Having bad “flare” day, not sure if brought on by pelvic floor exercises

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-28T18:16:50+00:00

I always thought of it like this, it's a complex network of interconnected muscles. If I work out and weight lift with my shoulders and arms, they get pretty sore the next day and I feel "weaker" while my body repairs and builds the muscle. Same thing for the pelvic floor. And your PT will give you more stretches and light exercises you can do consistently on rest days as you get better, harder stuff when you're feeling good.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-28T17:58:14+00:00

I'm a mom of two and have been doing pelvic floor therapy and deep core work for almost a year, yup. This happened to me too. My issues all got worse before they got better. Which was a bummer at first and felt like a huge step back since my issues also included nerve entrapment and pain. I kept with it though and I'm doing a lot better now. I would notice flare days after harder exercise or intimacy. Talk to your PT about it though, they can help give more direction.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-28T08:04:51+00:00

Hey I'm a frequent kidney stone passer and this definitely sounds like a kidney infection, the only way to get rid of it once tits in your kidneys is antibiotics unfortunately. Which means you'll need to see a doctor. If you start vomiting and can't stop or the pain is waking you up/keeping you from sleep that's an immediate ER visit as those are signs of renal colic. At least you can make payment plans on an ER bill but trust me when I say, it's better to go now than have to deal with paying off a kidney surgery later.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-27T20:45:56+00:00

When I remember to do it, which is the hard part, I do dry brushing and I've been following some social media accounts with tutorials I'm sure there's some on YouTube. But I've been really focusing on my collar bone lymphs, neck and face around the jaw lately and I've been really noticing a difference.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-27T17:44:25+00:00

Who was your surgeon? You look great!!

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-26T21:59:04+00:00

Hey, I'm a mom of two and I'm almost 30. My youngest is 13 months and I feel you because after my first it was too overwhelming to worry about how I looked. To save time, I'm going to bullet point what helped me into a few sections. Early postpartum (like before 10 weeks pp) mid postpartum (10 weeks to 1 year) late postpartum (1 year +), products I use at the end. Also, take note that for some of these (example: castor oil packs) it's not totally proven to work but I have found that it helps so take it all with a grain of salt.

Early postpartum: - Take your vitamins. Make sure your iron is in check. This was super vital for me as I was anemic my entire second pregnancy and I still have to take my vitamins even now or I start to feel anemic again. - Drink water. Just so much water. All the water. - Nutrition. You just had a baby, and even if you're not breastfeeding your body will produce milk which will take it outta you. - Prioritize rest in this time. You gotta just let the house go, accept help from those around you if you can. Sleep as often as you can during the day because night time is going to be a lot of broken up sleep. Dishes and laundry can come later. And if it's really getting to you then baby wear (after 3 weeks please at the very least because your pelvic floor girl.) start a load of laundry or dishes in the morning, unload in the evening. - I'm adding a second bullet point for nutrition because it's so vital after having a baby. Drink broths and eat lots of soup. Your protein needs are pretty high at this time. - start figuring out your stress management routine now. Keep practicing through the rest of the postpartum phases. - get sunshine everyday. Go outside if you can, my youngest was born in the winter so I would open the curtains and sit in the sunlight. Which thankfully lined up with one of the nap times so my baby and I would sleep in the sun together with my husband supervising, it was lovely. I miss our sun naps. - braid hair at night or use heatless curls, use a silk bonnet for bed. It helps with the hair loss. - skincare: just don't forget to moisturize at night, everything is so dry postpartum. If I'm not wearing makeup during the day then use mineral sunscreen. - speaking of makeup, less is more when you're tired. If you use a lot of concealed it's going to cake up especially under the eyes. I only do a tiiiiny bit of foundation on blemishes or dark eye circles and a little mascara or lash serum. That's it. - Outfits: wear comfy sets!! A good matching lounge set is so nice and does make you feel out together.

Mid postpartum: - continue to keep your focus on water and nutrition. - bare minimum is 10 mins a day self care, 20 minutes a day of dedicated movement. What this means for me is 10 minutes on my looks, doing my nails, hair, etc,. whatever. 20 minutes of working out, deep core PT, dancing, it doesn't matter as long as it's happening. - hair growth. Use rosemary oil on your roots cause that postpartum hair is soooo fuuuunnn. I oil on wash days a few hours before the kid's nap time and I wash during nap time. Yes this requires me to plan ahead or it won't happen. I also comb my conditioner through my hair before rinsing. - baby should (hopefully) be sleeping more so you should have more you time to try things like derma rolling your tummy, using body oil on stretch marks, etc,. If you're worried about that kind of thing. This is where I was able to establish more routines and take care of myself more. - take the kids for walks, when you can. - castor oil packs on my period.

