What to expect, pain/mobility-wise, immediately after delivery? - Page 3

[hapersmion]

Originally Posted by Smokering

Stitches... another thing I haven't read much info about. If you homebirth, do the midwives stitch you up at home? You don't have to transfer to a hospital? Where, *exactly* do they inject you with the local anaesthetic? (Ulp!). Does it hurt, and if so, how much?

Yep, I got eight stitches right there where I had the baby (at the Farm). I had never heard of NOT getting stitched up, didn't think to question it. I'll have to find out more about that for next time. As the PP said, they inject the Novocaine (or whatever) right around the tear. I think it stung a little, no problem really - my memory of this part is hazy, though. I was really just glad to be able to lie down for a while, after all the pushing, and I was watching my husband holding the baby. I think I felt a little pulling with the stitches. *shrug* The most annoying part was that it seemed like it took forever, and I wanted to be calling people and telling them the news.

[majormajor]

another super recovery here. i had a c/s w/ dd after about 12 hours of hard back labor. c/s was 4 pm, and it was the next morning before i was able to get out of bed, but i felt great. pain in the incision when i used my abdominal muscles, but i took some medication (percoset?) and it didn't slow me down much at all. i had no problem showering or anything like that. and because i didn't push, peeing and pooping was just like any other day.

[christifav]

After both of my vaginal deliveries, I felt great. I was sore like after a weekend-long lovemaking session for about a week, but certainly not moaning, groaning can't-hold-a-conversation pain. After DS was born I was chatting with the midwives while they stitched me up. It was fine.

FWIW, I felt SO MUCH WORSE when I had stomach flu and I couldn't have had a conversation with ANYONE, then.

[june'smom]

I felt pretty good after dd's birth, just really sore muscles. It did hurt a lot when I peed because of a small tear.

After ds' birth, I felt ok, very tired and very sore. I had a much bigger tear that I chose not to have stitched. I am glad that I left it, because it healed much better than the first did, but it meant almost two weeks of sitting still and not walking. It was really hard on me not to be able to get up and move. Plus using the bathroom was awful. Ds also had an awkward presentation. His head came almost horizontally.

With this birth, by goal is to NOT TEAR! I don't know how to do that, but I am sure going to try! Tearing was the worst part of both births, I think.

[MsElle07]

With each of my deliveries, I initially felt great relief at having got the baby out. My placentas wanted to come right away, so almost immediately after the birth, I started having major major cramping. And when I say major, I mean cramping that rivals transition contractions. Except the cramps will last for like 2-3 minutes instead of the 60 seconds of a regular contraction.

It was so bad after my last birth that I couldn't focus on the baby much initially. For me, it was nature's cruel joke that you think the work is over, but it really wasn't. I took large doses of ibuprofen and prescription Tylenol 3 w/codeine, and that took the edge off just a bit. A heating pad helps a bit, but it was still very bad.

I also felt very woozy, lightheaded, dizzy, and HUNGRY. I needed major help to move around. My MW wanted me to get up to go to the bathroom to see if that would help with the severe cramping, and I was about 3 seconds away from passing out just sitting on the toilet. (That's a very unpleasant feeling, by the way -- I had never experienced the world turning gray, seeing stars, not being able to speak loudly enough to be heard.) They made me get down on my hands and knees with my butt up in the air to get more blood flow to my brain. (Apparently, in my case, it wasn't blood loss that was causing this, because my blood loss was very minimal. It was my body having difficulty adapting to the change in blood pressure. I'm tall, and that probably made a difference.)

The night after the birth was like the worst night of my life, seriously.

But the next day I felt a bit better. And two days later a LOT better.

I'm telling you this not to scare you but because I wish someone had told me it could happen, and it doesn't mean you have a serious medical condition, it's a variation of normal.

ETA: With my first baby I had two stitches, and my perineum was very sore for about a week -- hard to sit down, etc. My second, I had no tearing and almost NO pain in that area, which I was shocked at. My third, still no tearing, but the baby was huge, and I felt a bit sore. But it was more like a muscle soreness, and not a stinging, burning pain. The soreness went away quickly.

