[mandalamama]

warning: this is a *seriously* TMI post!

:

question for c-birthin' mamas ... have you had any long-term bowel changes after the surgery? i mean, longer than the recovery time?

question for natural laboring mamas ... have you had any long-term bowel changes after having a long labor? (mine was 30 hours, before i went to surgery.)

since the c-birth, almost 8 months ago, i have had some really weird problems. for the first two weeks, my entire pelvis was completely numb so i was having problems both peeing and pooping! i think i posted about it here. the consensus between my OB's was that the spinal anesthesia caused some lingering side effects. also that my "extended" labor was rough on my pelvis, bowel and spine, so i should expect some problems. i'm also having adhesion pain, which i know can mess with anything in the pelvis including the bowel/colon.

anyway, the numbness went away gradually after three weeks PP. i get adhesion cramps/tearing pains from time to time, but nothing serious. i've noticed that my pooping habits are totally different after birth (told ya this would be TMI

, but it's not a problem. however, i now am bleeding rectally

i mean, bright red blood in the toilet bowl after every bowel movement. i don't have any hemorrhoids (lucked out!). i'm not having any pain or cramps with the bleeding. i'm not constipated. it started after the c-birth, just a little bit here and there, i didn't worry. but the bleeding just got MUCH worse in the last 3 weeks, when i was doing heavy lifting when we moved. the toilet bowl will be bright red *ugh* but i'm not having any pain!

i know, y'all will say "go see the doctor!" but i know they have to do an internal exam, so no way, no how!!

TMI again, but i am a sexual abuse survivor (eagerly awaiting August so i can join the survivor forum here!) and there is just NO way i can go through any of those tests unless i am completely knocked out. which they don't do. i can barely handle a internal vaginal exam, and i still have nightmares of the exams i had while i was pregnant. i've had nightmares just *thinking* about a rectal exam recently!

i never had anything like this before pregnancy/birth, so that's why i'm assuming it might be a birth-related problem. so ... i just need to hear from other mamas, has anyone had a problem like this?

 

[USAmma]

I have never had problems to the degree that you have described. I had two vaginal births. The first one recovery was fine (rough due to epi but that's another story). After Nitara's birth I think my whole pelvic floor was in bad shape. I had a hard time doing bm's for awhile, even normal ones. I started doing kegals *and* drinking prune juice or other sources of fiber and things are getting better.

If your bowels get stretched out due to costipation or other trauma it takes awhile for them to get back into shape. Hormones will often slow down the GI tract or cause gas. I have that around my time of month. (People who have IBS will often have worse symptoms around their period b/c of the hormone factor. I don't have IBS but it just goes to show how everything is related).

You could have internal lesions. You could be constipated and not know it. My youngest has GI issues and about a month ago she went to ER b/c of blood in her vomit. During the xray it showed she was very, very backed up inside, even though she went every day. The soft matter was moving around the hard, impacted matter. I had to give her an enema and she gets prune juice a couple times a week just for maintenance. Within 24 hours her whole outlook on life had improved!

I know you don't want to go to a doctor but it sounds like that might be in order. Maybe it's a bowel problem and has nothing to do with your birth at all, or maybe during your section your bowels were affected somehow. Maybe a simple xray of your abdomen would reveal something. Try drinking some prune juice or taking fiber laxatives for a week or so and see if it gets better.

I really hope you find out what's going on.

 

[captain crunchy]

Okay please don't think I am a nutter because I have never had kids, but I just wanted to give you a bit of input on the blood thing.

One thing to ease your mind *a bit* is the fact that it is a good sign that the blood is red... that means it is fresh blood...they begin to worry if your poop is black or there is dried black blood in the toilet because that would indicate *old* blood and would be a sign of internal bleeding...which is NOT good... the fact that it is bright blood means that it is just happening when you poop and not when you're not...
Okay, I am no doctor, but how do you know you have no hemmoroids (sp?) ? They can be internal and you can not even feel them at all... I know cuz well

: ... and sometimes when you poop they bleed... a lot... and it is RED....

I am only suggesting because a lot of people think hemmoroids are only ones you can see/feel and that is not the case..

I know you know that people are going to tell you to see a doctor... and I think you should. I understand it is probably really hard because of your past

and of course no one wants you to do something you are uncomfortable with, but at the same time *if* it were something really serious, you would want/need to know I imagine...

Anyway, just wanted to pipe in on my thoughts about the blood...

Good luck and please take care...

 

[hunnybumm]

Well, I had a 45 hour labor, 3 hours of pushing, but I didn't have any negative bowl problems other than not having a bowl movment until 24 hours after I gave birth, eventhough they gave me sapositories (sp?) 3 times a day. I feel that was due to my body completely cleansing it's self during labor. However, due to the epidural/cathitor I had problems keeping the pee in, even to make it 5 feet to the toilet. I never had any bleeding eventhough I had massive hemroids, according to the nurses, but I never felt them, I get them on a regular basis when pregnant or not, they never bother me. I do have occasional bleeding, but not a toilet full.

Also, before I had my son I always had issues with bms, I was never regular, always constipated, got worse during pregnancy. Once my son I was more I was completely regular and I was loving it.. until I became pregnant again.

So I can totally relate to that part of your post.