[caedmyn]

Last night I had what felt like horrible continuous afterpains that finally settled down after I took some ibuprofen. They weren't actually afterpains, though, because my uterus wasn't tight. Today my lower abdomen is a little achy and somewhat tender to pressure. I called my midwife and she suggested that it could be either a UTI, gas trapped in the abdomen, or retained placenta. I don't have any other symptoms of a UTI, my bleeding is normal and milk supply is good, and I've had gas trapped in my abdomen many many times and it's never felt like this. Any suggestions on what else this could be? I feel fine otherwise--could it still be a UTI?

 

[dewi]

I know of situations that retained placenta did not inhibit milk. So don't rule that out as a possibility if your midwife suggested it could be that.

If it is bothering you enough to call her and write us on line,
go in for an exam to rule out an infection.

 

[beenineucmom]

Fever,+ pain in abdominal area,+ and feeling yucky (check for rebound tenderness in abdominal area) =postpartum infections I'll bet ya'

Sandy

 

[caedmyn]

But I don't have a fever and I feel perfectly fine. We don't have insurance and DH doesn't have a job so I'm not too keen on going in to urgent care unless it's really indicated--just in case isn't really a good enough reason.

 

[Reha]

Does it feel like your uterus? When you reach down and rub your fundus, is it painful? A uterine infection would cause excrutiating pain when you do this! Does your discharge smell funny or foul? It is a good thing that you don't have a fever. Do you have any other symptoms? Any other UTI symptoms?

 

[homewithtwinsmama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by caedmyn Last night I had what felt like horrible continuous afterpains that finally settled down after I took some ibuprofen. They weren't actually afterpains, though, because my uterus wasn't tight. Today my lower abdomen is a little achy and somewhat tender to pressure. I called my midwife and she suggested that it could be either a UTI, gas trapped in the abdomen, or retained placenta. I don't have any other symptoms of a UTI, my bleeding is normal and milk supply is good, and I've had gas trapped in my abdomen many many times and it's never felt like this. Any suggestions on what else this could be? I feel fine otherwise--could it still be a UTI?

When it happened to me PP it was a UTI. Same type of pain. Get cultured.

 

[caedmyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reha Does it feel like your uterus? When you reach down and rub your fundus, is it painful? A uterine infection would cause excrutiating pain when you do this! Does your discharge smell funny or foul? It is a good thing that you don't have a fever. Do you have any other symptoms? Any other UTI symptoms?

I don't have any symptoms of anything other than the achy/tender feeling. Discharge smells normal. It doesn't feel like my uterus, my uterus is just below my pubic hair line and this is right above my pubic hair line. I can feel the tightness of my uterus when I have afterpains and it was not tight last night. Rubbing my uterus is not painful.

I talked to my midwife again and she thought it might be what she called "twisted intenstines"--apparently some women have intestinal spasms when their organs are returning to their normal positions after the birth. That seems like the most likely explanation to me. I did wonder if something was spasm-ing last night, and today the achy area is in about the same spot as where I've had some soreness in the past from gas pains...the achy feeling just doesn't usually last that long. For now I'm going to keep waiting and see what happens tonight and tomorrow and see if everything goes back to normal since I feel just fine otherwise.