[Joyster]

I felt really bruised downstairs. It wasn't anything I couldn't live with, but would have been nice to not have to deal with. I had a couple of stitches, that didn't really hurt, but made me nervous as heck. I've never had stitches except in my mouth. I had a (TMI) hemmoroid from pushing which hurt like crazy! I've never had one of those before, even throughout the pregnancy. There was cramping afterwards, but for me, nothing a regular Advil couldn't take care of.

I was pooped, but really running on adrenaline, not sure how that will work this time with a toddler to keep up with as well. I definitely didn't feel too weak and was up and about after sleeping for a few hours (Moochie arrived at 8pm and by the time all was said and done it was bedtime).

So it wasn't too bad for me right afterwards. The back and pelvic pain that ensued from the pregnancy and shortly after birth-which is probably only isolated to me, so don't freak-was a major pain in the rear...literally!

[june'smom]

I forgot to mention the awful cramping I had with both kids too. Except mine lasted much longer than the first day or so. I had wicked cramps for about 5 days with each. I remember coming home from the hospital with the first and just laying on the floor in our living room, unable to pick up the baby or nurse her or even call for dh. He heard her crying after a minute or so and picked her up, but there was nothing that really helped me very much.

For the second, and for sure with this one, I will stay on ibuprofen for about 5 days to curb come of the pain.

[DreamsInDigital]

For my first, I had a 56 hour labor, giant episiotomy and epidural. I couldn't walk because feeling didn't return in my legs for 12 hours after the epidural was removed, and once I was able to walk, I was in a tremendous amount of pain from my epidural site and my episiotomy. It took me several weeks before I could walk without pain.
My second, I had no troubles walking but did have a lot of lower back pain but it was tolerable and I was mobile, although I did take it easy for the first couple of days.
My third, I had a lot of lower back pain and tailbone pain so sitting in a chair was very uncomfortable for a week but I was able to walk around and felt lighter than air after birthing a 10 lb. baby. I had absolutely NO pain in my tender bits and not even the slightest bit of swelling.
My fourth, I had a postpartum hemmorhage and couldn't walk to the bathroom for several days. I had to crawl on the floor and stop to rest every few seconds. It was the most difficult recovery I've had, and it was a home waterbirth.

It totally depends on how things go during your birth.

[doctorjen]

I felt pretty good after all 4 of my births. My first was with an (unnecessary) episiotomy, and I still felt good. For me, the first hour or so after birth was such an amazing high that I felt better then any other time in my life I can remember. It was just lovely to instantly have the pain and intensity of labor be gone, and a new baby in my arms. Even after my first I kept saying that I felt like I could do it 3 more times over and over. I really felt wonderful after birth all 4 times, and was able to get up and walk pretty much immediately, and any pain was pretty much masked by my joy in having the baby to hold and snuggle.
I tend to bleed quite a lot, but not really hemorrhage, and the first couple days I felt a little weak and sore, but didn't need help to get up or take care of the baby. It was nice to have my dh do everything else for me, though. The birth with the episiotomy I had soreness for a week or more afterwards with normal activity, but it didn't hurt to walk or to sit still, just getting up and down and getting situated to sit just right. (It was months/years before I had no pain or discomfort with sex unfortunately.) The next birth, my dd born with no tears or stitches, I rode my bike the mile to school at 10 days postpartum and felt great. I had more afterbirth pains with #2 and #3 and took ibuprofen pretty regularly for 3-4 days, but for some reason didn't have as much with baby #4, even though she was my biggest baby by quite a lot.
I should mention that I had pretty quick labors with all 4, so didn't have a lot of exhaustion to overcome. I had the episiotomy the first time, nothing the second, and a few stitches in a first degree tear with #3 and #4.

[Mama Poot]

That all depends on what happens during the labor and birth. I wound up with pubis symphasis after my first child was born because he was malpositioned (occiput posterior). This was horribly painful and I was unable to walk for a week, had to hobble around with a walker for another week, walked like a duck for another two weeks after that. This is a worst case scenario, obviously. But it does happen. My case was particularly severe and I was told by a resident doctor that I had the largest pubic separation they'd seen in years.

My second birth was much better and the only major discomfort I had was strangely in my chest muscles. I guess I really wore them out screaming my head off! But I was up and back to normal life three days later.

