Healing down below « Back to Group Discussions

[odinsmama]

How's everyone doing in that department?

anyone having sex yet?

what kind of things are you using to help with healing?

I didn't tear this time, so I've actually been feeling fine for a while.  I did have an abrasion on the labia but that's healed up fine as far as I can tell.  My hemorrhoids were the worst but they've also healed up.  

I had still been spotting up until a couple days ago, I'm 6weeks pp today.  So, since all was feeling fine, we dtd last night and I could feel a little tear or something inside.  It wasn't too bad and everything else felt fine, no aching or other soreness.  But the tear ended up bleeding some afterwards and I looked and saw it in the back, like near the perineum but inside a little bit.  I guess just from things still being sensitive in there??  Doesn't hurt when I pee or wipe.  I don't think this is where my abrasion was (mw said labia but honestly I didn't look at it).  Oh, and we definitely weren't having any kind of rough sex, used coconut oil for extra lube.

Any ideas what I can do in there to help heal it?  Aside from waiting of course.

[CamoShades]

I am only one week postpartum, and I am actually doing great. I didn't tear at all, so I don't have the throbbing crotch feeling I had for a few months after DD2 every time I stood for more than a few minutes. I haven't had to do a thing to help my healing. I have bled very minimally, and I wonder if that has to do with the fact that I had a retained placenta and then hemorrhaged, so the doctors took care of things pretty well while I was in the OR?

Anyway, my biggest complaint is pubic bone pain. My SPD is worse now than it was throughout my pregnancy (it wasn't horrible then). The doctor I saw in the hospital said that could take several weeks to get better. Does anyone else have that?

[rachieface]

I didn't tear either Odinsmama, and we DTD first at 3.5 weeks and then again today. The first time was uncomfortable, but that could be because I was nervous about it and probably a bit tense. Today (at almost 5 weeks PP) was much better. I only had a small tear with my son, but not tearing at all has made things soooo much easier and I feel good this time.

I'm still bleeding though, at almost 5 weeks. Just when I think it's almost done, I will get some more red blood. I'm so over it. Hopefully it ends soon. I feel like I bled for less than a month the first time...maybe I'm forgetting how long it was though.

CamoShades, I hope your bleeding stays minimal. It gets so old...I want go out without a pad!

[Chloe'sMama]

We have not dtd yet, but i have been feeling ready.... I was still having bright red gushes last week and i wanted to wait a week since i was havingit every 3-4 days.  red blood is gone and i am only having brown scant blood. I am now ready, but DS has a hard time being put down, especially at night after the girls go to sleep.  

All my lady parts feel good though.  no tearing this time, so healing has been so much better.

[etsdtm99]

I had no tearing this time .. Felt totally fine down there within a week pp - but I'm just now down to spotting old blood (will be 5wks pp Monday) I've been having small gushes of red blood whenever I "over do it" - yesterday that was 30 mins of pulling weeds in my flower beds - a couple wks ago all I had to do was walk around the grocery store ..

Now being able to put ds down is a whole different issue - he has never slept at night without someone holding him and all of his naps not in our arms have been very short with the exception of 2 or 3 naps in the carseat after we got home from a particularly tiring outing

[Jenny01]

Originally Posted by etsdtm99 


Now being able to put ds down is a whole different issue - he has never slept at night without someone holding him and all of his naps not in our arms have been very short with the exception of 2 or 3 naps in the carseat after we got home from a particularly tiring outing

We have the same issue. Not really sure what to do at this point. Some people tell me to keep putting her down and she will get used to it. But I can't see that working this early?

[Jenny01]

As for healing I don't seem to be having any issues. I had a first deg tear with two stitches and an additional stitch for esthetics as my MW put it. The stitches didn't bother me so I'm just letting them dissolve. I never did get hemorrhoids so I feel lucky in that regard.

[josie423]

I am totally healed. My SPD was insanely painful the first night after birth, I felt like I broke my crotch and could barely move. Fortunately it was much better the next day and now at 4 weeks PP it doesn't hurt at all. I didn't tear and had no visible abrasions but it did burn to pee for the first week. My hemorrhoids were insanely big but they went down. No sex obviously, but I have done things solo and it felt fine. (I've also been having sex dreams in which I O and that's been weird!)

[kellybeth]

i don't know what kind of tear i had, or how one even knows that. i know that i have stitches in 3 different places and that my doctor did want to sew me up in another spot but i was going to kick her in the head if she didn't stop.it doesn't burn to pee anymore, but stitches still haven't dissolved in at least one spot. i haven't peeked down there, i'm afraid by just what i feel. 

hubby and i did perineal massage and that was the one place i know i didn't tear. i'm excited to have sex again, but it will be until after our 6 week mark for sure since i am still bleeding and sore in places. 

