How long before I can sneeze...

[BensMom]

or cough without feeling like my pelvic floor is going to collapse under the pressure?

Its been over 7yrs since my last vag birth, so I am a little rusty on the healing details. But we seem to have a cold working its way through my family and I am very afraid for my lower half if I happen to catch it. So far just teh occassional sneeze or cough stresses me terribly. And its not like after the c/s where I could just shove a pillow on my abdoman to support it. Or maybe I can shove a pillow in my crotch?

[Organicavocado]

Took me 5 weeks. I would Haaashhhooooo real gentle. I learned to sneeze without sneezing.. if that makes sense!

[Alpaca Wacka]

I guess it depends on how seriously you tore.. .For me, with a first degree tear, it was a week. I remember ghosting around the hospital while Katie was still in there, and stopping in mid walk and bracing myself before any cough or sneeze.

[2xshy]

I had some 2nd degree tears that I had trouble healing and i'm 17 days PP and I can sneeze and cough just fine and have been able to for the past few days. So i'd say about 2 weeks.

[Alpaca Wacka]

oh-before I forget... crossing your legs tightly and "clamping down" can help a bit to support your pelvic floor while you're sneezing..

[lobster]

My problem isn't pressure in my pelvic floor - when I cough or sneeze, it's all I can do to keep from peeing my pants! If I don't cross my legs and make my sneeze as gentle as possible, I'm done for.

[Jennisee]

Originally Posted by BensMom

or cough without feeling like my pelvic floor is going to collapse under the pressure?

Like someone else said, it depends on how much damage you have. I had a lot of tearing, bruising, and swelling, and I'd say the feeling you describe went away about 3 weeks.

Originally Posted by lobster

My problem isn't pressure in my pelvic floor - when I cough or sneeze, it's all I can do to keep from peeing my pants! If I don't cross my legs and make my sneeze as gentle as possible, I'm done for.

I'm 4.5 weeks post-partum, and I definitely still have this problem. I have a feeling I'll be wearing pads to catch the dribbling for months. And doing tons of kegels.

[tinyshoes]

I'm still pregnant, looking down at my huge belly...and thinking about the round ligaments supporting its massive size...and now I'm thinking about its massive size....

....and that was ya'll about 5 minutes ago!!!

It will certainly take time for the ligaments to shrink back to their nonpregnant state, and for the effects of a giant uterus--bascially connected to the bladder--to return to non-pregnant ways. And this does not even address the muscles that are used when Kegeling, which certainly help healing and strenghthen the muscles of the pelvic floor. But only TIME and patience will allow the ligaments to heal.

Relax, keep stair use to a minimum, avoid bending over/laundry/lifting/vacuuming, while these precious body parts heal. It's like a sprained ankle: ankle exercises won't fix it--babying that ankle will. And it's also like a sprained ankle: use it while it's healing, and you might do damage. A kegel can't strengthen a ligament.

As for the OP's question, I took careful notes during my post-partum w/ baby #2.

My pelvic floor felt consistantly tighter (not buldging out of me) in the mornings by 5 weeks post-partum, and by 10 weeks, it felt tighter all day (tight enough to sneeze! )

Ultimately, it was a long road for my pelvic floor, though--lots of kegeling but also physical therapy and learning all about the importance of proper posture and body mechanics, and how the abdominal muscles are connected to pelvic floor strength (because weak abs cause the pelvic floor to hold you up--and that's too big a job for that muscle group to do effectively.)