[luckymamato2]

I was very sore and very swollen. No moaning though. I got a huge high/adrenaline rush and talked everyone's head off afterwards. Never exhausted. A little shaky/sore when sitting/rolling over/standing up, and definitely shaky when taking a shower 4 hrs pp.

eta: 3 tears, 1 3rd degree, 6 stitches

[lyttlewon]

DD was my medicalish birth. Induced with Cervadil, not much sleep because I was in the hospital, pretty severe hemmorage. I was really exhausted and had some intense pain from my tear and hemmerhoids. I remember after birth with her the contractions being really painful.

DS I was really shaky but wasn't in any pain. My bum was sore from the tear and hemmerhoids but I didn't feel the need for any pain medicine like I did with DD. My after birth contractions with DS were no big deal and I had a ton of energy. I didn't bleed with DS like I did with DD so that was some of it.

[Jade2561]

After both I felt great- a little tired and with an achy bottom but able to go about my daily routine (okay with the 12 hours of nursing and changing dipes).

The after pains are what were killer for me - but they came and went randomly.

2 quick labors -surface tearing with dd # 1 - no damage to perineum with #2

[LoveChild421]

Oh the high I felt after birth...never in my life have I felt so amazing! I kept thinking "these afterbirth contractions are NOTHING! I did it!!!" I had a long, hard 20 hour labor and didn't feel like eating (only had an apple) and only drank some gatorade at the insistance of my midwife and dp. I still was able to walk for the living room to the bed holding ds and nurse him, then about an hour later get up and take a shower. My midwife's apprentice stayed with me while I was in the shower because some mamas do pass out, but I didn't feel faint. I was wanting to call and invite everyone over for a party! I just ended up calling and inviting my mom, dad, and sister over but oh that feeling, just thinking about how blissful it was....mmmm....

My bottom was sore for about a week and it was hard to sit up straight because of it and I felt tired after I came down from the initial high, but overall I felt good.

[Romana]

Yeah, I would expect the amount of variation on this to be huge. So here's my experience, for what it's worth.

I had a longish labor (21 hours) and the last 8 hours were difficult and excruciating. However, it was a NCB (no drugs, episiotomy, etc.). I was very relieved when my daughter was born and I wasn't in a lot of pain, though getting stitched up (2nd degree tear) was very painful as the local was only effective in patches. I mostly felt shaky and tired. The nurse helped me to the bathroom before she left us alone, which I was grateful for.

I did not experience a birth high, unfortunately. I don't understand why not; I had a NCB, BF right away, etc. Oh well.

I had very painful afterpains (like active labor, except I couldn't change position or do anything to make them more manageable, but had to sit there with the baby latched on in a lot of pain). It was difficult to breastfeed because it was so painful, and I was having trouble bonding for this reason. I was really upset that no one took me seriously when I tried to say what a problem this was for me. The afterpains lasted for at least 3-4 days after the birth (just don't remember the timeframe well).

I also found BF to be painful. I had blisters on my nipples and when the babe would latch on, it would be immediately painful for awhile. My breasts were overall sore, also.

My body felt misshapen and wrong. I didn't recognize myself in the mirror. I had low energy and stayed in bed naked, with my naked baby, which was the best part. I had expected I'd be feeling great, but, um, not so much. Not sure why, again, since I was healthy, young, and had a NCB, no extra blood loss or anything.

It took 4 weeks before I felt even remotely human again. When the stitches fell out at 10-14 days pp, I felt *much* better. Oh, warning, the first bowel movement hurt like heck, despite the stool softeners. I had one small hemerrhoid and could not believe how much it hurt.

I was somewhat frustrated with my pp experience. I thought a natural birth would mean an easier recovery, and I also thought I would just sort of bounce back. I expected to feel good enough to be out and about by 2 weeks pp, but that just wasn't the case. We did start going for short walks around 3 weeks pp because the weather warmed up a bit.

Lochia lasted to the long end of the range of normal, and I noticed that if I overdid it I'd bleed more and pass small clots, so I had to keep myself pretty sedentary.

Loved the babymooning but hated PP. Not looking forward to it again!

