Community› The Bump Month Clubs› August 2015 Moms
August 2015 Moms
New Discussion

Third degree laceration

mimigrace12mimigrace12 member
edited September 2015 in August 2015 Moms
I had my sweet baby girl 2 weeks ago tomorrow, she came out a whopping 9 lbs and I suffered a 3rd degree tear. Recovery has been a little rough. I'm still very tender down there, pooping is still hard and usually painful, and I'm taking frequent sits baths. My bleeding had lightened but in the last few days it's gotten heavier again. I am also kind of having a hard time coping with the fact that
my vagina might never be the same (Google stories are the devil, I know. But I've read of women who suffered severe tearing that sex wasn't pleasurable for them anymore) plus I made the mistake of looking down there with a mirror and was a little horrified with what I saw! @-) Also wondering when the pain will go away. Who else has suffered a severe tear from labour and how are you dealing with it? How was your healing process?
Report Reply to Post

Re: Third degree laceration

  • sjnarrysjnarry member
    I had a 4th degree tear w my first, and 2nd degree tears with my second and third. I never found recovery to be too difficult but took stool softeners every day for at least a month maybe two. Life savers. Sex the first few times was a tad painful but mostly due to lack of sufficient lubrication (breast feeding zaps that). Eventually all went back to normal if not better for me. Good luck!
    Report Reply
  • april42007april42007 member
    I had a 4th degree tear. My LO is 6.5 weeks old. I've healed really well but have been referred to a perineal specialist to make sure everything and every function heals properly. I was really tender the first few weeks. I have very little discomfort now. We had sex for the first time recently. My doc said it would hurt. Honestly it was a little tender but wasn't particularly painful. Much better than I expected!

    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • JNOVA2015JNOVA2015 member
    edited September 2015
    I would avoid Google! I suspect that the only people who post online about poor recovery from tears are the ones who had an unusually difficult experience. People who healed well don't have any reason to seek out online forums about tears - they've moved on with life.

    I had a fourth degree tear, but at 4 weeks pp I have very little pain. We haven't had sex yet (I'm seeing a specialist because I have a complication with the tear, but I don't feel like it would be overly painful if we did). I'm confident that everything will get back to normal, and if it doesn't we will deal with it when it happens!!
    Report Reply
  • samathornsamathorn member
    I have to say, I'm super proud of myself for not googling about 4th degree tears (what I had..plus an episiotomy). That said, I haven't peaked down there but I only have mild discomfort. Thank god for stool softener.
    Report Reply
  • eebabyeebaby member
    Did anyone have a labial tear? I feel don't see the stitches but don't think it's healed either!! Hopefully they didn't come out....do some small tears heal on the own?
    Report Reply
  • hclzmm14hclzmm14 member
    I had just a tiny tear but my doctor didn't say where and I still have no idea. It's been 4 weeks PP for me and I still sometimes will have random shots of pain down there and I feel a lot of pressure if I squat for any reason. It's gotten better the last few days. I know with my first I didn't feel 100% till right before my 6 week follow up with my OB, and I had second degree tearing that time. So OP, just give it some time and keep taking your stool softeners as needed. You'll probably bleed for a few more weeks, mine is just now tapering off, but some people bleed longer to the full 6-8 weeks.
    Report Reply
  • laylababe3laylababe3 member
    edited September 2015
    eebaby said:

    Did anyone have a labial tear? I feel don't see the stitches but don't think it's healed either!! Hopefully they didn't come out....do some small tears heal on the own?

    I had a horrific labial tear, I ripped it right in half, side to side like someone cut it with scissors, and the tear continued up the outer crease to the top of my vagina. I made the mistake of looking at it with a mirror, although I can still see the stiches just looking down. Disgusting. Patrick wasn't even that big at 7.2! My stitches started falling out yesterday, it's been almost 3 weeks. I'm not sure if they might throw a hidden stitch or two with smaller tears, or leave it be, but I definitely knew I had stitches from the burning, pulling and itching alone! Still having daily pain, but it is getting better every day.. still using the Hurricane gel they gave me and tucks to cool the itch. I feel like I'm going to be doing this bathroom routine for the rest of my life!
    Report Reply
  • mimigrace12mimigrace12 member
    eebaby said:

    Did anyone have a labial tear? I feel don't see the stitches but don't think it's healed either!! Hopefully they didn't come out....do some small tears heal on the own?

    No experience but I've read that a lot of times with smaller tears they do just let them heal on their own with no stitches
    Report Reply
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"