how do you pee after birth?!

[madeofstardust]

i uc'd yesterday morning and escaped with nothing but a tiny tear near my urethra. i'm grateful, but now peeing makes me feel like i'm going to die! i shake and can hardly breathe for at least 5 minutes afterwards.
are there are tricks for peeing after birth to help with the pain?

[MamaCrunch]

Yes! Get a cup of warm water (I always used a yogurt cup but hospitals have these things they call "peri bottles" that are sort of like sports bottles--anything will work!) anyway, pour the warm water over your perineum as you pee and it helps SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!!!

Congratulations! :

[Shelsi]

ditto what the pp said. Spray that water while you pee. Or you could always sit in the bath tub with water in it and pee in there as well although that seems sort of gross to me lol.

I have a diaper sprayer hooked up to the toliet and I used that after dd's birth and it felt soooo good.

[MittensKittens]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I had the same thing, it lasted about five days and gradually got better. I just gritted my teeth during peeing, or would pee under the shower, with the water running. I also found that taking paracetamol on a regular basis helped a lot, though I am not sure if I would advise that, due to BF.

[*MamaJen*]

This may sound gross and I don't care: I peed in the bathtub. It was the only way it didn't hurt.
I didn't tear at all except for maybe some tiny skid marks, and I swear, peeing postpartum hurt worse than actually pushing out the baby. The peri bottle did nothing but sitting in the bath was fine.

[MittensKittens]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

I swear, peeing postpartum hurt worse than actually pushing out the baby.

Yeah, same here.

[sapphire_chan]

Also, drink a ton of water. By my 4th or 5th pee postpartum, I didn't need the peri bottle anymore because I was basically peeing water.

[thixle]

Congrats!
I whole heartedly agree with water! A little betadine in the water is really soothing, too, more so ime than plain water... and salt water feels better to me than plain water, too.

[RebeccaWo]

This was THE worst for me after my homebirth. I too had a tear right by my urethra and the first time I peed after the birth was horrible. I stopped drinking liquids and held it for nearly 24 hours. I tried a peri bottle, I tried standing up in the shower, I tried modifying a toilet paper roll, I tried petroleum jelly... nothing worked.

Finally, by the third day I had to pee so bad that I had my DH fill up the bathtub. I got in, lightly held a washcloth over the tear and I peed little by little. Probably took a half hour to empty my bladder. I was in tears because it still hurt so bad. That was my ritual for the next week or so. By 7 days after the birth I was finally able to pee standing up in the shower with a peri bottle. Now at 2 weeks I can pee on the toilet! Hooray!

Also wanted to add, I noticed the real healing happened when I let myself air out completely. Lying on the bed with a chux pad underneath completely naked as much as possible. Sorry this is so long!

[nutritionistmom]

Warm water in a "peri bottle". I used an old water bottle with a sports top and added a few drops of tea tree oil and peppermint oil. It stings on contact but immediately gives a cooling, numbing effect.

[annekh23]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Also, drink a ton of water. By my 4th or 5th pee postpartum, I didn't need the peri bottle anymore because I was basically peeing water.

I wholeheartedly 2nd this. I've had two kids, slight tear with the first reopened the 2nd time, first time I didn't pay much attention to drinking and peeing was a problem as was constipation. 2nd time around I was sure to drink an awful lot of water and it was a breeze, I had significant muscular damage to the perineum that wasn't connected to the external tear and was undiagnosed, I didn't have a problem with it at all until a few weeks down the line when I was paying less attention to diet and drink and preventing any problems and my stools started to harden up.

Cheers
Anne

[JennaW]

I had a skid mark near my urethra too, I know what you are talking about! I think everyone has good suggestions. I also want to say that mine healed really fast after I stopped using "pad sickles" and such, things that were keeping the area moist. Airing it out helps it heal much faster. I also put a tiny bit of neosporin (sp??), you know that ointment you put on cuts, and that helped too I think.

[Changed]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

This may sound gross and I don't care: I peed in the bathtub. It was the only way it didn't hurt.

That's what I did too. In nice hot water.

[La Sombra]

Yes, that was agony! I kept those medicated pads right by the toilet and it felt sooo good to rub those on myself after the pain of peeing. But the pain did pass soon enough. Congratulations to you!

[hookahgirl]

Drink a ton of water, when you have to pee get in the bath and smell some peppermint oil.......you can also put a washcloth over your vagina while you are peeing in the bath, the counterpressure can feel very nice!

[mommy2two babes]

Just wanted to say that I found pads soaked in witchhazel really soothing to calm the stinging after.

[TzippityDoulah]

if you have a sitz bath (it was my best friend) pee while sitting in the warm water. then just wash off. it feels a LOT better. if you don't have this, I second the peri bottle. (use just any squirter water bottle, its the same thing)

if warm water still hurts you can make a saline solution for the bottle:

for every one cup of warm water a 1/4 tsp on salt. make sure it's mixed b/c the salt burns if it's not dissolved.

ETA: witch hazel pads helped me a lot too! I put them on myself after every single pee.

[Contrariety]

I had a showerhead that disconnects into a handheld, you know with the hose... it was my *best friend* that first week PP. I was nice and clean and never had to even worry about wiping after a pee, because that was also not fun at all!

The first thing I did when I moved into this place was get one of those showerheads. I'm glad to know I have it if/when I have another babe!

[Jane]

Someone here suggested using old papertowel rolls or toilet paper rolls to aim the pee straight away from you, like a cardboard penis. Use a new one each time.

If the bath stings, add salt. It's similar to how eye drops have salt so they don't sting your eye.

If it's still stinging really bad in 3 days, consider having a second look. It's possible for it to still sting, but it should be getting more bearable by then.

[madeofstardust]

thanks everyone! great suggestions.
i decided today to brave up and start drinking tons of water, peeing has been miserable since i delivered and i just couldn't bring myself to drink a lot just in case it didn't work and i had to pee more. it's like magic! peeing hasn't hurt at all after the second time. now i'm chugging water like a madwoman.
i actually did look down there yesterday for the first time, before i had just assumed that it was one little tear. i was wrong! i have two tears, one on each labia directly across from each other. they're about an inch long, vertical and pretty deep. i'm now taking a lot more care. they seem to be healing ok so far, i'm going to get some comfrey leaves when i get back home from thanksgiving with DP's family to help.