So why did they keep asking if I was passing gas? lol

[Harmony96]

Hi all.

I had my baby girl on Tuesday night and went home from the hospital Thursday at noonish. A bajillion people kept coming in while I was in the postpartum room to check my vitals every so often, and they always had a question... "Are you passing gas?" I didn't know what the issue would be if I wasn't, because I didn't have any trouble in that area... but was just wondering why that was so important that EVERYONE was asking about it? I didn't have a bowel movement until after I got home, but they said that's not a problem so long as I was passing gas.

Andrea
mama to Lydia, 12-5-06

[KittyKat]

They just want to make sure your bodily functions are working, and nothing got "damaged" during birth. They check how much you pee too sometimes.

I didn't get that last time cuz I left after 5 hours... but I've gotten asked before. Pardon my typing, NAK my sleepy Julee!

Kathryn

[bugsma]

'cause ob's are surgeons and surgeons need to know if you're passing gas because there is a post-operative complication called ileus where your bowels don't work and you can't even pass gas. doesn't make it any less funny to answer over and over though, does it

[hubris]

Yup, birth makes your bowels slow down and you become impacted. They need to know that things are working in there...poop or gas.

Drives me crazy, though, that often medical staff doesn't take the time to say "here is why we're asking you this goofy question" - I mean, come on, how long would it really take to educate patients? After DS1's birth a nurse offered me a stool softener. I didn't want to take any unnecessary medication so I didn't take it. Goodness, a couple of days later I learned why it's a good idea to take *something* - stool softener or prune juice or something to keep things soft. If only that nurse had taken two seconds to tell me *why* she was offering the colase, I could have been spared a lot of misery!

[Funny Face]

ITA with PP.
They offered me stool softeners in the hospital but everything was so sore down there I was like "No thanks! I'm trying to put that off as long as possible!"
BIG MISTAKE!
A week later I had to start taking the stool softeners anyway and it took me two days to finally accomplish the task. WAY worse than labor! I was convinced something was wrong and walked like I was saddle-sore for 24 hours! YOUCH! :