Treating Soreness after birth

715 Views 18 Replies 13 Participants Last post by RunnerDuck, Apr 18, 2009

CookAMH

Discussion Starter · Apr 17, 2009

Lots of newbie questions here.

I've read some about having a peri bottle for after birth - have you used one? What kind of bottle do you buy for it? What's in it? Do you just spray it on your vagina after going to the bathroom? do you stand in the tub to do it?

I've heard a lot like the bottom spray from Earth Mama. Do you just spray your butt with it while bending over?

I bought some witch hazel yesterday per the recs to freeze it in some pads. I don't have THICK pads at the moment. A friend recommended the new Always Infinity which absorb a ton but are thin...would that work for soaking then freezing?

Have some epsom salts for sitz baths. What else is good to use?

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firewoman

· #2 · Apr 17, 2009

I made my afterbirth pads with really thick pads and made a tea out of the herbs in the link. I placed the pads in a wide rimmed bowl so that they would be contoured. YOU can use the tea in a peri-bottle as well. Feels great!

http://www.1cascade.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=243

CookAMH

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 17, 2009

Thanks! Are sitz baths and peri sprays mainly for when you have a healing tear as opposed to soreness from bruising?

ETA: this stuff looks good too
http://www.1cascade.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=0490

~Katie~

· #4 · Apr 17, 2009

I highly recommend a peri bottle for after birth, it is a definite necessity. I ended up using mine for about a month after birth until everything healed up better down there. I would fill it with warm water and spray down there as I peed in order to dilute the urine, otherwise is burned like hell. Its basically a little squeeze bottle with a special cap that has little holes in it and you just use it while you're sitting on the toilet.

I didn't have hemorrhoids last time so I didn't use anything in particular for that, so I haven't used the bottom spray or witch hazel. I don't like pads with absorbent polymers because they make me ache horribly, I found some post-partum pads from Natracare that don't contain any so I'll be trying those after birth this time around. I'm not even going to bother with regular menstrual pads if I can help it because I like the extra cushioning that post-partum pads provide. There are several different brands of pads designed specifically for post-partum, you may be able to find them at Walgreens or one of the big chain stores. You can get some herbal sitz bath blends from homebirth supply sites or you can make your own, you just brew the herbs and then pour them into the sitz bath or you can put them directly into the bath.

I would have motrin or tylenol on hand for the afterpains and general soreness, I'm all for pain-med free childbirth but I don't mess around with afterpains

A heating pad can also be really helpful.

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Asher

· #5 · Apr 17, 2009

2

A peri bottle with slightly luke warm (NOT cold!

) water in it, sprayed as you're going pee/potty the first few times is heaven sent, I swear. ESPECIALLY if you rip and need stitches. It dilutes the toxicity of urine, I think so makes it not so harsh on the soreness.

I haven't had to use it except with my first, BUT they did cut me first my first and my favorite thing that they gave me was a nurses glove filled with ice and put down between my legs. Helped with the swelling and sore issue for sure! Looked and felt silly at first, but comfort is the key. I got over that real quick!

The only time/thing I needed a donut for was the broken tailbone so I'm not sure how that is for a normal birth. I didn't use one for my last three.

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mamayarn

· #6 · Apr 17, 2009

About the peri bottle, here's the trick I came up with last time. AFTER you use the bathroom, fill it with hot water from the tap and set it next to the toilet (or hot whatever you want to put in there). By the next time you have to go it will be a nice temperature instead of chillingly cold, and that soon postpartum there is no pee pee dance in the world that will work - you'll just wet yourself from having to go and listening to running water into the bottle.

I've also heard the suggestion to use a bottle warmer for the peri bottle, but I don't have one so I don't know about that.

ETA: Oh and you'll want to use it seated, and then gently dab with toilet paper to dry off. No wiping.

Full Heart

· #7 · Apr 17, 2009

Yea pp you can pee yourself just bending over. Not that you will but its a possibility.

My mw makes a herbal mix for my peri bottles. I have never torn but I use a peri bottle. The skin has stretched, there is a lot of blood and urine, you need to keep it clean and it def makes it hurt less. I spray it on while I go pee. You can also use it in the shower to clean yourself up. Be very careful with wash cloths down there.

I have a fissure that reopens every time I give birth. Those peri bottles are great to keep around for stuff like that. So don't throw them out you might need them later on.

