How long did you have pp bleeding?

[~Megan~]

I bled for 9 weeks. It just kept tapering and then it would be back strong as ever.
dd was c-sectioned and I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it or not.

[saintmom]

I've only bled alot with #3 when the doc tried vacum extraction,the bastard said it wouldn't hurt! Didn't work either! I pushed her out flat on my back all10 lb's after being threatened with a section.this after 2 lovely homebirths.couldn't find a midwife.i did find a cnm who wasn't on call when i went to deliver.4,5,and6 were all quickies in hospital with cnms,different practices,No intervention,2-3 weeks of bleeding.

[Missgrl]

I recall bleeding more with ds2 than ds1.....and ds2 was
a section as well.
Maybe it has to do with the abdominal pushing after birth.
With ds1 I remember the nurses pushing, pretty severely,
on my stomach for hours after the birth. Blood would
come out heavily with each push. With a c/s you can't push
of course. So maybe that is the cause.

[Eman'smom]

I had normal complication free deliveries both times and bled for 10 weeks with ds and 9 with dd. I think I'm just a long bleeder. How active have you been, I tend to be more active than I should, even though I know better.

[its_our_family]

I also had a c/birth and only bled for 3-4 weeks. and by 3 weeks it was pretty light. At 4 weeks it was just a nuisance....my first ppaf was at 6 weeks pp

[anothermama]

wow....I guess I'm a short bleeder!!!

I only recall bleeding for maybe two weeks.....it was only heavy for about two days and then it was like a average to light period and eventually tapered off completely.

I had a relatively short birth, only pushed twice with no intervention, and I do remember that I bleed quite a bit after the placenta came out for about ....oh...an hour or less....and that my midwife was really really diligent about massaging my tummy.

[tinyshoes]

ww...that's a lot of pp bledding, mamas!!!!

w/ #1, I bled for 6 weeks, and every time it tapered off it came back, because I was up and running around and "back to normal" with a newborn baby.

This time, w/ caring hb mws (who were cool and calm about pregnancy, labor, birth but not post-partum) they encouraged me to rest & recoup...I stayed in bed with my new baby for about a week, and my bleeding was almost done in a week...

...but each time I was doing a little extra activity, my bleeding would return, ugh...and I'd be admonished by my midwife: relax! calm down! heal!

She'd explain that in the womb, there's a soft scab formed where the plaenta was attached. Excessive activity loosens this soft 'scab', and thus the placental site bleeds. It's like picking a healing scab post -partum, to be runnin' around in those early days.

I do think some women bleed more or lesss...I know a pretty active mama who bled for less than 2 weeks.

[Artisan]

With DS, an uncomplicated vaginal with a small tear, I bled for about 7 weeks.

Edited to say tha tI bled for about 4-1/2 weeks, and at about 5 weeks, the bleeding came right back, like a period. When I went into my MW for my 6 week check, I was still bleeding. I mentioned that it had stopped and them come back. She thought it sounded like I had ovulated and that my period had returned. (Despite round the clock BFing!) No way to verify that, obviously, but thought I would put that out there. I then began taking the minipill and didn't have another period until 10 months pp.

[mittendrin]

i bled for 3 weeks, not too bad. then after 8 weeks it started again, hoho! 't was my period!!! even with exclusively breastfeeding.
i went on the minipill around the same time, but it kept coming back like clockwork every 28 days. hrrrrghhh!

[Aura_Kitten]

i bled for about 3 weeks, tapered off and spotted for another 4 days or so, then got my period about a week after that and bled for 2 weeks (my normal period length).

* edited because i left out "days" after 4, i didn't mean 4 weeks!

[cottonwood]

The worst was with my first, it was a "normal" but pretty hard birth (castor oil, forced pushing and all that : ) and I started bleeding heavily again a couple of weeks after the birth. I think that bleeding lasted about a month total. The next two times (spontaneous births) it lasted a couple of weeks, but was light after the first few days, very much like what my regular period is like.

[Poddi]

I bled for 6 weeks after my first. Only 1 week after my second. Both were drug-free vaginal births. Birth with my first was very difficult, though. I had pre-labor for 3 days plus kidney stone. I also pushed for almost 4 hours. I had an easy time with my second. The whole thing lasted a few hours and felt really pleasant. Maybe how the birth experience is like affects bleeding as well?

[DesireeH]

8 weeks, it tapered off at 6 weeks and then a few days later I spotted for a few more weeks.

[hotmamacita]

Ah, my most lovely midwife friend told me about vitamin E. I took natural, not synthetic, vitamin E capsules after the twins were born (vaginally) and bled for....10 days. That is it. And it was only mildly heavy for about 5 of those days. I know no reason why but it certainly worked for me.

I just wish I knew about that one earlier.

[oceanbaby]

8 weeks, it tapered off at 6 weeks and then a few days later I spotted for a few more weeks.

Yep, that pretty much describes how mine went. I bled really heavily for about a week or so. I actually was using Depends because I would gush when I got up or changed positions, and pads would leak during the gush.

I pushed for a really long time - about 3 or 4 hours - so maybe that has something to do with bleeding for a long time? I'm not sure. I was also given a shot of pitocin after the birth because they were worried I was bleeding too much. And I too got the supremely horrible uterus massages.

I'll definitely check into Vitamin E next time.

[Aura_Kitten]

And I too got the supremely horrible uterus massages

OMG! those aren't standard?? the hospital said all postpartum women needed to do that...