocked. Like- not happy, holy sh!$ how the hell are we going to do this, kind of shocked. It took weeks to come to a place that felt more positive and excited, although still beyond nervous. When my water broke at 33 weeks, I was pretty sure I was heading toward a C-section and because baby B was transverse and they were so small, I was right. That recovery was brutal for me. Difficult to walk and stand up straight for days- visiting my babies in the NICU was painful and exhausting. Pumping multiple times a day with a sore abdomen and breasts, and with no guidance from anyone on how to make myself more physically comfortable except the pain meds given to me each day.My C-section recovery was a slow one. It took weeks for me to stand tall without discomfort, and almost a year to have no pain at my incision. I was pretty determined to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after C-section) with my second pregnancy 3 years later and (THANK GOODNESS) it wasn't twins!My little one ended up coming early and fast and I was able to have the vaginal birth I wanted!! With a 3rd degree tear!! So recovery was another rough one.  Not much was offered to me and at my 6 week check up my OB even told me "kegels don't work, but if you want to try them, go ahead" with a shrug of his shoulders. I was too tired, shocked and exposed to even respond. My journey toward treating pregnant and postpartum journey started soon after, because I knew there HAD to me more out there to help women. I knew a lot about the human body, it's healing process and recovery and I still was lost! How could other women be expected to travel this journey alone??The more I learned, the more I wanted to tell EVERYONE that help was out there! An entire subset of physical therapists were dedicated to the pelvic floor, including pregnancy and postpartum. There are also mental health counselors, trainers, yoga instructors, chiropractors etc. all here for to support you!You don't have to live with incontinence, pelvic pain, prolapse, diastasis recti, hip and low back pain. Doctors don't always even know they can refer for these issues. They may even say that your issues are "normal" after what you have been through. THEY ARE NOT. These issues are common, but not normal. There IS help. We are here for you. 

5 years ago

#Pelvic floor physical therapy #postpartum #pregnancy #laboranddelivery