How long does it take for the vagina to return

[~Megan~]

to its normal state after birth?

I'm two weeks out and things are still feeling different than before. I can't remember when things returned after ds' birth.

[pamamidwife]

sometimes it's six weeks almost exactly.

sometimes, in my case, it never does.

love you, mama.

[lovesdaffodils]

Mine is still totally different than it was before. After almost four years, it still feels a little unfamiliar actually. I only have one child though, so I'm hoping future births don't have such an impact each time.

[desertpenguin]

idk. i'm a little over a week pp and my vulva feels normal but (sorry, tmi!) my bum doesn't! ds was born facing my thigh so i guess his shoulders stretched me out quite a bit. i have been trying to do kegels every day and they seem to be helping...

[Sonnenwende]

Mine was never the same, but scar from a large tear does that.

[josie4]

Mine isn't the same and never will be. DH hasn't complained, so that's all that matters to me! Don't worry, it will tighten up. I was so terrified that I'd be all wide open and such, but things are almost normal in that regard. If I'd quit being so lazy with my kegels, it'd be even better.

[Amila]

DH and I dtd last night for the first time PP. So at 6 weeks I think it has returned to normal, but you might ask him

[savithny]

Normal and "the same as before" are two different things.

Mine was never the same.

It was better

[Lit Chick]

I had a small labial tear. At 6 weeks I still felt really different and strange, but at 8 weeks I felt much more normal.

Still, it's been 8 1/2 months and it's not the same. Not that it's bad, but I can completely feel the difference. Part of that is simply being more aware of those parts. Before, it was just there. Nothing I though about, focused on, YKWIM? Now I always have a sense of it.
I can tell that it's not as tight. I have been very lazy with kegels, so that explains that. DH can tell the difference during certain types of foreplay (ahem, and I have a new ability to sound like a whoopie cushion...) but during the act itself he says it's pretty much how it always was. Yay for him.
As far as how it feels for me.... I am BFing, and the hormones made what should be a tropical enviroment into an arrid plain. But things started to come back (with a bang) around the 8 month mark for me.

[alegna]

With dd it was right at 6 weeks (and things weren't TOTALLY the same, but I felt they were "normal" then if you know what I mean)

With ds it was somewhere between 1 and 2 weeks.

-Angela

[My*Scorpio]

With my first, I had a vaginal birth with only a small tear. It felt healed up as far as using the toilet after a few weeks or so. It was a little painful sometimes during intercourse for 6 months after the birth. I was a EBF - that may have made a difference.

[MyBoysBlue]

Originally Posted by savithny

Normal and "the same as before" are two different things.

Mine was never the same.

It was better

Same here. After my first was born it was never the same but I was completely healed and a side bonus, I wasn't as sore after sex anymore.

After DS 2 was born I went back to the same as before by the 6 weeks probably a bit sooner than that I just don't remember exactly how long.

[Rogelito's Mommy]

Ds is 8 months old and I am still not sure things are "normal", but I had some bad tearing followed by 2 surgeries to try to get back to something functional...so I am just happy to make it that far.

[jennifercp8]

Things felt normal around 8 weeks, and then we tried having sex. Things were not normal, and I avoided intercourse for another 6 months.

But now, things seem better than ever! :

[mwherbs]

in some ways I would have to say never- my vagina never was the same after the first birth-- some changes I blamed on the epis and the way they stitched me up but some was just changes-- scar tissue made a difference in what was comfortable for sex- and after the birth of our third child there was some improvement in the scar tissue and after the fourth most of the scar tissue had smoothed out
also if you are breastfeeding you may need to use lube or if the tissue is very friable some estrogen cream may help

[artemis80]

Mine has not and will never return to the way it was before. The title of this thread made me laugh, though. "Poor woman! Where did her vagina go?"

[KD's Momma]

never was the same after the first one

[ShadowMoon]

Mine was never the same...(a baby popped outta there ya know?)..and I had no tearing and very little trauma. Even so, things changed a bit. However, sex has been much more pleasurable since having the baby so I'm not complaining at all.

[bobandjess99]

Originally Posted by artemis80

Mine has not and will never return to the way it was before. The title of this thread made me laugh, though. "Poor woman! Where did her vagina go?"

it took 10 months for things down there to be able tohave sex...everything down there just hurt excruciatingly until then,

This time, recovery was quicker, but even now at 7 months PP, if dh hits the cervix, i about go through a wall.

[aaronsmom]

I'm 7 months pp and mine still doesn't feel "right".
But you're only 2 weeks pp so I wouldn't worry just yet.