JamieCatheryn

· #8 · Apr 17, 2009

I'm sorry but I just don't understand how these bottles are supposed to get water on me down there, and I have been through this once before. I would try and rinse with it after with warm water, no way I was getting anything to work during urinating. You fill it all the way up and squeeze it and it directs a little water up or to the side or however you try and direct it, but not much, and the toilet gets in the way. I didn't tear but for two tiny places before, didn't have that much soreness, so maybe I just wasn't motivated enough to work it out. Can someone explain very clearly how you're supposed to make these bottles spray you down there?

Asher

· #9 · Apr 17, 2009

I spray downwards, like with the peri bottle positioned directly against my abdomen and pointed down. It's not actually having it SPRAY that does it for me, but just the lukewarm water traveling that direction at the same time as urinating, that help me. You don't want to actually spray it with force on your nether regions, IMO.

~Katie~

· #10 · Apr 18, 2009

I always sprayed it downward with the bottle tipped upside down. I had two deep labial tears and getting pee anywhere near that area was torture, so I would kind of part that area (tmi) and spray downward while I peed.

CookAMH

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 18, 2009

2

Quote:

Originally Posted by KatieJD

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I always sprayed it downward with the bottle tipped upside down. I had two deep labial tears and getting pee anywhere near that area was torture, so I would kind of part that area (tmi) and spray downward while I peed.

That's hard to imagine doing now, but I guess my belly won't be quite AS big as it is now and I should be able to manage that.

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~Katie~

· #12 · Apr 18, 2009

2

Quote:

Originally Posted by CookAMH

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That's hard to imagine doing now, but I guess my belly won't be quite AS big as it is now and I should be able to manage that.

Imagine a 4-5 month pregnant belly at first, then it just kind of deflates itself. Its really hard to describe how to use it in words but your mw or an assistant should be able to assist you with it at first until you get the hang of it.

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Kelly1101

· #13 · Apr 18, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by CookAMH

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I've read some about having a peri bottle for after birth - have you used one? What kind of bottle do you buy for it? What's in it? Do you just spray it on your vagina after going to the bathroom? do you stand in the tub to do it?

If you're going to be at a hospital/birthing center, they will PROBABLY give you one before you leave. I know on my tour, they said they'll give you one right away, and let you take it home with you (they also keep a freezer full of frozen pads to sit on). Ask your OB/MW.

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User101

· #14 · Apr 18, 2009

Moving to Birth and Beyond

Limabean1975

· #15 · Apr 18, 2009

I didn't have any tearing but used the peri bottle ALOT. It was a bottle my midwives gave me actually labelled "perineum cleansing bottle". Any squeezy bottle would do. For the first week I used it every time I peed, squirting cool water on my bits AS I was peeing.

mamatolevi

· #16 · Apr 18, 2009

I think everyone's got the peribottle covered!

As far as pads go, I used poise pads. they're thick so you can run them once under water straight up the middle, don't saturate, just get them wet, and put them in the freezer. very soothing.

A homemade ice pack made out of condoms is great. fill one nonlubricated condom with a mix of alcohol and water and tie off. Then insert the tied off end into a second condom and tie off. instant freezy pack to set ontop of a pad.

the hospital will have instant coldpac pads. I found them a little intense and needed to put a washcloth on top for the first day. But I made sure to take a couple home b/c they stayed cold a good while.

russianthistle

· #17 · Apr 18, 2009

You can use an old shampoo bottle for a peri, really. Or anything like that...a smaller dish soap bottle...anything that squirts like those.

I kept a sitz bath brewed in my fridge (unless it was fresh), warmed it (usually), and put it in my peri bottle to use after peeing, etc. I, too, squirted it downward. I used the sitz faithfully for, I'd bet, nearly a month. I had a pretty rough lacerated tear, so things were totally rough down there.

The sitz/peri helps not only to soothe but also to keep the area clean of bacteria and possible infection. It really helped healing occur, IMO. After a birth, even toilet paper/family cloth is daunting.

russianthistle

· #18 · Apr 18, 2009

Oh, and I totally recommend the sitz herb burrito-style pad after birth. I kept several prepared burrito-like gauze pads in the freezer and popped them in my unders after using the bathroom. I used these pads for at least a week after birth in addition to the peri sitz treatment. I never actually used the sitz as a sitz bath.

RunnerDuck

· #19 · Apr 18, 2009

I filled ziplock bags with frozen corn and shoved them in my underwear. It will slip and mold to your shape.

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