Recieved via e-mail:
After two vaginal births and nursing my first baby for 15 months and still
nursing my second baby (now 17 months), I’m wondering, do other mothers look
like this?
My first question is about nursing. To give you an idea of what I look
like, I’m 5′ 4″ and weight 124 lbs. I go to the gym daily and am in pretty
decent shape. My nipples; however, are another story. The areola sag. My
nipple stays in place, but the areola around the nipple sag down. Is this
normal?
My second question is about vaginal trauma. I’m going on vacation next week
and decided to buy some Nair and give myself a low income bikini wax. I
squatted in the tub with a hand mirror and the nair and proceeded to see
that the inside of my vagina is on the outside.?!? I look like I have a
small (for lack of a better description) lipstick tube of internal skin
hanging out of my vagina. I’m not sure if this was there after the first
birth, but it’s there now. And part of me will now feel self conscience the
next time my husband and I make love. Has anyone else “looked” at themselves
lately? My baby is 17 months old now and I only just learned about
this…HELP!
The breasts question–if you have large areolas, that may just be regular breast sag–btw–it is not nursing that does it–it is pregnancy. As for the vaginal area, it may be an episiotomy scar–if your doc cut you to facilitate birth (common with first births, though increasing info says not necessarily needed). Your husband probably knows it is there, he may like the extra friction it provides him!
My areolas sag a bit. Not a lot – I have fairly small areolas – but they do sag. I nursed one baby for 13 months.
What you describe sounds like it may be vaginal prolapse (https://www.emedicinehealth.com/vaginal_prolapse/article_em.htm). I’d recommend having a doctor look at it.
I didn’t have the courage to look at myself for a long time after my son was born. I finally took a quick look and saw the scar from my tear, so I know it’s there. But I still don’t want to look because I have terrible hemmorhoids.
That is an interesting question…what exactly is “normal” after having and nursing a baby? Yes, it is normal to have aereola sag…it happened to a friend of mine. Completely normal. About the vaginal issue…go get checked out by your doc. It sounds like you may have a small hernia which can happen. A lot of times it is the reverse of what you have…the rectal wall gets a hernia and a small amount (or tube as you put it) of vaginal wall ends up in your rectum. Your doc will need to asses the course of action to deal with it. Hope that helps. K.
I don’t know about the breast issue but, please get the vaginal issue checked by your ob/gyn. It could be a uterine prolapse and that certainly needs a doctor’s attention! Please, get checked!
Yes I have the same problem with my nipples – I nurse my son till her was 14 mths – and my daughter nursed till she was around 3 (just once or twice a day as she was older). But from all that sucking I have this funny sag in my areola – it looks really awful to me….
I had what Kris in the above comment mentioned. My was on the vaginal side though and it was like the size of a small bouncy ball in my vagina. If I was too active it would come out of my vagina. It’s called a rectoceale. It happens when the wall between the rectum and the vagina gets weak and part of the tissue from the rectum comes into the vagina. Mine was a result of an episiotomy with my first child and then having three more children. The rectoceale came right through my episiotomy scar. I have had surgery to fix it. The surgery wasn’t fun (it never is) but it was worth it. Have your doctor look at it.
When I had my 4th child the midwife in training was telling me that she had gotten a vaginocele and a rectocele from childbirth. She told me that what made a big difference was doing Kegel exercises. So my suggestion would be to get it checked out by your gynecologist for a diagnosis and then do Kegels. You don’t have to have surgery if you don’t want to.
I’m glad we are talking about these things. Not even close friends or family members have discussed these kinds of things in my presence: this anonymous honesty is great!
My youngest child is almost 13 years old, so I am way past the pregnancy stage…but I was overweight for most of the 13 years since her birth and only recently lost most of my extra weight.
Breasts: I nursed her for about 15 months, and I noticed a lot of changes after she was weaned. Before baby: 36 C. Nursing: 38 D. While nursing: very firm and full. After weaning: very saggy (like deflated balloons). Time went on and I gained weight: fuller breasts, and they seemed to retain their pre-pregnancy shape after a while. Now: about a 36 B I think, and I am happy with their shape. I guess what I am saying is this: they are very adaptable to everything, and they eventually retain a nice shape and do not sag and look deflated forever. Honestly, I like the shape of my natural breasts a LOT more than I would like perfectly shaped fake orbs…I think we should ALL appreciate the beauty of REAL breasts and stop thinking that the odd fake shape is prettier in some way. Real is better, baby! :)
Vagina: had episiotomy with 1st, 2nd was C-section. Tough recovery first time in that area…but a few months after delivery, I was back in business. Even sore in that area after C-section (well, around the cervix anyway)…took a while for all that to heal, too. BUT…once my body snapped back from pregnancy, everything seemed to get back in place. Yes, I do keigels often and I think my muscles are very strong. I guess I am lucky to not have had major recovery issues: if there is a problem, it may very well be a hernia of some sort. I imagine there is a way to fix most problems: I wish you well and hope you can “get your groove back.” Good luck! :)