About six months after my twins were born I noticed how my underwear always felt wet. I didn’t know what was happening and I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. Then it got worse and I avoided going to friends’ houses in case I had an “accident”. Instead I’d always insist they came to us so I was close to my own bathroom and had changes of clothes to hand. They probably thought I didn’t like their cooking!
But then my family started to notice. I used cotton wool and sanitary towels to absorb the urine, but nothing stopped that smell of wee. I even found myself shying away from my husband and I was always examining my underwear and snapping at my kids.
I felt trapped, but when my best friend, Erika, asked me over, I decided to go. She had also given birth recently so we had plenty to talk about. As we chatted, a sip of tea went down the “wrong way” and made me cough. To my absolute horror, I left this huge stain on Erika’s sofa!
I was so embarrassed I just burst into tears. But Erika was great. She’d had the same thing after birth too. She said it was pretty common as your body goes through during pregnancy and birth. She told me all about Pelvic Floor Exercises and special pads. Anyway, after weeks of living with it, I suddenly felt a weight had been lifted off my mind.
I’m not cured but I’m keeping up the exercises and, looking at my babies now, I realise that the odd leak is a small price to pay.