im a first time mom due on Aug 15 and the one thing I am most terrified about besides labor pains is being cut in my lady parts so the baby can come out easier! I do not handle pain very easily! I saw a couple of videos and a lot of mommies have told me that it is painful!!! Do more people get this done?!!!
I tore on my own, second degree. Honestly, at that point I didn't even feel it, I was just ready for the baby to come out. There will be so much going on down there, it will likely be one of the least of your worries. Don't stress about it.
Try not to worry about it, my first pregnancy I had to get stitched but the pain wasn't bad. Plus, when the baby is crowning that cut or tear will lead to relief. Congratulations....thats my due date and birthday as well!
Have a conversation with your doctor about how often she personally does them and for what reasons and make if very clear in your birth plan that you would like to avoid if at all possible. I believe the popular view point currently is to let tearing happen naturally. I had a second degree tear and needed stitches with my first...didn't even register to me. Like others have said...there is so much going on you literally don't notice, so try and relax as much as you can.
Talk with your doctor. Most doctors will allow you to tear on your own. My first tore me second degree tear and I did not feel a thing. The bus told me to use a bottle of water when I pee to relieve any burning sensation. I did not feel any burning and never even felt the stitches.
Read a book or take a class. Fearing labor is only going to make it more difficult for you. It's something to be embraced (we were built to do it) not feared.
I don't believe episiotomies are as "routine" as they used to be. I have a skin condition in which my skin tears easily (even just during sex), so I was very scared of the tearing. My doctor said I could have a natural birth and he could use a local anesthetic given as an injection to numb just my perineum right before the baby crowned so I wouldn't feel the tearing. That may be an option if you don't want an epidural and you are only afraid of the tearing not of the rest of labor. (They would numb you if you needed stitches and you will be distracted by your beautiful baby and not care what they are doing.). My delivery became complicated, so I had an epidural and didn't feel a thing (3rd almost 4th degree tears which are not typical just letting you know even extreme tearing is manageable), so if you are really afraid of the pain that is also a choice. I managed the healing process with some Dermaplast spray, chilled Tucks pads, and sitz baths, no medications. Take the squirt bottle from the hospital home so you can clean yourself with that and not wipe.
im a first time mom due on Aug 15 and the one thing I am most terrified about besides labor pains is being cut in my lady parts so the baby can come out easier! I do not handle pain very easily! I saw a couple of videos and a lot of mommies have told me that it is painful!!! Do more people get this done?!!!
It is actually better to tear naturally than be cut. I've requested episiotomy as a very last resort. Each time I've torn but never been cut. It's an outdated practice. You can please ask your OB not to do it unless absolutely necessary.
Re: Scared out of my mind!
Congratulations....thats my due date and birthday as well!
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