Normal or not? For a midwife

[EmilyVorpe]

I have yet another question... apparently I don't remember anything from my first birth....

I had the baby 16 days ago. I have been feeling SO much better...after my infections healed, I can finally walk, hold my toddler, etc. It's great! ANYWAY, today, 2 year old almost ran into the street...I didn't RUN, but I kinda walked fast and caught him. Felt something hurt a little. Have been pretty sore since then....I went to take a bath and it hurt to get into the water...like INSIDE my vagina hurt. I looked in the mirror--- the inside of my vagina looks like it has 2 masses... like, where there is supposed to be...a hole.... its really hard. I showed hubby, who thinks it looks weird too.
What can this be? Is it supposed to look like this? I never looked after the first birth, so I have nothing to compare to. *sigh*
I do believe that was the last baby I'll ever have.

[pamamidwife]

the only thing i can think of is that you have a rectocele or cystocele (you didn't say if it was at the top of bottom of your vaginal opening) or it could be your cervix sittin' lower.

i couldn't imagine that you'd do something horrific to that area, but yeah, I'd expect it to be pretty sore after something like that.

do you have a midwife you can call?

[EmilyVorpe]

What I'm seeing is right inside of the opening. Its just weird, and a little sore. I've heard of stories of people having sex at week 3-4...and was even told I could if I could find the time... but from what I'm seeing, there isn't even room for a penis! I guess I'm just scared that its going to stay that way. When I was examined at my 2 week appt, she didn't do an internal but said everything looked good from the outside.
*sigh*

[Alison Cole]

Do you feel a bearing down/dragging sensation in your vagina? If so, and maybe even if not, I'd look in to homeopathic sepia, which is said to be a great remedy for prolapse of anything (cervix, bladder, etc) with sagging muscle tissues. The emotional component of the remedy is a feeling of huge weariness with the daily tasks of life, with a lack of affectionate feelings for people you know you love. As Richard Moskowitz says in his book Homeopathic Medicines for Pregnancy and Childbirth, "the 24-hour-a-day job of caring for a new born infant in a nuclear family with a spouse and perhaps other children can almost be expected to produce some version of the sepia state."

Just a thought, and I agree that you should talk to your midwife, but the nice thing about trying a homeopathic remedy is that generally if you take a remedy that isn't right for your symptoms, it won't do anything, and they're gentle enough for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Good luck!

ETA: I'd also want to be sure it wasn't a hematoma, or pooling of blood in the deeper tissues of the vagina, which can sometimes lead to infection. I don't know myself if something like this could crop up two weeks after the birth (anyone?), but if I were you and I started feeling fluish, and the "weird" thing hadn't gone away, I'd think about seeing my health care provider.

[pamamidwife]

Yeah, I agree with Alison. Homeopathic Sepia is worth a try, as is doing some knee/chest positions a few times a day.

[bryonyvaughn]

I'd try Sepia first IF it fit the general and mental/emotional symptoms well. Otherwise I'd start of with Arnica and then go from there.

You can read more about Sepia's local, general, and mental/emotional symptoms in Kent's Lectures on Homeopathic Materia Medica, Boericke's M.M., Boger's Synoptic Key of the M.M., and Allen's Keynotes.

~BV

[EmilyVorpe]

I'm getting pretty nervous now.... This seems to be happening only after bowel movements... But now the....lump....is almost pushing out of my vaginal opening.
I called my midwife and she said because I'm not in a lot of pain or anything, that I can wait until Wednesday to be seen. I'm getting a little nervous about this.
"with a lack of affectionate feelings for people you know you love" That....how does that relate to something like this? I've got ppd and am on wellbutrin, and I'm no longer miserable, but I just don't....feel anything. I don't know....someone help me figure this one out! Should I just go to the hospital or should I wait it out until Wednesday?

[Alison Cole]

Emily --

With homeopathic remedies, each individual remedy has a set of symptoms ("symptom picture") that it corresponds with. Some of the symptoms are physcial, some emotional, some miscelaneous (e.g. people needing pulsatilla are often fair haired and blue-eyed). So although the emotional and physical symptoms aren't necessarily related, having both emotional and physical symptoms that match a particular remedy is a sign that that remedy would likely be useful for you. So, to me, what you're describing about ppd and not feeling anything sounds like another hit on the Sepia symptom-picture.

I think if what's going on with your body is making you concerned, even if your midwife isn't as concerned as you, you're the one that has to live in your body, and you should seek care if worrying about this is taking away from your enjoyment of life, your body and your baby. It doesn't sound life-threatening, so I imagine that in that respect, you'd be fine to let it go till Wednesday, but also you don't need to be dealing with the stress of not knowing what's going on in your vagina and worrying about it while you're also integrating a new baby into your life.

Mama, I just want to offer you love, support and blessings. Hope this helps, and know you've got your MDC team rooting for you.

[EmilyVorpe]

Thank you. I'm going to wait until Sunday and if I don't see anything different, I'm going to call my midwife back and see if she can see me (there is usually one oncall at the hospital/their office.
Thank you for your advice and for your support.

[bryonyvaughn]

Sepia has a lot of prolapses and bearing down pains. It's main sphere of action is the liver and women's hormonal issues. With the liver symptoms often a Sepia patient with feel groggy in the morning and want to sleep in with more energy at night. A common physical symptom is a "yellow saddle" across the bridge of the nose. It can appear subtly but is another indicator of liver issues.

Originally Posted by EmilyVorpe

..."with a lack of affectionate feelings for people you know you love" That....how does that relate to something like this? I've got ppd and am on wellbutrin, and I'm no longer miserable, but I just don't....feel anything. I don't know....someone help me figure this one out! Should I just go to the hospital or should I wait it out until Wednesday?

Those particular mental and emotional symptoms often occur when a Sepia patient has been burdened down serving family for a period of time while neglecting her own creative outlets. I needed Sepia once with a UTI following miscarriage. The way that symptom expressed itself in me was an aversion to my dh's b.o. After taking the remedy I didn't ask him to shower repeatedly every day. No patient needing a particular remedy will express every symptom associated with it. That being said in even the most physically localized cases, I've seen some mental symptoms. Sepia has many more mental and emotional symptoms but the "rejecting loved ones" themes are most well known. I believe it's because so many of the homeopathic books were written by men in the 1800s. Modern homeopathic books can give almost a romanticized view of the independent, pagan, Sepia crone. I wouldn't invest too much in other folks' value-laden stereotypes. If the materia medica descriptions I linked resonate with you, I'd give it a try.

~BV