[Jenny01]

Kellybeth I just asked my midwife at a follow up appointment about the year because I was curious. So that's how I know. Sorry you had such bad tearing I am wondering if the water helped me in that regard since pushing and crowning was definitely not easy, I had the ring of fire and she had a bigger than average head even.

[kellybeth]

That explains it. i never thought of there being different degrees of tears-it all hurts! I tried to get into the tub twice but i felt cramped and hot, i tried different positions of pushing too. My vag was just not having any part of it.

[Chloe'sMama]

oh yeah, kellybeth, first time I had a second degree tear.... I don't know how many stitches i got, but it took 30 minutes or so for them to finish..... second time I had a small tear with 4 stitches and it healed so much faster and felt better so much quicker.  This time, no stitches or tearing (did have 2 small skid marks, so little abrasions) and it healed up and didn't even hurt at all even 4 days after.

So.... DH and I dtd last night and bleeding picked up.... it is gone again this morning, but what does that mean?  It was mostly dark old blood, but a little bit of the dark red (almost Burgundy) blood right after.  Should we wait again?  Bleeding is gone.  I was 5 weeks yesterday.

I have never tried to be intimate before the 6 weeks were up and my bleeding was gone...

[odinsmama]

Yeah I'm spotting a tiny bit again.  :/

annoying

[Teles]

I had a third degree tear and I'm still bleeding (4 weeks pp today), so I'm not in any hurry to dtd, though DH has started pawing at me a bit in the last couple of days - likely because I'm starting to get a body that somewhat resembles my pre-pregnancy form and finally have Mila's routine down enough that I have actually been showering and getting dressed everyday. It doesn't hurt most of the time but every now and then the muscles under my clitoris area will throb, which is a little weird. I was supposed to get a call from the "third degree tear clinic" in town, but they didn't call and I feel fine so I'm not going to bother with them.

[sgsnyder]

Originally Posted by Teles 

DH has started pawing at me a bit in the last couple of days - likely because I'm starting to get a body that somewhat resembles my pre-pregnancy form and finally have Mila's routine down enough that I have actually been showering and getting dressed everyday.

Ha! Yes. I'm almost 4 wks pp, and terrified of him touching me for fear of it escalating into something my poor vag isn't ready for yet. It's worse when we've just been out and the baby's conked out and I've made an effort at my appearance.

Thankfully, I can't feel any stitches anymore, anywhere (episiotomoy or the "war zone" that my vagina was) and don't really feel any pain, either. Still, I'm not sure I'll be back in action emotionally before 6 wks.

[HouseofPeace]

we're on the 'ready to go' path.  but like a few mamas, our little guy is wide awake until we pass out!  he doesn't understand that he's not always the center of everything.  but, you know, he is.

no tearing, and healing was really quick, just bleeding taking a while longer than previous births.  

we dtd at 3 weeks pp (after 3 days of no red blood and almost no spotting) and it was so wonderful to have that time again, then bleeding picked up again for a week, then eased up so we then tried again at 4.5 weeks and it was horrible and the bleeding picked up a lot and it felt like my healing took steps backwards.  at 5 weeks yesterday, i've not had any blood for 5 days now, only some brownish mucus when i wipe, but we are so tired and so overwhelmed that we end up passing out even though we both 'think' it's a good idea.  i'm a little cautious b/c of last time.  hopefully we'll be in a more familiar pattern soon.  especially as i started charting at 2 weeks and so am paying attention all day to any details, and that makes me want to take advantage of days i can!!!

[loveandgarbage]

I had some pretty painful labial tears with stitches so no DTD for us quite yet. Even though these tears were more shallow they were more painful than my 3rd degree perineal tear I got with DS2-- go figure. We're now about 4.5 weeks PP and I'm still spotting a little (almost clear discharge) but I bet only for a few more days. I am feeling up for it, though, so we'll probably try soon. After my other pregnancies I think we waited 6+ weeks because I was still heavily bleeding. Need to pick up some lube before we try though!

[typebug]

5 days pp... I feel more now than the first 4 combined. WTF? Sitting up is just horrific. I'm nursing a fair bit lying down to avoid this awful position. I do a sitz bath a few times a day and slather on the bottom balm. It's hard to really do all the care because I'm not really able to bend or anything without falling over.

[Chloe'sMama]

Yeah, I remember that with #1... Are you taking any ibuprofin or tylonol?  I took that for a long with when I had so many stitches.  I also used the first aid spray that numbed the area... cant remember what it was called.  

Sorry you are so sore.

[josie423]

Originally Posted by typebug 

5 days pp... I feel more now than the first 4 combined. WTF? Sitting up is just horrific. I'm nursing a fair bit lying down to avoid this awful position. I do a sitz bath a few times a day and slather on the bottom balm. It's hard to really do all the care because I'm not really able to bend or anything without falling over.

I had this, I felt ok then got super sore several days later. Ibuprofen helps a lot!