Jill’s Story: 11 Years of Leakage She Thought She Had to Live With
This past weekend I traveled to upstate New York for my best friend’s baby shower. It was the best weekend, full of a halloween themed baby shower followed by a costume party and let me tell you, a pregnant person dressed as the Lorax is as adorable as it sounds.
On my blissful, baby-free flight back to Austin, I sat next to a woman traveling here for work. We started chatting, and soon she shared that she had two kids, ages 8 and 11. When she asked what I did for work, I told her I was a pelvic floor physical therapist in Austin. I was met with a blank stare.
She had never heard of pelvic floor PT.
As I explained what pelvic floor physical therapy is and how it helps women recover from pregnancy and childbirth, her eyes lit up. She told me she’d had bladder leakage since her first son was born eleven years ago and she had no idea there was anything she could do about it.
That woman’s name was Jill, and by the time the plane landed, we’d spent an hour and a half talking about women’s health, postpartum recovery, and why so many women go years without knowing that pelvic floor physically therapy exists. She gave me permission to share her story here.
Jill’s Story: 11 Years of Leakage She Thought Was “Normal”
Jill had her first son in the fall of 2014 and her pregnancy and birth were great. She didn’t have any major complications and she didn’t know what to expect going into birth but she was happy with her experience and recovery. She was pretty active before and during pregnancy and after a few weeks of taking it easy, she felt ready to start moving again.
She did everything right. She started slowly and listened to her body. After a few weeks of slowly ramping up activity, her doctor cleared her for exercise and she went on her first postpartum run. That’s when her leakage started.
She leaked from her first step, but she figured it was probably weakness and would get better with time. It didn’t, and in fact her leakage started getting worse. She decided that she should cut out running and try biking instead, which she didn’t mind too much since she was never overly committed to one over the other. Biking went better, but as she started ramping up intensity, she started noticing leakage again. She got a pessary from her OB to see if that would help. The pessary helped when she was in the saddle but she’d still leak when she stood for climbs or higher efforts.
Read: Everything you need to know about pessaries here.
She started cutting fluids before her workout so her bladder wasn’t full. She’d always pee before getting on the bike. She started doing some kegels but wasn’t sure if she was doing them right.
After months of wearing a pad and feeling frustrated, she switched off of biking to walking and then added in pilates. That was about 9 years ago and for the most part, that’s still what her workouts look like. She hasn’t tried going back to running or biking and she’s been nervous to lift heavier weights, but she feels pretty strong. She doesn’t typically have leakage with her workouts, and while she’ll notice leakage when she coughs a lot, with a really big sneeze or belly laugh, her symptoms are mostly under control.
She’s also not terribly upset about the way she’s had to change her routine but she does regret the amount of times she’s had to tell her kids that she can’t chase them in the park and she can remember a number of times over the years where she would’ve preferred to trust her bladder more, like when she didn’t feel comfortable participating in field day with her son.
Small Adaptations, Big Ripple Effects
Jill’s story isn’t a tragedy. She’s happy and she feels strong. She found ways to stay active. But these tweaks that people make to their lives, even when they’re not devastating to us, are still life altering. She still wishes she could get a cold, play with her kids or join the local pickleball league without having to worry about peeing her pants.
As we age and experience injury, changes to our lifestyle can be inevitable. But giving up things that we love because we don’t know help exists - that’s unfortunate. These small changes still have big ripple effects.
Jill described things that felt little to her: no longer running in the local turkey trot with her sister, opting out of field day with her sons, holding back a big laugh in favor of a chuckle so she didn’t leak at work. Those sound like small sacrifices, but when you add them up over years, they start to shape how someone moves through the world and what they believe their body is capable of.
Leakage Is Your Body Asking For Attention
The stories we hear about prolapse, pain, leakage, diastasis or tearing can sound like irreversible damage. But in reality, most of these symptoms are incredibly common, highly treatable, and not permanent. They’re your body’s way of asking for attention, not punishment.
For Jill, her leakage wasn’t a sign of weakness or failure. It was a signal that her pelvic floor needed support, coordination, and retraining, not more kegels and less activity.
Here’s the reality:
Leaking isn’t inevitable after kids. It’s common, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s something you have to accept and live with forever.
Your pelvic floor is adaptable. Just like any other muscle group, it can be retrained and strengthened. Sometimes that means relaxing it, not tightening it, or a combination of the two.
It’s never too late. Whether it’s been 6 weeks or 16 years since childbirth, you can still see improvement with the right guidance.
You don’t have to figure it out alone. Pelvic floor physical therapists like us specialize in helping you reconnect with your core, your breath, and your confidence in movement.
If Jill had known this eleven years ago, her story might have looked different. And the cool thing is now that she knows help exists, her next eleven years may look different, too. If you’ve been holding back a big laugh, skipping runs, or crossing your legs every time you sneeze, consider this your invitation to stop living small because of your symptoms. They’re real, but they’re fixable.
What Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Can Do
As a pelvic floor physical therapist in Austin, I see women like Jill every week. People are often told to “just do Kegels” or “live with it",” but pelvic floor therapy is about much more than tightening muscles.
At Lady Bird Physical Therapy, we help people:
Reduce leakage and improve bladder control,
Rebuild strength and coordination after pregnancy,
Address pain with sex, pelvic heaviness, or core weakness, and
Get back to the workouts and activities they love.
Austin Women: You Don’t Have to Live Small Because of Your Symptoms
If you’ve been skipping workouts, crossing your legs when you sneeze, or avoiding running with your kids at Zilker Park — you’re not alone, and you don’t have to keep living that way. Just like Jill, your story can change.
If you’re in Austin, Texas, and are curious about pelvic floor physical therapy, our team at Lady Bird PT would love to help you reconnect with your body and confidence.
Book an appointment with a pelvic floor therapist in Austin →
Or, if you’re not local, you can find a pelvic floor physical therapist near you.
Your symptoms are real, but they’re treatable.
This post was written by Dr. Rebecca Maidansky, PT, DPT, owner and founder of Lady Bird Physical Therapy. Rebecca is a pelvic floor physical therapist in Austin, TX and founded Lady Bird Physical Therapy in 2019. She is the creator of Birth Preparation and Postpartum Planning, Baby Steps Fitness and the head writer and editor of The Pelvic Press.
Rebecca is a passionate writer and vocal advocate for pelvic health and the importance of improving access to perinatal care. She believes strongly that many common pregnancy pains and postpartum symptoms can be eased or even prevented with basic education and care.