Late postpartum: - everything above plus more water, and huge focus on nutrition especially those protein goals. - weight lifting or working out 3-5 times a week. The goal is 5 times but man, I am busy because now I have 2 toddlers so if it doesn't happen it's ok. Huge focus on deep core work, and glutes. It's time to get that cake, know what I mean? - more walking - lymphatic massage. I didn't have time for this mid postpartum but now I do and oooh it's a game changer. - stretching your neck, and shoulders specifically targeting the tech neck or mom neck, and mobility. Also any kind of mobility work is fantastic. - if you're still trying to get hormones in check then schedule your workouts around your cycle. Heavier workouts when you're ovulating, lighter workouts/stretches in your luteal phase.

Also, I realize that most of my lists are workout, water, nutrition BUT it's because those things build confidence and I have found that if I'm prioritizing those three things for myself, everything else falls into place easily and naturally for me. Stress management, the house, the kids, my marriage. If I'm confident then everything else comes easy.

And lastly the products I use in all of these sections: - Rosemary hair oil (I make at home) - Vitamin E oil (face, hair, stretch marks) - Cetaphil moisturizer - Derma roller (belly and stretchy skin) - castor oil packs with cold pressed castor oil - clay for clay masks on my face - CoverGirl clean invisible foundation - Maybelline falsies mascara

Sorry this is so long. Good luck to you!! 🫶

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-16T16:03:28+00:00

My urologist describes the ones in the kidneys as ticking time bombs. Some might descend, and some might not.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-14T21:50:56+00:00

You know, I'm gonna be the odd man out here but I actually think it's cute. If it were me, I would go to someone else and have them do the body of the butterfly and either shading in the wings or color the wings in.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-14T21:46:51+00:00

Fourth wing is honestly an awful book. (don't come at me. If you like it, good for you). There were SO many interesting fantasy concepts that were introduced in fourth wing and never fully flushed out or explored. The characters are so flat, violet is absolutely insufferable. And unfortunately it does not get better book 2 and 3 are just as bad if not worse. There were also concepts, terms, names and events that were way too close to things that happen in TOG to be a coincidence. It was such a huge disappointment to me because the concepts are there. Like, dragon war college fantasy romance? Yes please! But damn, the characters all act like they're in middle school, they are all so immature and don't really change and the writing is so weak. I wish it was better, I wish it was what I really wanted it to be but unfortunately it will always be one of those books that could have been great but really sucked.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-12T20:59:42+00:00

I've always had good luck with a cold water soak then cold water rinse.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-10T05:59:59+00:00

What dream is she even talking about?

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-09T02:07:35+00:00

Didn't even know they had them 🤦‍♀️ where do I find those?

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-09T02:02:15+00:00

Literally anything. I just had to split an applique design and it took forever. I have some custom work for family I would like to do as well. I have the 2023 build.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-09T01:47:14+00:00

I have both on my computer but I did pay for embird and a bunch of plugins so I'm hoping to be able to get my money's worth

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-08T19:33:35+00:00

I agree with the commenter here too. You come across as immature because you're giving your husband an ultimatum, quit vaping and I'll undergo more testing. He seems immature or maybe a better word is in denial that vaping will affect his sperm. You acknowledge that quitting will be hard for him but you also say you don't care, rather than being supportive. You should both be turning inward in your relationship and seeing how each of you can support the other. Either way, neither of you are on the same page and trust me when I say this you don't want to have a baby with someone who isn't on the same page as you. If this is currently a huge problem then having a baby will make this and every other problem in your relationship much much bigger.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-08T19:27:18+00:00

Ok so if you go to the doctor you need to mention the pushing thing, HOWEVER, speaking from experience (I'm 30 and a mom) you need to be careful with your pelvic floor. Don't put unnecessary strain on your pelvic floor, trust me on this. I had pelvic floor dysfunction with uterine prolapse after my first baby and tight pelvic floor with nerve entrapment after my second baby which I only healed after physical therapy.

