Personal question

unaveragejane · September 2014

I still have a stitch from tearing with L so my doc gave me a RX for Estrace cream. She said it will help with healing and lubrication. Has anyone used it? I'm kind of hesitant to fool around with hormones, but I'm sure DH is just plain ready to fool around.

usernewname · September 2014

lbs2012 said:

I guess it depends how the healing is progressing. I'm trying to remember what my stitch was like 6 weeks post partum...and I think everything was healed for the most part. At that point we were told to use lots of lube and go slowly the first few times. If you're healing a but more slowly I'd do other stuff with DH to keep him at bay for a couple more weeks.

This. I was healed by about 6 weeks. DS is 4 months, and I still have a couple uncomfortable spots but lots of lube and some foreplay for you helps as well.

TJ1979 · September 2014

I was prescribed estrace with E but was too scared to use it bc of estrogen's effect on BFing and my super low supply. The OB promised me it wouldn't interfere, but I wasn't willing to risk it.
And tell YH to slow his roll. You'll be ready when you're ready.

Amores0121 · September 2014

^wss Thank God my H isnt asking bc it aint happening! I feel so gross still.

km_md · September 2014

I had a nice tear that required having stitches twice. I didn't use any kind of cream though and it healed just fine. We didn't even attempt sex for months for other reasons so I can't speak to that part of it.

Amores0121 · September 2014

mamalamb10 said:

At my 6 week follow up my Dr said I was healing nicely but I still felt like I was dying! FWIW I had a 4th degree tear and DH wasn't allowed to come near me for about 3 months. How many stitches did you have? Personally I probably wouldn't use the cream (unless the Dr can give you a good medical reason too).

My Dr didn't even look at my vagina on Tuesday. I did go to there 2 weeks after for them to check the stitches..maybe this is why? I only had 1st degree tear, nbd. If my son wouldn't have come out with his hand over his chest she said I wouldn't have tore at all. But I thought it was kind of weird they didn't look at it.

Amores0121 · September 2014

km_md said:

I had a nice tear that required having stitches twice. I didn't use any kind of cream though and it healed just fine. We didn't even attempt sex for months for other reasons so I can't speak to that part of it.

Twice? You poor thing!

candlequeen · September 2014

What degree is your tear Jane? Mine was 2nd degree and I didn't get anything. I was such a huge baby about it lol

unaveragejane · September 2014

@candlequeen‌ My test was a 2nd degree. I should clarify that I had more than one stitch...there's just one that hasn't dissolved yet after 6 weeks. @tj1979 I didn't realize it could effect bfing. Off to the great Google inter webs research library!

bumpuser5078523 · September 2014

I have a friend that needed the estrogen cream so she could heal. She had major tearing and her estrogen was low, though.

Is the stitch still there, or you needed one stitch? If they was still there, I would probably wait it out. Lots of foreplay is super important. If you aren't completely ready, it can be rough.

unaveragejane · September 2014

Chickypoo2468 said:

Am I the only one who never actually discussed this with my dr? With L there was a "yeah, you're not healed" and then a "you're good" and that was that. Although with J he said "let's see if things still look normal"

With N, the doc just checked me and the stitches were gone so she said it was fine to go ahead. I wasn't nursing, so I guess lack of estrogen wasn't an issue. With L, I actually saw the nurse practitioner, and I'm guessing she was new b/c she would literally hesitate for half a second every time she said "sex." (I'd think someone with a lot of OB/GYN experience would be used to saying that by now.) She recommended the cream to help heal the last stitch and to provide extra moisture, but when she left the nurse (who I love b/c she is so down-to-earth) told me that I could probably skip it since the stitch will heal on its own in time.

TJ1979 · September 2014

Jane like I said, I didn't see any evidence of topical use affecting BFing. But estrogen can lower supply. I was paranoid.

SuperTinkerham · September 2014

I used Estrace as part of fertility treatments... but can't remember side effects from that specifically. Of course I had a cocktail...

BoothBaby · September 2014

Late to the party, but wanted to throw in my experience. I had a 3rd degree tear, and a few weeks PP I called my OB because I was having some discomfort down there and thought I might have torn something back open. Turns out that things were just really dry and tight, so she prescribed an estrogen cream (not sure if it's the same one you mentioned....I ended up having it custom mixed at an apothocary pharmacy because insurance wouldn't cover it and it was cheaper that way). Anyway, my OB said to massage it on the stitches a few times a day. I did that for a long time...probably a couple months. No issues with BFing or anything else. I was nervous using it at first because there was an entire warning pamphlet that came with it, but I also realized that apparently some women actually inject a decent amount of it way up in their vag (it came with this weird syringe!), so it's quite different from applying half a pea-size amount a couple times a day to just the surface of the skin. Eventually I didn't have the tightness in that area anymore and just stopped using it.

FTR, we didn't DTD for many, many weeks PP, and things are just now feeling more normal (in terms of lubrication) 8 months PP. Sex is still the LAST thing on my mind.

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