Help! Embarrassing PP question...

[Cellist]

Hi All,

I am almost 4 mo PP and have a lovely, smiley son.

I have only DTD TWICE since giving birth (which involved full labor, lots of pushing, but then ultimately a C-section, so I had no vaginal tearing or anything...). This is because it burns and hurts!!

I've also noticed a change in vaginal odor. It is unpleasant but not horribly obvious to anyone but me.

I'm blaming this all on hormones or body changes in/after pregnancy...

Anyone else? Shall I make an appointment with the doctor???

[SashaBear]

Maybe a yeast infection?

[GreenMamma]

Are you BFing? If you are, it could be do to that. Have you noticed any thick and clumpy vaginal discharge? If so, could be a yeast infection. After each of my kids (I have 3) it takes at least to 16 weeks for me to be able to have sex and then for the first year or more afterwards it always burns and hurts so badly. It's primarily due to two factors...one is because of BFing it seems to make me as dry as a the Sahara Desert and the other is because I tense up so much that it becomes excruciating. It's this levator tension myalgia with vulvar vestibulitis. You may want to look into those for yourself. For the BFing-influenced part my dr. prescribed VagiFem. It's a vaginal suppository used to help with the dryness.

[GreenMamma]

Oh, and for the tension, I needed physical therapy.

[Geerbabe]

Second the yeast infection suggestion. Any time I have burning during sex that is usually my FIRST indicator of yeast. Sometimes there is discharge, sometimes not. You can try on over the counter remedy for a couple of days and see if it helps (although even with a real yeast infection, things usually feel worse the first day on treatment and then get better).

[Cellist]

I went to the doctor and they took a sample to test... the doc said it just looked like irritation and not bacteria or yeast.... we'll see if they find anything, though; thank you for the thoughts!

[BetsyS]

With my first (also a c-section), DTD really hurt for about 6 months. The tissues felt like they were burning and pulling and stretching. It was awful.

For me, I think a lot of it was dryness from hormonal changes and breastfeeding. I used this stuff called Replens (found in the feminine hygeine section of the store) that is like a vaginal moisturizer. You use it every 2-3 days for a while, until you notice changes. It worked really well for me. I think it's marketed towards menopausal women, but it worked great for me.

[etsdtm99]

breastfeeding can cause that type of pain.. my doctor said they can prescribe an estrogen cream to help if its bad..

[Cellist]

Thank you! Yes, they did prescribe a cream that I have yet to pick up. I think it's probably from breastfeeding, too. I don't know HOW anyone gets pregnant again right away after having a baby! lol

[Wittyone]

Be aware that for some women estrogen can vastly decrease milk supply, even in a topical form. It may be safer for your supply to try the over the counter vaginal moisturizers (ie Replens that Betsy mentioned) or lubrication like Atroglide with intercourse if that is the only time the dryness if a problem.

[Storm Bride]

I was also going to vote for breastfeeding and just general postpartum hormones. I've had five c-sections, and only one of my babies even got into the birth canal. That particular birth also ended with a stillborn baby, so I didn't breastfeed...and that was the only time sex wasn't painful aftewards. We only waited about two weeks to have sex (which surprised me, but I've read that desire for sex is quite common around death?), and I had a lot of pain in the rest of my body - that lasted for quite a while - but not vaginal pain.

With all my others, sex has been uncomfortable/painful for quite a while. DD2 is about 8.5 months old, and we still need to go slow and careful.