January Experience Spotlight: Healing my Womb

Written by Kate Lamprich

This is my experience with healing my womb.

Content includes: menstrual related topics.

Photo taken by Kate Lamprich.

My New Normal.

After I gave birth for the second time, my monthly cycle came back with a vengeance.  I experienced extremely heavy bleeding, dark blood, spotting, clots, and long periods.  I was using the largest menstrual cup I could get, and overflowing every hour on my heavy days and forget about nights. . . with the cup and a pad and period panties, I was still leaving stains on my sheets. So I started using an under-pad for a couple of nights each month. After a few months of this out-of-the-ordinary bleeding, I went to my ob-gyn.

At the ob-gyn, they did tests, ultrasounds, etc. to find the source of my extreme symptoms.  The conclusion they came to is, “this is your new normal”.  Without the knowledge I have now, I accepted the answer, relieved I did not have any fibroids, cysts, or worse.

This is my new normal.

I owned that. . . MY new normal.  This is normal. MY normal.

Each month I prepared myself with my large cup, large pads, period panties, and a change of clothes and underwear every place I would go.  At bedtime, I needed pants I didn’t care about staining, an under-pad, and I would still get up several times throughout the night to empty my cup.  I also needed iron pills, extra water, and craved red meat and greens.

This went on for 5 years.

Understanding something that occurs on a normal basis is not necessarily normal or healthy.

One of my doula clients introduced me to vaginal steaming because she was using it as part of her postpartum care.  I was so excited to learn more. I found a training program so I could become a Peristeam Facilitator and offer this amazing service to my postpartum doula clients. During this training, there was a whole section defining a healthy womb cleanse and how to care for yourself during your womb cleanse, and a lot of the course was about different reasons to use steaming to support a healthy body.  THIS is when I learned my “new normal” was a sign my body needed support!!

My body had been crying out to me, demanding support for 5 whole years. . . and I was not listening because I was told this was normal, this was my new normal.  In addition to these extreme periods, I had experienced stress incontinence since the first time I had given birth, which at this point was almost 14 years ago.  Stress incontinence was one of those things we joked about because mom has to cross her legs when she sneezes. It seemed a lot of women around me deal with this issue on a regular basis, so it must be normal too, but I learned that steaming can help with this problem as well.

Photo taken by Kate Lamprich

My healing journey to a healthy normal.

As soon as I could, I developed a steam plan for myself and began steaming.

The first two months were rough.  I am not going to lie and I am not going to sugarcoat it because anyone who is serious about healing their body and fully supporting their womb cleanses should be prepared. It took several months, even years, to get me to my steaming starting point, and I knew it would be a process to get my body back to a healthy balance.  The first two periods I experienced after steaming, I was doubled over in pain from cramps and had even more bleeding than my “new normal” had been.

I did not get discouraged because I knew my body was in the process of healing, and healing is not always an easy process.

My at home peristeam set up.

It is absolutely possible to steam in the comfort and privacy of your own home. It is recommended to have a consultation with a peristeam professional to choose safe herbs and understand the process of steaming safely at home.

In the third and fourth months, I was back at about the same place I started.  After that I began to experience improvement in my monthly cycle.

It was during the 7th month when I had been feeling improvement that I experienced an orthopedic yoga therapy class focused on the movement of the pelvic floor.  This was exactly what I needed to experience another stage in my healing.  Within an hour of this class, I passed a clot the size of my fist.  Since then, my cycles have been within the range of an actual normal and healthy womb cleanse.

BONUS: Since about the 5th month of steaming or so, I realized I do not leak urine when I cough, sneeze, or laugh.

Maintaining balance in my body.

To maintain this balance and health I achieved over this 9-month journey, I steam once a month and practice yoga with a focus on pelvic floor movement and control at least once a month and keep that practice in my mind often as I move throughout my days.

There are a few contra-indications for steaming so it is recommended to consult with a peristeam professional prior to beginning a steam plan.