[angelpie545]

With my first birth: I was just SO relieved to have the baby out of me after pushing for a good hour. I'm about 5"4 115 lbs normally-I was 18 at the time and my baby weighed 9lbs 5oz...so huge for me! She was also stuck at an angle for part of my labor, which ended up prolonging it. So, after all that, I was just thankful to make it out unscathed! I felt very sore, but a good sore, you know, like the kind of sore you feel after you just had a great workout? The only thing that sucked is that I lost a lot of blood and had to have a pitocin shot and nearly fainted, but after an IV of fluids (I was probably somewhat dehydrated) I perked up again. I tore pretty badly, so I had to be stitched up, and that was less than comfortable, but it compared to what I had just been though, it was fine. The only thing that really sucked was that I was very shaky and dizzy when I stood up, and that took about a week or two to completely subside. Nursing sucked frankly, and hurt a lot, but my mom (who had nursed me and my siblings for at least a year each) told me that it would subside after my nipples "got used to it". I'm not sure how true that is for every woman, but for me it subsided quickly and my daughter and developed a great nursing relationship.

As far as my bottom, that stayed sore and very uncomfortable for a good two weeks. My stitches were the kind that dissolved so I didn't have to get those taken out, but it hurt to pee for the next couple of days following the birth and pooping was a nightmare. Taking stool softeners does help I've heard, but I personally didn't use them.


Now on to my second birth. I wasn't in hard labor for that long, only about three hours, so my body wasn't that sore at all. I only had to push about seven or eight times to get the baby out, and I didn't bleed that much at all, so I wasn't that exhausted. My bottom hurt, but I only tore slightly and didn't need stitches so it wasn't nearly as painful as when I gave birth for the first time.

Overall, I'd expect to have a very sore bottom and sore muscles and be kind of weak, but it really varies for each woman. I think that stronger your body is going into pregnancy, the better you will recover from birth, no matter what kind of birth you end up having.

[wednesday]

I wasn't in pain after my son's birth, just very tired and very hungry. I didn't really eat/drink much throughout the day I was in labor because the contractions were pretty close together the entire time.

I did get stitched up a little, the injections for the novocaine were trivial. I think the area was still kind of numb actually from the pressure that had been on it for so long. I never felt the "ring of fire" you hear about either when DS was crowning.

The next few days I felt a little tender in that area but I took ibuprofen and really by day 5 or so I felt fine.

[momtoKailee]

I had some tears that were stitched up, but my main thought was "Are you done yet? I want to be alone with my husband and baby". I had some soreness and uncomfortable moments as the locals wore off, but overall I felt pretty darn good. I was able to walk around as soon as they would let me. I was tired but happy that it was over and my baby was here. I took a motrin to help with the pain as the local wore off and after that I didn't need anything else. Just had to avoid sitting for a day or two for comfort's sake.

[Meems]

I was lucky, after a 7 hr labor and only 30 min of pushing in the tub, I felt fantastic. I mean, no pain at all. I got right out of the tub, walked to the bed, delivered the placenta and nursed DD... I had a slight tear but no stitches.

They offered me ibuprofen a while later, which I refused, but around 6-8 hrs after birth I accepted 2 ibuprofen.

I was a little wobbly on the first trip to the bathroom. I just needed some support. It STUNG when I first peed. That continued for a few days.

Otherwise, no pain, no problems following birth.

FWIW, my midwife INSISTED that I do nothing, nothing, nothing but care for DD for 2 wks. No vacuuming, cooking, nothing... That lasted about 7 days and I ran the vacuum b/f my mom got here. Bad neurotic clean freak! But no problems!!

[~*~MamaJava~*~]

3 births, all in hospital, varying degrees of intervention, but never any stitches...

...first two felt like walking myself back to my room, but wasn't allowed to I hopped out of bed to pee a bit after #1 was born and the nurse was horrified when she caught me! I didn't know that was weird.

After #3 I had more bleeding so I did feel kind of weak.

As far as 12 hours post birth, no problemo, no soreness, no pain, nothing. I had a chiropractic adjustment at 7 days pp with dd because i could feel weird pressure in my sacrum. Not pain really, but it just didn't feel right. She came flying out, (5cm to delivery in an hour which is unusually quick for me) and never flexed her head, and I felt her descend with a drop at one point (!!!!) so I knew there would be a bit of trouble.