Silly question...

538 Views 9 Replies 9 Participants Last post by NowOrNever, Apr 3, 2006

VaMountainMomma

Discussion Starter · Mar 29, 2006

Okay, I just started fiddling around with the idea of UC. I mean, I've joked about it plenty but then I started reading how people actually plan it.

I have tons of questions, but I still need to do more reading/research, so I'll wait.

However, the one question that is standing out in my mind, as well as the first question DH asked... what do you do if you tear? I had 3rd degree tears with #1... Who stitches ya back up?

Sorry for the crude question, expecially since I'm a first time visitor to this topic... But, hey, gotta ask someone!

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alegna

· #2 · Mar 29, 2006

Most women if not forced to push and in un-natural positions will not tear or will only have very minor tears.

-Angela

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Thmom

· #3 · Mar 29, 2006

yup what she said... if allowed to push spontaneously and assume a position that is instictive you're not likely to tear or to only have very minor tearing...

If I had a really minor tear I would likely do nothing, just keep my legs together for a while, maybe use some comfery to help heal it.
Depending on how it looked I might use superglue to help hold it together
If it was really bad I'd see my Fam Dr. within 24hrs. for some stitches

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VaMountainMomma

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 29, 2006

Thanks guys! I'm getting so excited thinking of the possibility!! LOL.

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yvonnemlv

· #5 · Mar 30, 2006

I think I posted elsewhere here about how I tore to my anus with baby girl's birth 4 weeks ago.. and I did nothing more than use a peri bottle to rinse with after using the bathroom. It healed up beautifully.. the only way you can tell it tore is to run my finger along the tear as you can feel the scar tissue, but you can't really see it (unless, i guess, you put a good light over it and stick one's face right there, but i can't do that, lol).

i kept my legs together & rested lying down for the first week, and rested as much as possible for another week. It was pretty much healed up by day 9.

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rajahkat

· #6 · Mar 30, 2006

I've never torn towards my anus, I feel all the burning towards my clitoris instead. What fun, but anyway, I've torn with both my births. The first I tore my labia on the side. I was afraid to look, honestly, and it was about three days PP before I had the courage to look down there.

It healed fine within about a week & a half, but is split like when an earring gets pulled through an earlobe. Personally, I'm more comfortable with a little aesthetic (sp) imperfection than heading to a doc to be sewn up (with a non-muscle tear anyway) The second time, I tore again right at the front, but it was very slight and healed back together normally.

Kat

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Snowdrift

· #7 · Mar 30, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thmom
If it was really bad I'd see my Fam Dr. within 24hrs. for some stitches

I would hesitate to wait that long. I'm just a lurker on this board but I've been denied stitches (not perineal, non-birth-related injury) after waiting over eight hours. The concern is that once healing has substantially begun and the injury has been open for that long that stitching could close in bacteria and increase risk of infection.

I've got a nasty scar from waiting past the eight-hour threshold and having to heal without stitching on an injury that really needed it.

I dunno if the same standards apply to perineal/labial tears as to the sort of injury I had, but I've read several places that eight hours is a pretty typical standard of care for stitching. In any case, at 24 hours healing has begun pretty substantially. It seems to me that cleaning it enough to safely stitch at that point would exacerbate the tear unnecessarily.

I'd try to go in within a couple of hours for stitching if it was necessary, although I might be concerned about the quality of work one could expect out of an emergency room. An FP would definitely be preferable.

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JesseMomme

· #8 · Mar 31, 2006

A tear is possible during a UC but it is usually very minor and heals best on its own. Both of my 2nd degree tears were from hosp. births and not being in an optimal position. I only had a slight skid mark after my first UC and nothing at all after my second.

When a tear does happen, the advice I've heard handed down over the years is to keep a squirt bottle handy for during/after peeing, keeping your knees together a great deal and there's a plethora of healing herbs to learn about (and I forgot which ones they were but there are many wise mamas who have extensive knowledge of this so ask away!)

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mama2annabelle

· #9 · Apr 2, 2006

I'm not a UC mama yet, but am considering it for my next. My last baby was a home waterbirth. I had a very hands off midwife and pushed instinctually upright on my knees in the water. Nevertheless, I ended up with a pretty bad 2nd degree tear.
Looking back I realize that the reason I tore so bad is because I got impatient. I had had a very long labor and when my body started pushing I pushed with it. Now, I knew in my head that I should just be letting my body do the work, but I got caught up in the moment and just really wanted to meet my baby.
I just wanted to encourage you to keep in mind how important it is to let your body do the work...don't try to make it go faster. I know that if I had slowed down and given my tissues more time to stretch I wouldn't have torn. I had everything else right, I just got impatient.

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NowOrNever

· #10 · Apr 3, 2006

Yeah, what they've said about positions and pushing.

Also, your body was meant to have babies. It was not meant to have drs using knives and scissors during a normal birth! If you tear, you will heal. I have found that I tore significantly more at the hospital with my preemies than I did at home with my over 10lb'rs.

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