PP Healing Experiences

[AFWife]

The topic came up between me and another mom on Facebook. Vicodin got brought up and she mentioned having it PP for epi pain. She said that she was in excruciating pain because she had 3rd or 4th degree cuts... She also said that her PP cramps were horrible.

I didn't have that much of a problem healing...I had a fast labor and delivery (6 hours of labor followed by an hour of pushing)
- I tore naturally (2nd degree) I had virtually no pain. It was more uncomfortable than anything. My stitches itched and it was awkward to sit down for about a week...but it wasn't horribly painful.
- My PP cramps were barely noticeable. The only time I noticed the light cramping was during BFing. It kind of felt like PMS cramps...

I did, however, bleed for 8 weeks...it was mostly light, though.



What was your healing experience like?

[lillacfaerie]

AWFUL! I had bronchitis when baby was born, so everytime I coughed I reopened my stitches. I was convinced I had a prolapse because I looked so terrible down there. I'm now starting to realize that healing in the nether regions is something that nobody talks about. For me, it wasn't an easy process!

[abigail_b]

I had a second degree natural tear with my son, and a little pp cramping. I took a high dose ibuprofen for a few days, I was uncomfortable from the stitches for a bit, but the pain wasn't that bad. I remember I loved the huge pads from the hospital because it was like sitting on a pillow which is exactly what I felt like doing. I didn't want any kind of stay dry pad, the plasticky feeling against the stitches was terrible. I used the peri bottle and dabbing instead of wiping for quite a while.
The worst thing for me is that after I had healed- with no kinds of complications etc, sex was SO painful. I know this was partially because of BF hormones, but it was definitely also because of the tear and stitches. I didn't feel right down there for about a year. I am really trying to prevent a tear this time.

[Peony]

DD1 was my first and the hardest recovery for me, but it wasn't hard at all. I was sore for a few weeks, not painful though. I was walking, sitting everywhere, I can't remember when bleeding stopped but it wasn't prolonged. No cramps.


With DD2, I remember taking a long walk the next day and feeling like I hadn't been pushed out a child. The cramps were nasty though, they hurt worse then labor. Bleeding was normal. I was sore after sex for months.


DS I had no soreness from, I was sitting criss cross applesauce on the couch two hours after he was born. Bleeding was normal, no soreness with sex at all, no cramps at all that time either. He was 8.12 so I was quite surprised that I had that experience.

I've never torn though which makes a huge difference.

[francesmama]

3rd degree tear but I didn't associate a lot of pain with it. I *loved* the icepacks in the hospital but that was just for two days. I think I took tylenol for two days as well.

Bled for 6 weeks - annoying.

My problem was more general wellness, I felt like I had been hit by a truck for two solid weeks. Every single muscle in my body screamed and ached and I was stiff and sore.

It was a vaginal delivery/fast/no epidural and it totally cheesed me of when I talked to people who had Csections and seemed to recover much quicker and easier than me.

[ChetMC]

My Experience

I tore naturally with all three labours. I'm not sure if they were 2nd or 3rd degree. I know that they weren't 1st or 4th, and that I had a fair number of stitches.

The stitches itched and pulled a bit right before they fell out, but that was it. Nurses commented that I had some bruising, but I honestly didn't feel bruised at all.

After pains weren't bad with my first. I had one morning after I got home from the hospital when they seemed to all come at once and it was like a bad, bad period for an hour. With my second and third I legitimately needed the Motrin and the Tylenol they gave me at the hospital, but they were manageable.

I have no serious complaints about my recoveries.

[Astraia]

Originally Posted by Peony

DS I had no soreness from, I was sitting criss cross applesauce on the couch two hours after he was born. Bleeding was normal, no soreness with sex at all, no cramps at all that time either.

I've never torn though which makes a huge difference.

This was me with DD- except I had 3 first-degree tears.
It did feel a bit like my insides wanted to fall out if I tried to walk very far, but other than that (and burning when I peed) I felt perfect.

[AFWife]

I also forgot to mention that I had hemorrhoids following birth. In fact, almost 6mo later I still get issues from time to time...

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 12/17/10 at 8:49am

[jecombs]

I had a 2nd degree tear, a bruised tailbone, and hemmorhoids after the birth of my DD. My tailbone was sore for about a week after the birth. I took ibuprofen and sat on my Boppy to make it feel better. The hemmies also went away about a week or two after birth. I used Tucks pads to shrink them and took lots of sitz baths. My tear stopped bothering me about 10 days after the birth, however sex remained painful for a good 6 mo. pp and it didn't start to be enjoyable until DD was almost 1 yr. and dropped a couple of nursing sessions.

[S.Elise]

I did really well, despite having had an epi (it was, though, the best epidural in the universe that took away my pain without taking away any other abilities. go Europe and their wonderful epidurals....if only I could go back for this birth). I tore upward, so aside from it being not so nice to think about how close the tear was to a VERY sensitive area, I just had a flesh wound with a couple stitches. I took advil a couple of times when the stitches ached. I didn't really notice any PP cramping. I was never unable to walk around or do normal things.

I did have a TERRIBLE time with sore nipples, though. That was really the worst experience ever. I really hope that does not happen again!

[mouthcave]

With my first, the healing from tears was awful. It took a good 3 or 4 months before I could walk without pain. I tore in every direction imaginable, heh. I also did not take it easy at first either so I'm sure that extended it a good bit. I had hemorrhoids too but I could sort of ignore them because of how bad the other pain was. I don't remember much cramping at all.
With my second, everything was pretty fantastic. I was sore, but I did not tear. The cramping afterward though? Oh man. I was really shocked by how bad that hurt. It was a lot easier to deal with though. I knew they probably wouldn't be around for too long and I actually made everyone let me rest that time.

