It Happened in IKEA

It happened in IKEA.

Shit.

Literal shit.

In my pants…

If you know me well, you know I don’t shy away from telling it like it is. And this is definitely one of those moments where I’m choosing to be brutally honest for the greater good of humanity (or something like that 😜).

It all happened when I was about seven months pregnant with James and decided to spend an afternoon strolling through IKEA. I was near the checkout looking at their Christmas stuff that was on display when I farted. If you’ve been pregnant before, you know that towards the end of your pregnancy controlling things like farts becomes harder to do. And let’s be real, I felt the urge to fart, so I did. No big deal. Besides, no one was even really around me. Which is why I thought it bazaar that I still smelled my fart… like five minutes later.

I just shrugged it off and happened to absentmindedly brush my hand over my butt and that’s when I felt it…a lump of poo in my pants.

“WTF! Holy shit! Are you kidding me?!” These are just a few of the thoughts that ran through my head. “Not again!” was another. 

Yup, you read that right… not again.

Now before you start thinking that I’m some weirdo that browns myself often, let me give you a little background info.

My struggles with pooing myself started after giving birth to Andee. When I delivered her, I lost a liter of blood. That’s 20% of the amount of blood in the human body! Because of this I had to go on iron supplements for three months, and iron causes major constipation. So I was taking a laxative and a stool softener to help. Then not long after this, I started taking magnesium to help with my migraines. Well magnesium happens to be a natural laxative. What I’m getting at here is that my insides became all sorts of messed up.

I didn’t really notice much of a problem until I started running again around four months postpartum. It became common practice for me to either shit my pants or have to stop in an alleyway to relieve myself at least once every third run or so.

Then it started happening even when I wasn’t running. I wouldn’t even feel an urge to fart or use the bathroom, and then bam. My pants would be full.

I knew this wasn’t normal (duh) and I had to get this under control before starting back to work. So I saw a pelvic floor physio to help with the problem. It wasn’t a bad experience, but lets just say it wasn’t an appointment I was excited to attend again. She had be work on kegels for the front and back, and this actually helped my situation. Thank god!

Well, fast forward to being seven months pregnant with James. As mentioned above, I filled my pants in IKEA. And let me tell you, using an entire recycled roll of toilet paper in a public bathroom is not the most enjoyable experience. This unfortunate circumstance happened again and again and again.

I knew it had something to do with my pelvic floor and pregnancy again, so I immediately booked an appointment with a different pelvic floor physio therapist, Kelsey Drew. Given that my first experience with this type of physio wasn’t the greatest, I was a little apprehensive. But I knew I needed help and just pulled my big girl panties up (clean this time) and did it.

Turns out, this experience was 100 times better. And I actually wanna be BFFs with the girl! Kelsey explained everything to me in full detail beforehand, made sure I was comfortable with doing a physical exam, and then sent me a detailed outline of everything we discussed in the appointment afterwards. 

Turns out I had a small bladder and rectal prolapse, fecal leakage due to a weak rectal sphincter, and started to have more diastasis rectus abdominis due to being pregnant. Kelsey prescribed some basic exercises for me that basically made me more tuned into my pelvic floor. At each follow up appointment, she would check where I was at and up the intensity of my exercises when needed for continual strengthening.

I also met with her before going into labor to discuss labor and delivery musts as well as postpartum care for my pelvic floor. Given that my pelvic floor was so wrecked after delivering Andee, this was a very big deal to me and something I wish I would have done before my first delivery.

I knew pushing James out was something I really needed to be more mindful of, but Kelsey also stressed the importance of recovery afterwards. She said that I should take it super easy for the first two to three weeks postpartum and ideally the first six weeks. This has been extremely hard for me because I have a busy toddler and because I am so eager to move again now that I’m no longer pregnant. But I’m really trying to follow Kelsey’s guidelines for the benefit of my pelvic floor.

I am coming up on six weeks postpartum and meet with Kelsey next week to assess where I’m at and to go from there. And I cannot wait!

Oh! And I should report that upon partaking in the exercises Kelsey prescribed me, I have not had any unpleasant incidents occur. Thank gawd!

So really what I’m trying to say is 1) thanks Kelsey for being a champ 2) take care of your pelvic floor and 3) try your best to always poo in a toilet when possible. 😉

Thanks for reading about my messy mishaps and I hope this information helps you feel more confident to take care of your pelvic floor as well. Happy day y’all!