normal bruising?

[MamaBookworm]

I gave birth a week ago and had a forceps delivery. Active labor was very quick - less than 3 hours - and very intense. I had an episiotomy that seems to be healing well. No signs of discharge and it doesn't feel hot. However, I'm in an incredible amount of pain when I try to sit down or stand for more than 10 minutes. There is a lot of black and blue bruising around my anus. Nursing is kind of hard because I cannot find a position that is comfortable. I've been taking motrin around the clock and alternating with percoset, just to be able to sleep or tolerate sitting up in bed. The sitz bath does not feel good at all. I have been icing and that does give me some relief.

I know it's only been a week and in the hospital they said to take 2 weeks of mostly bed rest, but is this normal? Nobody told me about bruising, it was all about the stitches. 

[ChristaM]

I was just talking about a forceps delivery with my mom this morning.  Her 5th baby (my sister) decided to never descend or engage and, after waiting two weeks past her due date, it was finally time for induction.  In the end she had to have forceps to help my sister come out.  She said that out of all her deliveries (and a couple of us were well over 9 pounds!), the forceps delivery was the most painful and took the most recovery time.  She said that it was the worst she had ever experienced and that it took weeks to feel "normal" again down there. 

Have you tried a herbed soaked frozen pad?  Or sitting on tucks pads?  My first was a big baby with a vacuum assisted delivery and I remember how swollen and sensitive I was for several weeks.  Putting a bit of witch hazel in my peri bottle helped too.

 Best wishes!