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So, is there any amount of kegel exercises that will help return pelvic floor strength back to normal?

Or is peeing every time I sneeze going to be the new normal?

It will get better!!! I am a physical therapist who specializes in women's health and I see this ALL.THE.TIME. Obviously a vaginal delivery is a traumatic event for the muscles of the pelvic floor and it will take a little while for them to recover. Although I treat my patients much more comprehensively, I can give you a few tips to help speed up the process.

First up: The Pelvic Brace - Do this before you sneeze, laugh, lift your baby, cough, basically do this before any activity where you know you leak.

Do a kegel (tighten your pelvic floor as if you are stopping the flow of urine, stopping the passing of gas or closing your 'holes' {vagine and anus} and AT THE SAME TIME, tighten your abdominal muscles and THEN sneeze, cough, laugh, etc. 

This acts as a reinforcement to the muscles which are too weak to stop the leakage.

Side note: It is ok to try to stop the flow of urine when you are actually going to the bathroom  1 time per month. You should NOT practice this way because it could cause urine to go back up and potentially cause UTIs, bladder infections or kidney infections. 

Secondly: At first, it will be easier to do kegels laying down with your knees bent. You want to try to hold for 10 seconds and then relax for 10 seconds, 10 times. I you use a kitchen timer, set it to 3 min and 10 sec. If you can't hold it for 10 (which you probably won't) start at 5 sec, then go up to 7 sec, then to 10 sec. This will help to strengthen the muscles to prevent leakage. 

Thirdly: There are lots of things that irritate the bladder making you more likely to leak including caffeine (coffee, tea, soda, chocolate), acidic fruits (tomatoes or tomato products, orange juice, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, lemonade), and artificial sweeteners. Now, I always tell my patients that I am not the {fill in the blank} police, but if you eat or srink something and you notice that your leakage has increased, maybe you shoudl cut that out for a while. 

Lastly: Just because you are leaking, does NOT mean to limit you water intake. When your urine becomes more concentrated due to less water in your system, it irriates the lining of your bladder making you have to go to the bathroom more and increasing your chances of leaking. 

Hope this helps and if not, check your area for physical therapists that specialize in women's health!!!!!

I had a partial bladder prolapse after birth and kegels helped put everything back in place! So yes, it does get better. :)

@peaches1038:  What great information!  Thank you so much!

Thanks to everyone else for the reassurance.

I'm happy that I may have caused a few laughs!  It's actually kind of funny, since peeing from laughter makes me laugh even more, which can't hurt.

I had my daughter 8 weeks ago Thursday and I didn't notice this until the past week or two.  I guess the first six weeks I was focused on healing more than anything else...

I've been doing kegels on and off all day!

I've been wondering this myself. Glad I stumbled on to this thread. 

@hergreenapples: What a great find! This is what I meant by my saying that I treat my patients much more comprehensively than just doing kegels for an hour. The article had a couple of great points! Squatting is definetly a great exercise, we just don't normally start out with them because when you squat, you generate a lot of intra-abdominal pressure, which can cause you to leak if your muscles are already weak. So, we try to get closer to that optimal muscle tension before we do squats or else you will just be causing yourself to leak more while you do the exercise. Hope that makes sense!

If anyone has any other questions, let me know!

@hergreenapples:  I agree, what a great find!

When I first looked at your link, I didn't realize the website was Mama Sweat.  I thought it was Mamas Wet, as in Mama Has Weak Bladder Muscles.  I thought, "Hey, sounds interesting!"