Ouchy crotchy and other musings

[Mama Coltrane]

Wow, this was my first vaginal birth. The perineal pain and such is quite interesting. Don't get me wrong, it is way better than the recovery from the c section, but still ouchy.
What are you all doing to mend? I need more ideas. I have the sitz baths with some herbs, the twatsicles I made, arnica, the percocet and ibuprofen, etc.
I ended up tearing because I just couldn't stop pushing. I think I was so excited to be pushing too and that it was working so well this time, that I got kind of a head of myself. I got a pretty bad tear, needed mucho stitches , etc. Luckily, my rectum is fine and I had no tearing up toward the clitoris ( double thank God!! )
So, any other advice?
- Kerri

[heldt123]

I don't have any other advice besides rest and no lifting. Oh yeah, no sex for a while. After my episiotomy we tried sex after the six weeks and it was still to soon for me. Just take it easy!

[nabigus]

Kerri, I'm so there with you. I have a 4th degree, also mucho stiches. I found the bruising and pain peaked on day 3, and every day has been dramatically better than the last since then. (now on day 9 pp.)

besides the herbal sitz bath (I made a huge, huge batch from aviva jill romm's "natural healing after childbirth"), I'm using the peri bottle, and was using pads soaked in witch hazel and aloe vera and frozen (is that a twatsicle?), as well as the occasional shot of dermoblast. I find the worse is sitting up in bed to nurse in the middle of the night--for some reason, it puts pressure in all the wrong places. (ds and I have not yet mastered the art of nursing lying down, unfortunately. I feel like I need 27 hands and 16 pillows, and even then it's touch and go.)

One thing I found helps enormously is taking LOTS of vitamin C--it keeps things, shall we say, nice and loose, and I haven't had a single moment's pain from pooping. (oh thank heavens.)

hang in there! and join the club of the itty-bitty-step-takers! :LOL

[AugustLia23]

Well I only had a small tear, but I felt the tylenol really helped the first couple days, then by about day 3 I didn't even need that. Try to keep your legs closed as much as possible to encourage healing and rest as much as possible.

[CandyR]

I also had a tear and this was also my first vaginal birth. A full week later, it is getting better. I had a homebirth, so no percocet for me . I've been keeping up with the tylenol, arnica and herbal squirts and baths. Honestly, though, the hemroids (sp?) are even worse than the tear.

I sat up for longer than five minutes today and totally exhausted myself. Taking it VERY easy

[mags]

I take 800 mg of ibuprofen every 8 hrs as needed. Usually, I only remember to take it one time during the day, but it does help a little. Also, even though you didn't tear, adding a stool softener (doucasate) once a day might help a little... so you don't have to strain to poop. For me, it's always helped... but I have had an episiotomy with both births, so it's always been necessary. I hope you feel better soon. I'm still feeling a little sore, but more sleep deprived than anything.

[ChiroWife]

Eli came really fast also and I had a 4th degree tear. I took 3 Advil whenever I could. I tried to take Tylenol instead, but it wasn't enough for me. Sitz baths felt great. I also took a stool softener for a while, but no longer am.

I had hemrhoids with DD and that was so much worse than my tear. Even my Mom commented on how much better I was doing right away with DS compared to DD.

[LeeshaLynn]

Rest, rest, rest! I haven't had my baby yet, but when I had my daughter I did not rest at all! My dd was in the NICU and my MIL came into town and had me running all over town 2 days post-partum. Apparently everyone forgot that I just had an 8lb bowling ball roll through my vagina! :LOL I was a little younger then and too passive to say anything so I just walked around feeling like everything was going to fall out of my bottom. This time I plan on laying around as much as possible with an almost 2 year old, no matter who comes to visit.

[Maggi315]

Well, this birth I had only minor tears, decided not to suture. But I have had some wicked perineum pain with others. With my first son, I had a rectal prolapse and the hemorrhoids that resulted were absolutely worse than any of my tears. I had surgery this past June to try to fix the damaged area and it worked! Thank God! I was dreading that more than the actual labor and pushing.

Take it easy and don't push yourself. I used dermoplast to numb the area when I went to the bathroom and used the peri-bottle liberally. Lots of baths throughout the day (used like sitz baths, I just hate sitting in that stupid little "lid" thing on the toilet-much more comfortable in tub). And don't be afraid to take the medicine for pain if you need it-I like ibuprofen and alleve, both have anti-inflammatory properties (tylenol doesn't).

Good luck!