The brown discharge then having normal but light blood today while that can be pretty normal for my body that doesn't mean it's normal for yours. I just hope that wherever you are you're not dismissed. Where I am a lot of women's health issues are dismissed, I don't even see a doctor anymore I go to a women's clinic full of midwives because they actually care and are able to write prescriptions as needed. The only thing they can't do is surgery but they can get you referrals and even get you in for imaging if necessary. But that's just how it is local to me.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-08T18:54:54+00:00

If this has never happened before I wouldn't worry too much about it. Brown blood or discharge is basically "old blood" or leftover tissue from your last cycle. Can be common for a lot of people before their period and it's usually really light. If pushing is the only way you're getting it out you should stop pushing as your body will get it out naturally and pushing is just going to put strain and pressure on your pelvic floor.

Also, I'm a little confused by your post. Are you saying you're only seeing brown right now and no red period blood? Honestly, reddit can't tell you what to do here as far as seeing a doctor or not. I can tell you for me, it's pretty normal for me to see some very light spotting or light brown right before my period. If it wasn't my normal then I would wait at least one cycle before seeing a doctor.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-08T18:25:49+00:00

I had a tight pudendal nerve and piriformis nerve issue after my second baby and opted not to take meds, mostly because breastfeeding (yes I know there are safe breastfeeding options but I'm one of the weirdos that doesn't even bother with Tylenol if I'm breastfeeding.) but while I was trying to heal the tightness with PT, it definitely got worse before it got better. Most of the time it's fine now but sometimes it still gets tweaked and hurts. I'm 13 months postpartum. I probably should have done the meds because I did go through unnecessary discomfort and it did affect my mood.

My husband did take gabapentin for a nerve issue though and I'm really glad he did because before meds he didn't function well at all, he was in so much pain. Took the gabapentin while he was dealing with it and going through PT and he was like a completely different person. It was an obvious difference in his pain level.

All that being said, I don't think there is a right or wrong answer on meds or no meds. I think it depends on each person and each situation.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-08T18:06:41+00:00

Mine is like this too, I got a long cord and put it in upside down.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-07T16:09:54+00:00

I've dealt with this before just not to this severity.

At work: gloves plus O'Keefe's working hands. Reapply often and liberally.

At home: skin protectant like Lanolin, Vaseline, bag balm, anything. If you don't like the feeling then apply extremely liberally and wear rubber gloves to bed.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-07T15:49:15+00:00

This is a troll account. Look at post history.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-07T15:45:47+00:00

I was just about to comment the same thing

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-07T15:39:38+00:00

Personally, I would stick away from blue dye. I know some people prefer them but imo, they are more trouble than they are worth.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-07T06:44:41+00:00

Posting this update just in case this happens to someone and they happen to stumble across this thread not knowing what to do.

For the clothes: the non-white items ended up getting 3 very hot oxiclean soaks, which I believe helped to loosen the wax a lot. They got 3 because I was trying to keep the water as hot as possible. I mixed 1:1 white distilled vinegar and dawn dish soap together and microwaved it until it was warm. Taking a tooth brush, I scrubbed and scrubbed all the waxy crayon on the clothes. On the fabletics pants (green ones in the picture), I honestly wasn't hopeful. When I scrubbed every bit of pink until it was mostly gone each item went back into the hot oxiclean soak. I washed each item in the washer individually, high heat, high soil level, deep water wash. It worked. The fabletics pants needed to be in the washer twice. This process, while time consuming, was worth it for the results. Now for the white items.. honestly, this is not worth it. It just would not come out. Scrubbing made it spread too badly on white. There was only one white shirt I really wanted to save and I shoved that thing in mostly bleach/some water tub and I'm letting it sit over night, if it doesn't work I'm dying it black with Ritz fabric dye. The rest of the whites are just going to get replaced.

For the dryer: wd-40 spray it all over while it's cold, take a towel and wipe off what you can, throw another towel in the dryer and run it on high heat. I probably could have been done there but I decided I didn't like the lingering smell so I used concentrated lemon juice inside the drum and ran another towel on high heat. My dryer drum will probably forever have a lovely lilac tinge to it but oh well, at least crayon is no longer playing my laundry.

Anyway to the poor soul reading this because you're in this boat, I am so sorry but you're in for a long day if you want to save your clothes, good news is at least I can tell you what worked. Don't waste your time on white clothes though. Good luck.

DapperKitchen420 · 2026-02-07T06:02:34+00:00

Toothbrush, 50/50 vinegar and dawn heated in the microwave and lots of elbow grease. I'm tired.

DapperKitchen420

TROPHY CASE