Two weeks after Sharon, 33, delivered her daughter, she began feeling pressure in her lower abdomen and like there was something stuck between between her legs. She grabbed a mirror, looked down, and saw a bulge.
“I googled ‘mass in vagina’ and the first thing that came up was prolapse,” recalled Sharon, who asked to use only her first name for privacy reasons.
Sharon went to her OB-GYN who advised she do Kegels — exercises meant to strengthen the pelvic floor — and assured her that with a bit of time she’d feel OK.
So Sharon went home and kegeled, but the pain got worse. She constantly had the feeling there was something stuck between her legs, like a tampon inserted the wrong way. Sharon worried she’d have to live with discomfort forever, and that her insides would, basically, fall out. Weeks later, she saw a different OB-GYN who all but confirmed her worst fears.