[Super~Single~Mama]

I had an awful pp healing experience. It was terrible. My partner was not supportive either, so that made it 100x worse.

I tore really badly, 2nd degree but it took 3hours to repair. Then I healed wrong and I had to get cut and re-stitched at 3.5weeks pp. Then that didn't heal right b/c I had lots of granular tissue that I had to get repaired at 11.5weeks pp. There was so much granular tissue that I had to get numbed inside and out in order to have silver nitrate applied. It was miserable. I was in severe pain until I was 12weeks pp.

I don't think I will ever have another baby - the pp healing was absolutely the most miserable thing to go through that I could ever imagine. I cannot go through that again.

ETA - I wasn't even able to have sex until my son was 8months (about 3weeks ago) b/c the scar tissue was so extensive that it took forever to stretch out and become supple enough for it. Awful. NEVER AGAIN.

[wombatclay]

DD1- long labor followed by a c/s delivery so technically there shouldn't have been any vaginal pain. But I found sex horribly painful for months. I reacted "badly" to breastfeeding hormone levels and while I certainly wasn't going to stop nursing (dd1 nursed till she was 4yo) it had a huge impact on how I felt. And I had pretty significant afterpains while nursing for about 2 weeks.

DD2- much shorted labor and a successful vbac but despite good positioning and a care provider who actually trained with Ina, dd2 developed a true shoulder dystocia that didn't resolve with position changes. She was ok in the end but I had a 4th degree tear and close to 200 sutures (needed IV narcotics when the local didn't "take", repair took around 45 minutes). I was up and about and on a vbac high, but I wasn't "discomfort free" for at least a year and I really depended on the percocet pain killers for the first 1-2 weeks. Afterpains while nursing were fairly mild though, but this could have been because I was medicating for the tear so the afterpains were "smoothed away" too.

DS- my second successful vbac, his was a very fast birth (4.5 hours start to finish) and I got a 2nd degree tear along the main scar line from dd2's birth. My midwife said she put in 10 stitches and it took just a few minutes to repair. Compared to a c/s recovery and a 4th degree tear recovery this was a breeze! Things were uncomfortable for a day or two, and off and on in the first 2-3 weeks I'd ache if I did too much or burn if I walked too far (sweat + sutures = unhappy mama). Afterpains were achey but not bad. I did take the "big" tylenol at the hospital and ibuprofen at home for a few days.

I think there are so many factors in recovery, it's hard to say what is "normal" or what sort of pain meds (if any) may be needed.

[confustication]

I'm 2 weeks PP (4th delivery) and this is the first time I've really not bounced back as fast as I'd like. I did tear pretty badly this time, and have stitches that are in the midst of dissolving, which is irksome, but not debilitating. I took ibuprofen for a couple days immediately PP, and have otherwise been ok. I did have a horror story epidural (three punctures, one cath the wrong length, one vein hit, one successful) and have some odd back pain stemming from that, but it saved me from a c-section, so I figure that's a small price to pay.

Previously, I've stopped bleeding within about a week- this time it is still ongoing, but I've been pushing hard this time around as well. (Retuned to work at 4 days PP, have two kids at home to take car of etc..)

I'm also experiencing ongoing cramping, and some large clots, but I'm assuming that will all resolve in good time...

[lifeguard]

Pp was terrible for me. I had a 3rd degree tear that although was stitched up very well was very sore for a couple of weeks. Moving around on the bed to go from lying to sitting or sitting to lying to bf (I couldn't get the hang of side-lying bfing) was horrible.

I felt like someone had taken all my innards out shaken them up good & then shoved them back in in the wrong order. I just felt "off" for so long afterwards & for the first few days especially every muscle in my body ached.

I literally spent the first 4 weeks in bed 'cause it was really the only option I was so miserably sore & tired.

At 6 weeks I had granulated tissue removed from my tear & it instantly felt better. I had more granulated tissue removed from inside my vagina at about 12 weeks (although this time it didn't hurt I could just feel blobs).

[Comtessa]

I was 3 days in labor and 4 hours pushing with DD, so I was sure that recovery would be awful - but it was surprisingly easy. One 1st-degree tear, a couple of stitches, they were pretty sore and itchy for a couple of months but I don't even notice the tear site anymore. The first couple of days I was scared by how out-of-breath I was all the time, until I realized that it was just because I had pulled some chest muscles when pushing. The MW was astonished to find me sitting up crosslegged in bed about 3 hours after the birth - after pushing 4 hours in lithotomy position, the last thing I wanted to do was lay down on my back!!!!

I went for a 2-mile walk in the woods at 3 days PP, with DD in a sling. It was the most delicious walk of my life, it was so good to be outside in the fresh air after the awfulness of the hospital. I was tired afterwards, but not unusually sore. Afterpains were pretty minimal except for when breastfeeding, and only then for a couple of days.

Hemorrhoids were really terrible for about 1.5-2 weeks, then went away. I was ready for sex again at 2 weeks PP - my MW gave me the green light at 3 weeks when the bleeding slowed and she was sure my cervix had closed. I didn't ask the OB for his advice on that one, since I was pretty sure he'd tell me to wait longer.

I felt completely back to normal by about 6 weeks, when the bleeding finally stopped completely.

[ShadowMoon]

I healed very quickly. No tearing, very light cramping, very little bleeding. I had a fast labor and birth, unmedicated.