just for the mothers!!

[elinettaonna]

i am a mother of 2 children, mu first one is 19 month and the second one is almost 6 week. for my first one i havent experience constipation but for my second one it was happen to me. i have not going well with my poop, i have constipation and it been a month like that and is not comfortable, taking care of 2 children with this is very hard and hopeless, so anyone would have experience that could you plis to help me what to do, i am also experience a hemorrhoid because of this and it so hurt but if you can help me with this i will love to hear from any mothers.

[MamaPhD]

Are you taking any fibers or stool softeners?  I was taking 2 ducolax each day for several weeks after birth of my second baby.  And that helped.  Also I noticed I am not going to the bathroom as often as I need to (hold my pees and poos) because of the toddler + newborn situation.  Now I make sure to go, even if the baby is crying!  I kiss his head and tell him, sorry baby, but mommy really really has to pee right now!  It's just a minute or two and relly the kids are fine!

Hemorrhoids was pretty bad with the second baby for me.  They were not big but super itchy and painful!  After each poop, I washed my bottom with soap and warm water and did a combination of hydrocortizone cream and desitin diaper cream.  It's kinda annoying but really effective.  For me the key was keeping the area dry and sealed. 

Mine were only "really bad" for a couple of weeks s good luck!

[samstress]

i had the absolute worst constipation (my son is almost three weeks).  it got so bad, that i eventually had to use a suppository.  thank goodness, everything has been back to normal since.

[elonwy]

I'm 9 days out from the birth, which was a C-section and the constipation is awful. I am taking Ducosate Sodium (which I think is generic ducolax) and Senna which is an over the counter laxative. I am also trying to drink as much water as possible. I can spend about half an hour in the bathroom at a time with very minimal result and it is PAINFUL. I am trying to eat tons of fiber too. Thankfully we have figured out the Moby wrap so if I am wearing him we can just hang out on the pot together. Not like he knows any better. 

[samstress]

elonwy - are you on pain killers from the surgery?  that might be causing the constipation.  hopefully you're feeling better soon.  ds also spent a lot of time with me in the bathroom those first two weeks we were home.

strangely i had none of these bathroom issues with dd (which was a c-section), but have had many with ds (which was a vbac).  couldn't pee for the first few days after i got home, then i couldn't poo.  now, i'm pretty sure i have a UTI.  do they go away on their own (i've been staying hydrated and drinking cranberry juice), because i really don't want to take antibiotics. 

[elonwy]

Yeah I am on vicodin, which isn't helping the situation. 

As for the UTI I can often get them to go away with liberal applications of cranberry juice. They also make cranberry chews for extra oomph. However they can get to a point where they don't go away on their own. I'd say you're doing the right thing, maybe drink as much cranberry as you can stand and have a little bit more? I am drinking cranberry right now too just because they had to catheter me repeatedly (baby was crushing the outlet of my bladder so they couldn't get the pee out) and I am terrified of a UTI. Peeing is facilitated by keeping my hand under running warm water in the sink at the moment. 

[elonwy]

Totally about to overshare. Earlier today I was trying to expel yet another pile of pebbles, or medium sized marbles if you will, which is about all my digestive system has managed to put out, when I realized that a big part of the pain was them getting stuck halfway out. I threw on a medical glove (left over from cleaning the cat poop while pregnant and helped coax the pebbles out. Gross..yeah. Life saving and severely pain reducing...yes. 

Just in case it helps someone.

[MamaPhD]

Ack vicodin!  I took literally one pilll and then decided it was not worth it!  I felt totally loopy, constipated, and gave me super dry mouth, too.  Have you try to just go with motrin for the pain?  My OB gave me prescription strength motrin (600mg) and it was lenty strong for me after vaginal delivery.

[elonwy]

I labored for 62 hours, pushed for 8 and then had a C-section. I haven't been able to taper down off two yet though I've tried a couple times. Pretty much every single part of my body hurts, it's kind of crazy. They don't make me loopy at all, which is usually the case when I've got a ton of pain. I've been taking the Senna every 6 hours and that has really been helping. It's still a struggle to get to where I can poop, but when I do it's much more normal. No more pebbles!!

[camprunner]

I just drank lots of juice and things got a little better. Midwives recommended prune juice which I couldn't stomach so I stuck with grape juice instead.

[samstress]

Originally Posted by elonwy 

Yeah I am on vicodin, which isn't helping the situation. 

As for the UTI I can often get them to go away with liberal applications of cranberry juice. They also make cranberry chews for extra oomph. However they can get to a point where they don't go away on their own. I'd say you're doing the right thing, maybe drink as much cranberry as you can stand and have a little bit more? I am drinking cranberry right now too just because they had to catheter me repeatedly (baby was crushing the outlet of my bladder so they couldn't get the pee out) and I am terrified of a UTI. Peeing is facilitated by keeping my hand under running warm water in the sink at the moment. 

i tried the hand under the running water thing which didn't work for me at all.  i even tried standing in the shower, thinking that would help, but it didn't.  i was told i couldn't leave the hospital until i peed.  little trickles would come, but nothing substantial and my bladder just kept filling and filling.  they finally gave me a catheter and my doctor sent me home with it (because i really wanted to go home).  had it removed two days later, but still couldn't pee and had a really miserable couple nights.  once i started pooing, however, things got easier.  i think they're all connected. 

as for the UTI (if that's what it is), will it go away on its own?  is there any danger in not having it treated?
 

Originally Posted by elonwy 

Totally about to overshare. Earlier today I was trying to expel yet another pile of pebbles, or medium sized marbles if you will, which is about all my digestive system has managed to put out, when I realized that a big part of the pain was them getting stuck halfway out. I threw on a medical glove (left over from cleaning the cat poop while pregnant and helped coax the pebbles out. Gross..yeah. Life saving and severely pain reducing...yes. 

Just in case it helps someone.

no worries about the TMI.  dd had really bad constipation when she was around a year (maybe younger).  i don't even want to tell you what we had to do to help her out.  let's just say it involved something we liked to refer to as the "poop fork".
 

Originally Posted by MamaPhD 

Ack vicodin!  I took literally one pilll and then decided it was not worth it!  I felt totally loopy, constipated, and gave me super dry mouth, too.  Have you try to just go with motrin for the pain?  My OB gave me prescription strength motrin (600mg) and it was lenty strong for me after vaginal delivery.

yeah, i mostly just took the motrin (800 mg) prescribed to me after my c-section.  i think i took the vicodin once after i overdid it one day.  i gotta say, that stuff WORKS.
 

Originally Posted by elonwy 

I labored for 62 hours, pushed for 8 and then had a C-section. I haven't been able to taper down off two yet though I've tried a couple times. Pretty much every single part of my body hurts, it's kind of crazy. They don't make me loopy at all, which is usually the case when I've got a ton of pain. I've been taking the Senna every 6 hours and that has really been helping. It's still a struggle to get to where I can poop, but when I do it's much more normal. No more pebbles!!

hoping you're better soon.

Originally Posted by camprunner 

I just drank lots of juice and things got a little better. Midwives recommended prune juice which I couldn't stomach so I stuck with grape juice instead.

i think just staying hydrated in general helps a lot.