I haven’t been to physio in a long, long time. I started seeing my amaaazing physiotherapist right after I had Solly. I had pulled a muscle in my abdomen and it just wasn’t getting better. I really should’ve been seeing her before then, but better late than never. When I finally bit the bullet and met with her, I kicked myself for waiting so long. She is truly the most knowledgable person I’ve ever met when it comes to womens health, specifically pelvic floor stuff. She has a beautiful approach, where she NEVER shows judgement, NEVER asks for perfection, and ALWAYS gives you a plan that fits smoothly into your life.
The last time I saw her was when I starting to experience discomfort in my pregnancy with Jamin. She gave me lots of good tips and encouragement, as I was quite nervous to run out another pregnancy that was as painful as Solly’s, that left me feeling disabled and incapable of regular, everyday tasks. We all know how my pregnancy with Jamin ended up, and unfortunately, I haven’t been back since my postpartum checkup with her.
Now that I’m further into the game with Bamina, I figured it was time to resurface and see her. She’s moved into a brand new women’s health clinic, with a hand picked group of amazing women, all specializing in womens health in the forms of physio, OBs, and gynos. And when I say specialists, I mean it. Its not like they’ve each just taken a class so they can say they’re experts. They are truly the best of the best!
For some reason, booking appointments feels like a daunting task for me, but a few weeks ago when Brady told me he had the 7th off, I took that as my opportunity to book physio. And that day was today! I got to my appointment a bit early to fill out forms, and got in with my physiotherapist even a few minutes early.
I won’t walk you through my appointment step my step, but it was wonderful. We talked about all the things I’ve been feeling and what discomforts I’ve experienced. I told her I’ve been trying harder than ever to follow the “rules” and I saw her light up a little as I recounted just which rules I was talking about. She seemed really happy that I had retained so much information from our past meetings. We figured out an idea for my biggest issue, which is my pelvis clunking apart with no warning while I’m lying in bed. We agreed that sleep is necessary, and I’m getting far less of it because every time I lull and roll over, I have to be very awake and very careful how I’ll roll over, and then I’m just too awake :/ New plan: wear one of those soft belly bands, folded over a time or two, around my hips/butt/where I wear my handi-belt, in order to give my pelvis just that much more support and maybe, possibly, it won’t clunk out of place as often. We can hope.
Her first exercise is always to stand both she and I in front of the mirror and see how aligned (or misaligned) I am. Then I stand on one foot, and then on the other foot. On a normal day, or even a good day, my balance sucks. I always flunk that part of the appointment, haha! But I was surprisingly balanced today! I hesitated more with one leg, but its the one that tends to give out on me, so I don’t trust it all that much. Still, it was successful. Then I lay down on the exam table/bed, and she checked my pelvis over. And she was SO pleased! Apparently my pelvis was only slightly out of line, and with a very soft releasing treatment on the one side, it was centred again. She told me she could really tell that I was following the rules, and it was paying off. I was so relieved to hear this, because if you’ve ever worked on your pelvic floor health, or things in that vicinity, you know that results aren’t always easy to spot, and its easy to get discouraged when your exercises feel fruitless. After my exams were over, we stood together and just talked for a few minutes, and she told me she thought I was genuinely doing an amazing job. She commented that my posture was exactly right, and that my stance was centred. All of these things may sound small but it was such a reassuring appointment, and I felt like a million bucks walking out of there. I am using my tools, and they’re paying off! The work I’m putting in is counting for something! She left the appointment on a high note, saying I was welcome back anytime, but that for the moment, I was doing everything I needed to do, and we shouldn’t book a follow up that I don’t absolutely need. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if the next time I got in touch with her, I was postpartum, but I’d be surprised! Haha! I expect pain will gradually increase as time goes on, but I don’t want to be a pessimist either. I would be THRILLED if I could really manage this situation on my own, using the resources she’s offered me and the self discipline that I’m trying to exercise.
I feel encouraged, and happy, and hopeful 🙂 I’m SO glad I went! And for any of you who have had babies (or haven’t) and are interested in pelvis health and all those good things that no one talks about but should, now is the time to get in with my physiotherapist! With her recently moving clinics, she is a bit easier to get in with, and again, she is the BEST! I would happily pass on her info to anyone who wants it!
I hope you all enjoyed the sunshine today! I know I did! ☀